Fanatics Collect and CGC Cards announced a new partnership Monday that will include on-site grading and what the companies hope will be an industry-leading turnaround time.
Starting Sept. 16, CGC Cards will have a full-time authentication and grading operation at Fanatics Collect’s facility in Tigard, Oregon. The deal will allow collectors to submit cards for grading before being sold or stored in the Fanatics Collect Vault, formerly PWCC.
The service will be available to Fanatics Collect users for $9 per card, regardless of market value. Raw cards are eligible if submitted for grading and then vaulted or put up for sale, either through auction or the Buy Now marketplace.
The deal also aims for a 24-hour turnaround.
“We want to give collectors the best possible experience, and we're delighted to partner with CGC Cards and have their team establish a full-time on-site operation with us in Oregon,” Fanatics Collect CEO Nick Bell said in a statement. “This partnership will enable our companies to provide the smoothest, most convenient, and quickest grading experience in the industry.”
Fanatics Collect and CGC Cards will also add an authentication-only service in the coming weeks. Details on the official launch date and pricing have yet to be announced.
The trading card service for Certified Guaranty Company, which is best known for grading comic books, magazines and other collectibles, CGC Cards, has grown to become the second-largest third-party trading card grader since consolidating services for TCG and sports cards into one division in 2023.
According to third-party grading tracker GemRate, CGC Cards graded 1.7 million items in 2023, second only to PSA’s 13.5 million.
For Fanatics Collect users, the deal is a major upgrade compared to CGC Cards’ rates for non-users. The cheapest rate, offered in Bulk submissions with a 25-card minimum, is $11 for cards with a declared value of $500 or less and a five-day turnaround.
The shortest turnaround time offered by CGC Cards to non-users is the three-day Walkthrough service, which is available for any card, regardless of price, for $150 per card.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.