The hobby posted a record-setting March in transaction and grading volume, suggesting the card market might be on the upswing in a serious way.
Card Ladder recorded more than $300 million in sales volume for the month, proving while a few high-profile sales might have drawn the most headlines, business was booming across the board.
????GemRate | March ’25 Grading Recap
— GemRate (@gemrate) April 2, 2025
???? Overall grading activity was ⬆2% in March compared to February and ⬆13% YoY.
— March results set a new high for the second consecutive month.
— Grading activity increased to 1.97 million cards graded in March, up ~35k compared to… pic.twitter.com/CLHUOmiAxf
According to the data tool, eBay led the way with more than $240 million in sales volume, followed by Fanatics Collect with nearly $27 million, Goldin at $22.8 million, Heritage with $10.5 million and Alt at nearly $4 million.
The record month beats the mark set in February 2025 of $247.11 million — the largest month-to-month leap since Card Ladder increased its tracking of eBay sales in January 2024.
Due to limitations in previous transaction tracking data prior to January 2024, it’s unclear whether March was the largest month in history, but it ranks as the largest month recorded.
This trend was mirrored in the card grading world, which recorded a 2% bump from February to March, according to GemRate, and a 13% year-over-year increase with more than 1.97 million cards graded across PSA, CGC, SGC and Beckett.
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PSA, as expected, led the way with 1.47 million cards graded, followed by CGC with 248,000, SGC with 174,000 and Beckett with 69,000.
These two record highs, taken together with the six $1 million-plus sales thus far in 2025 — only one away from the mark set during the entire 2024 calendar year — suggest the card market might be seeing its most significant run-up since the COVID-19 boom.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.