Days after announcing a new grading integration with PSA, eBay released additional details on the partnership Wednesday, including information about autographs, pricing and final grading results.
According to eBay, pricing for the service will match PSA’s tiers based on the card value from Value Plus ($39.99 per card) up to and including Premium 10 ($10,000 per card).
The TCG Bulk, Value Bulk, Value and Value Max tiers aren’t included.
Pack-pulled autographs will be eligible for grading, but autograph grades (dual authentication) and aftermarket autographs aren’t currently eligible.
The marketplace also provided clarity on condition guidelines for raw trading cards, with eBay currently requiring sellers to list condition descriptions on card listings.
Though descriptions such as Near Mint, Excellent, Very Good or Poor might match terminology used in PSA’s grading standards, those condition guidelines don’t guarantee specific grades.
“These guidelines apply to the raw or ungraded Item Conditions only, and do not relate to the grade of a card, which must be determined by a professional grader,” eBay wrote in a statement to cllct.
“This policy is also not meant to evaluate the condition of autographs, stamps, or inking on the card. Sellers should clearly identify damages or defects within the item description of their listing. Per eBay guidelines, the most significant flaw will anchor the condition of the card.”
eBay also clarified that no grades are guaranteed once cards pass the Authenticity Guarantee check, and it stands behind PSA’s grading standards.
The company reiterated any card that doesn’t pass eBay’s AG check will be returned to the seller, and the buyer will be refunded.
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— GemRate (@gemrate) January 3, 2025
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Collectors who choose the service won’t be required to have a PSA account and will still be able to track the status of their order in several steps, ranging from "Grading Started" to "Grading Completed" and "Shipped" (with tracking number) in their eBay accounts.
Collectors who already have a PSA account will see the progress linked when using the service if the same email address is used for both accounts.
PSA and eBay announced the integration Sunday, which will allow collectors to have eligible cards graded when sent to PSA as part of eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee program.
The latest integration between the two companies — eBay recently introduced PSA population data on graded card listings — the feature aims to cut out several shipping steps that previously saw cards sent to PSA under the AG program only to be shipped to the buyer after and then sent back to PSA for grading.
eBay launched the Authenticity Guarantee program for trading cards in 2022 after previously covering categories such as sneakers, watches and handbags.
Under the current program, eligible cards sold for $250 or more can be automatically sent to PSA for authentication before shipping to the buyer.
The feature potentially streamlines the grading process for some collectors, and could help strengthen PSA’s position atop the graded card hierarchy.
According to GemRate, PSA was, by far, the top grader by volume in 2024 with more than 15 million items graded.
CGC Cards graded more than 2.3 million cards in 2024 while SGC and Beckett each graded 1.87 million and 657,000, respectively.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.