Tiers trade speed for price

Grading companies offer tiers: cheaper, slower economy/bulk service for lower-value cards, and pricier, faster express service for valuable ones (often with a declared-value requirement). Higher-value cards generally must use higher tiers.

Turnaround can swing a lot

Wait times range from days to many weeks or months depending on the tier and how busy the grader is. During hype cycles, backlogs grow — factor the wait into your plans, especially if you intend to sell.

Make the fee pay off

Grading is worth it when the expected graded value beats the raw value plus fees. Check what the card sells for at each grade first — Slabline’s card pages show value by grade so you can sanity-check the math before you spend.