March '24 Grading Recap
Published April 2nd, 2024
- Overall grading activity set an all-time high with over 1.7 million cards graded in March. Total output was up 8% in March compared to February (and up 13% YoY).
- PSA graded 1.33m cards - up 8% vs February, and up 9% YoY. This is an all-time high for PSA.
- CGC graded 185k cards - up 13% vs February, and up 62% YoY.
- SGC graded 147k cards - up 1% vs February, and up 22% YoY.
- Beckett graded 66k cards - up 1% vs February, and down 6% YoY.
- Overall grading activity set an all-time high with over 1.7 million cards graded in March. Total output was up 8% in March compared to February (and up 13% YoY).
- PSA graded 1.33m cards - up 8% vs February, and up 9% YoY. This is an all-time high for PSA.
- CGC graded 185k cards - up 13% vs February, and up 62% YoY.
- SGC graded 147k cards - up 1% vs February, and up 22% YoY.
- Beckett graded 66k cards - up 1% vs February, and down 6% YoY.
March Grading Summary
March Grading Summary - Sports
March Grading Summary - TCG+
Items Graded - by Month
Items Graded - by Month - Excluding PSA
Category Comparison
TCG Cards Graded at PSA
Items Graded by Era
Gem Rate Breakdown by Era
March 2024 PSA Grading Recap
- PSA graded 1,339,548 items during March; total output increased 8% vs February and was up 9% year-over-year.
- PSA graded 1,339,548 items during March; total output increased 8% vs February and was up 9% year-over-year.
Category Summary
Football set the pace again in March
- TCG was 36% of cards graded (vs 39% in November). This was the first year-over-year decline for TCG since the start of 2023.
- Football (+18%), basketball (+15%), baseball (+11%), and soccer (+24%) drove sports card grading growth in March.
- Non-sport was also up a noteworthy 32% in March.
Set Summary - Sports & Other
2023 Prizm football dominated the top sets
Set Summary - TCG+
Pokemon 151 (English) moves ahead of Japanese 151
Player Summary - Sports & Other
Ohtani holds off Stroud for the top spot
Subject Summary - TCG
Charizard widens lead in March
Card Summary - Sports & Other
CJ Stroud claims the top two spots with Wembanyama lurking
Card Summary - TCG
Van Gogh Pikachu maintains its large lead at the top
What's Next for PSA?
- PSA set a record high for grading activity in March, finally crossing the elusive 1.3 million card threshold, with a really solid performance across all of the sports categories. While sports had an excellent month, it is worth noting that TCG suffered its first year-over-year decline in activity in the past 2+ years - making the strong sports performance particularly well timed.
- A few things we are watching. 1) PSA released a meaningful mid-month grading special - something we’ve rarely seen PSA do over the past couple of years. That special was carried into April along with a modest TCG special. 2) Card cleaning surfaced as a major topic and likely isn’t going anywhere soon. 3) Lastly, we continue to be interested in the coming release of graders notes.
- Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Collectors/PSA has been more active in the press since late 2023. From an outside perspective, it appears the company is actively trying to bring awareness to its business momentum beyond the traditional collecting community.
March 2024 SGC Grading Recap
- SGC graded 147,854 cards during March - a 1% increase vs February and a 22% increase year-over-year.
- SGC graded 147,854 cards during March - a 1% increase vs February and a 22% increase year-over-year.
Category Summary
Basketball, hockey, and soccer were the top categories in March
- Basketball was the top performing category by volume in March (+15%). Hockey (+11%) and soccer (+32%) also performed well.
Set Summary
2023 Bowman Draft was the top graded set
Player (& Subject) Summary
Jordan holds top spot with Stroud moving to second
Card Summary
Wyatt Langford appears at number one
What's Next for SGC?
- SGC had a strong March, on the heels of the acquisition announcement. SGC has noted that they’ve built up a bit more of a queue/backlog than they’ve traditionally carried over the past two years, and as a result, turnaround times have been extended.
- Overall, it was another good month for SGC. The company’s play to get more aggressive with baseball specials appears to be paying dividends as the baseball category remains strong without an active promotion in the market.
Other Graders - CGC
Category Summary
Set Summary
Card Summary
What's Next for CGC?
- CGC quietly put up another strong month of results in March. TCG continues to perform well. However, sports saw an increase in activity thanks to the company’s efforts related to on-site grading in China.
- CGC continues to check a lot of the boxes required to get more slabs into the grading room. How that is translating to buzz and secondary market activity is still an outstanding question and one to monitor, especially on the heels of the SGC acquisition.
Other Charts - Beckett
Category Summary
Card Summary - Sports
Card Summary - TCG
What's Next for Beckett?
- Beckett results in March were consistent with February. A solid month, but not a lot of new news here, as has been the case for some time.