I have been closely following SGC news since they were acquired by PSA parent company Collectors. An SGC loyalist, I had early optimism that SGC might be repositioned as a vintage-only boutique-type grader. Frankly, that would just represent a return to pre-COVID business as usual. But in this Vintage Grading Report, we are confronted with hard data that might signal the end of an era for the SGC brand.
Since the acquisition, the news has gone from bad to worse. Popular SGC President Peter Steinberg resigned. PSA moved into the same building as SGC HQ in Boca Raton, Florida. SGC discontinued bulk submitter rates. PSA began cross-training SGC employees. The list goes on.
And given the developments since Cardhound’s June report Grading Shake-Up and the Future of SGC, I think I’m finally ready to concede what many readers suggested then. Collectors seems intent on running SGC into the ground and folding both their physical and human resources into expanding PSA’s market share and card processing capacity. It’s hard to make any other case at the moment, absent a convincing statement to the contrary by PSA’s Ryan Hoge.
SGC Volume in Tailspin
Think I’m overreacting? Well, let’s take a look at Gemrate’s September card grading data:
You read that right–SGC processed fewer cards than Beckett last month! And as we have detailed in the past, Beckett is also clearly on life support. Notably, SGC still handily outperformed Beckett for sports–Beckett is now primarily a Pokemon grader, and SGC has almost no market there.
A Look at Vintage
In recent months, SGC had actually outperformed PSA in vintage market share. As recently as July, Cardhound documented that SGC had taken over the top spot for vintage! That was a remarkable feat, considering the nearly 10 to 1 market share otherwise. That data bolstered my opinion that PSA and SGC would coexist, with PSA conceding vintage share to SGC, leaving consumers with choice and in vintage, a preference for SGC.
But let’s look at this sudden turn of events:
While 1960’s and earlier still represents a large share of SGC’s business, the volume decline is unprecedented. Based on the number of sports items graded (714k for PSA and 56k for SGC), this means that:
- PSA graded 33,000 cards 1960’s and earlier last month
- SGC graded 16,000 cards 1960’s and earlier last month
In previous recent months, SGC was actually grading more vintage cards than PSA. In June 2025:
1950’s and earlier represented 2.6% of PSA’s sports volume = 13,650 cards graded
1950’s and earlier represented 12.2% of SGC’s sports volume = 17,880 cards graded
SGC also graded more sports cards from the 1960’s than PSA as recently as June. So in short, SGC was a 50 / 50 competitor for vintage sports, just 2 months ago.
So in the span of a couple of months, SGC has been transitioned from viable competition for PSA in vintage, to nearly an afterthought. Amazing, and sad. Even if you are a PSA collector, if you are a vintage specialist, the loss of competition in this space is not a positive development.
What’s Next?
Admittedly, I’m still digesting this information. I suspected SGC would be “down,” but not like this. I’ll surely write a follow-up after talking to some insiders, and will be pondering questions such as:
- Is the intention to shutter SGC? When?
- If not, will SGC be explicitly repositioned in some way (vintage only, etc.)?
- Does SGC’s shrinkage open doors for CGC and Beckett in vintage?
- Will SGC’s share just slide over quietly to PSA? (Something most SGC collectors like me said would never happen)
Your thoughts and opinions are welcome in the Comments and this article will be updated as new information comes available.
