CGC’s crossover service, which CGC spells CrossOver, takes a card out of a PSA, Beckett or SGC slab and puts it in a CGC holder only if CGC’s graders believe it will earn the same grade or a higher one. If they think it would come in lower, the card goes back to you in its old slab and the full grading fee still applies, unless you ticked the option to cross at any grade.
Where PSA asks you to name a minimum grade, the cgc crossover rule sets the bar for you: the number already printed on the other company’s label.
As of October 23, 2026: CGC prices CrossOver according to tier, so a crossover costs what grading costs, from $17 per card in Bulk (25-card minimum) to $300 plus 1% of fair market value in the Unlimited Value tier. CGC publishes no crossover pass rate.
The same-or-higher test behind every CGC crossover
CGC’s fee page states the rule in one sentence. CGC looks at the slabbed card first and removes it “only if CGC Cards believes that the card will receive a grade that is the same or higher than the grade assigned by the other grading service.”
Three things follow from that wording.
- The floor is automatic. A PSA 9 sent in the standard way can only become a CGC 9 or better. You do not fill in a minimum, as PSA requires on its own form.
- It is a judgment made through the plastic. CGC’s wording is about what it believes the card will get. The grade is formed before the slab is opened, so a flaw hidden by the old holder is a possibility at any grader.
- A miss is billed. If CGC decides the card falls short, it is “returned in its original holder and the full grading fee will still apply.”
Cross at Any Grade
If you want the card in CGC plastic whatever happens, CGC asks you to write CROSS AT ANY GRADE on the submission. The card then crosses even when CGC’s grade is lower than the old label. That option suits a collector consolidating a set into one brand of slab; it is a poor fit for a card whose current grade is what gives it value.
One holder is treated differently. CGC says it handles Beckett’s BCCG slabs as raw cards: they are removed and crossed at any grade automatically.
Which slabs are not on the list
CGC names three companies: PSA, Beckett and SGC. TAG is not among them, and TAG itself does not run a crossover service for other graders’ slabs, according to its help center in March 2026. A card in a TAG holder, or any slab CGC does not list, is outside the published CrossOver rule.
CGC crossover fees by tier, October 2026
Because CrossOver is charged according to tier, the table below is effectively the crossover price list. Turnarounds are CGC’s estimates in working days and are not guaranteed.
| CGC tier | Max value per card | Fee per card | Estimated turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulk (25-card minimum, mixed games allowed) | $500 | $17 | 150 working days |
| Economy | $1,000 | $20 | 90 working days |
| Standard | $3,000 | $55 | 10 working days |
| Express | $10,000 | $100 | 5 working days |
| WalkThrough | $100,000 | $300 | 2 working days |
| Unlimited Value | Unlimited | $300 + 1% FMV | 2 working days |
CGC also says Associate and Premium members save 10% on grading and Elite members save 20%. The page does not say separately whether that discount reaches CrossOver orders; ask before counting on it.
Fees moved twice in 2026
CGC announced new card fees effective January 6, 2026, with Bulk at $15 and Economy at $18. By October 23, 2026 the live page showed $17 and $20, so both have since gone up by $2.00 per card. We could not read a dated CGC notice for that second change, so we cannot give its effective date. Standard ($55) and Express ($100) match the January figures.
Declare the real value
CGC’s notes say that if it judges a card’s fair market value to be above what you declared, it “will move the collectible to the appropriate higher tier and the additional charge will be the responsibility of the submitter.” A PSA 10 that sells for more than $1,000 is not an Economy card, however patient you are.
What grade will the card read on a CGC label?
Crossing into CGC means landing on CGC’s scale, which has steps PSA does not.
- Two kinds of 10. CGC’s Gem Mint 10 tolerates front centering near 55/45 and back centering near 75/25, matching PSA’s top grade. Above it sits the Pristine 10, described as a virtually flawless card with 50/50 centering.
- A 9.5 that PSA lacks. CGC’s Mint+ 9.5 is described as a card showing “premium eye appeal for a Mint card.” PSA stops its half grades at 8.5, so a PSA 9 that CGC sees as a 9.5 would cross upward.
- Few numbers below 10 for Pokemon. The 9, 8 and 7 centering ratios on CGC’s scale page are labelled as applying to sports and non-sports cards; Pokemon cards get word descriptions of defects instead, so there is no published centering cutoff to check your card against below Gem Mint 10.
The 2023 relabel still trips people up
CGC’s current card scale dates from the 2023 combination of its trading card arm with CSG, and it took effect on July 11, 2023. CGC put it plainly: “Cards previously graded Gem Mint 9.5 are exactly equivalent to Gem Mint 10 under the updated grading scale”. It also retired Perfect 10: those slabs are reholdered as Pristine 10.
So an older CGC slab reading Gem Mint 9.5 is a 10 in CGC’s eyes today, not a peer of the current Mint+ 9.5. Keep that in mind when comparing a crossover result with older sales. Our CGC vs PSA grading scale comparison lines the grades up side by side, and this piece on centering risk explains why the 50/50 standard is so hard to hit.
CrossOver vs ReHolder at CGC
CGC runs a separate ReHolder service, and it is not a crossover. It takes a card already in a CGC or CSG holder and puts it in a new CGC holder; CGC says “The grade assigned to the card will not change.” It costs $10 per card with a 20-working-day estimate.
Asking for a new grade is a different request. CGC’s notes warn that items “submitted for regrading with their original label ARE NOT GUARANTEED TO RECEIVE THE SAME GRADE.” If you only want a fresh case for an old CGC or CSG slab, ReHolder is the low-risk route; our explainer on reholdering vs regrading covers that line in more depth.
CGC crossover vs PSA crossover at a glance
| CGC CrossOver | PSA Crossover | |
|---|---|---|
| Holders accepted | PSA, Beckett, SGC (BCCG treated as raw) | “Other companies”, no list published |
| Who sets the floor | The old label: same grade or higher | You: a minimum grade is mandatory |
| Accept any grade | Write CROSS AT ANY GRADE | Write a minimum of 1 |
| Fee if not crossed | Full grading fee | Full grading fee |
| Cheapest open tier, October 23, 2026 | Bulk, $17 (25-card minimum) | Standard, $59.99 |
| Half grade at 9.5 | Yes (Mint+ 9.5) | No |
Our PSA crossover guide covers the PSA side in full, and PSA to CGC crossover looks at why anyone moves a card in this direction at all.
Worked examples on CGC’s published fees
These are our examples on the fees CGC listed on October 23, 2026. They leave out shipping, insurance and any tax, and assume the cards are within each tier’s value cap.
- A Bulk order of 25 PSA-slabbed modern cards: 25 × $17 = $425.00 before discounts, owed whether all 25 cross or none do.
- Same order with a member discount, if it applies to CrossOver: $382.50 at 10% off, or $340.00 at 20% off.
The fee looks small next to PSA’s, but the turnaround is long: Bulk’s estimate was 150 working days. A card sitting in a grading queue cannot be sold, and its market can move a long way in that time.
Preparing a CGC crossover order: a checklist
None of this is CGC policy; it is the order of questions we would work through before sending a slab, built only on what CGC publishes.
- Is the holder on CGC’s list? PSA, Beckett and SGC are. A BCCG slab will be treated as raw and crossed whatever the result. Anything else, ask CGC first.
- What is the card worth in its current slab? That number picks the tier. Look at recent sold listings for the same card and grade, then pick the tier whose value cap sits above it, because CGC can move an under-declared card up and bill you.
- Do you care about the grade or the brand? If the grade is the point, leave the default same-or-higher rule in place. If you simply want every card in your binder in one kind of plastic, mark CROSS AT ANY GRADE on those cards only.
- Is the card a realistic Pristine candidate? Look at the borders through the slab. A card that is visibly off-center will not read Pristine 10, and a PSA 10 that only reaches Gem Mint 10 sits at the same number it started at.
- Can you wait? The cheap tiers carry the long queues. If you might want to sell during the next few months, the fee saving in Bulk can cost more than it saves.
- Have you recorded the old certification number? If the card crosses, the old label is gone. A photo of both sides of the slab and the cert number is a cheap record of where the card came from.
What CGC does not publish
CGC states the rule and the price. It does not state how often cards actually cross. No grading company publishes crossover pass rates, and CGC’s “same or higher” policy means a high rejection count would show up only as fees paid and slabs returned, never in a population report. Treat any confident percentage you see quoted elsewhere with suspicion; our crossover grading hub shows the population data we use and labels every estimate as ours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does CGC charge if a crossover fails?
Yes. If CGC decides the card will not reach the same or a higher grade, it returns the card in its original holder and the full grading fee still applies.
How much does a CGC crossover cost?
CGC prices CrossOver according to tier. On October 23, 2026 that meant $17 per card in Bulk with a 25-card minimum, $20 Economy, $55 Standard, $100 Express, $300 WalkThrough, and $300 plus 1% of fair market value for Unlimited Value.
Which slabs does CGC cross over?
CGC lists PSA, Beckett and SGC holders. It treats Beckett BCCG slabs as raw cards and crosses them at any grade. TAG slabs are not on the list.
What does Cross at Any Grade mean at CGC?
It tells CGC to put the card in a CGC holder even if CGC grades it lower than the old label. Without it, CGC only crosses cards it expects to grade the same or higher.
Is an old CGC 9.5 the same as a CGC 9.5 today?
No. Since CGC’s new scale took effect on July 11, 2023, an old Gem Mint 9.5 label counts as a Gem Mint 10. Today’s 9.5 is the Mint+ grade, one step below 10.
Can a PSA 10 cross over to a CGC Pristine 10?
It can if CGC grades it Pristine 10, which requires a virtually flawless card with 50/50 centering. PSA’s 10 allows roughly 55/45, so many PSA 10s would read Gem Mint 10 instead.
Sources
- Services and Fees: CGC Grading — CGC Cards, read October 23, 2026
- CGC Price Updates 2026 — CGC Cards, read October 23, 2026
- CGC Cards Grading Scale — CGC Cards, read October 23, 2026
- CGC Cards merger announcement — CGC Cards, 2023, read October 23, 2026
- CGC Cards launch — CGC Cards, 2023, read October 23, 2026
- Crossover — PSA, read October 23, 2026
- Trading Card Grading: pricing and services — PSA, read October 23, 2026
- Grading Standards — PSA, read October 23, 2026
- Does TAG offer a Crossover/Regrading Service for other third-party slabs? — TAG Help Center, March 31, 2026, read October 23, 2026
No grading company publishes crossover pass rates. Any crossover odds on this page are Pokemon Pricing’s estimate, labelled as one, built from the published grading standards and population reports on the dates shown. Fees, populations and sale prices change; check the grading company’s current price list before submitting. This article is collector information, not investment advice. Pokémon and all card names are trademarks of Nintendo, Creatures Inc. and GAME FREAK inc.; Pokemon Pricing is not affiliated with them or with any grading company.