Technical Authentication & Grading
TAG
The most transparent grade you can buy — every point deduction itemised — but the market still pays for PSA's label, not TAG's evidence.
Our score57/100TierBNo. 5 on the scorecards
Resale standingEmergingNot carried by eBay's guarantee or the major auction houses, but sold in volume at a meaningful share of PSA's price.
Cheapest way in$29.95Value, 10-card minimum, cards up to $250
Typical turnaroundAbout 45 business days (Standard)Reader reports →
Backlog4% down 13 pts since 30 Sep · Of a month's capacity · As of 20 Oct · History →
Cert lookupPublicVerify a cert →
Owned byIndependentFounded 2022
The short version
3 min to read it all, belowWhy it scores 57
The full breakdownWhere the slab sells
- eBay Authenticity GuaranteeSearchable, not covered
- Major US auction housesNot standard inventory
- Public cert lookupYes
What to watch
Capacity has been the constraint through 2026. TAG paused Basic and Standard on 1 May and Express on 28 May as its backlog peaked at about 420% of monthly processing capacity.
All known concernsPricing
Official price listTAG reopened five tiers on 30 September 2026 after its backlog pause and added back a sixth, Value, by 21 October: $29.95 per card, grade only, with a 10-card minimum, about 90 business days and $250 cover.
| Tier | Price | Minimum | Card value up to | Quoted turnaround | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $29.95per card | 10 cards | $250 | 90 business days | Grade only; reopened by 21 Oct 2026 |
| Base | $39.95per card | 5 cards | $500 | About 60 business days | Grade only |
| Standard | $59.95per card | — | $1,000 | 45 business days | Adds the 1,000-point Score |
| Priority | $79.95per card | — | $1,500 | 30 business days | |
| Express | $149.95per card | — | $2,500 | 10 business days | |
| Premier | $299.95per card | — | $5,000 | 3–5 business days | Formerly Walkthrough; $10,000 cover available |
Prices as checked on 21 Oct 2026. They change often; the grader's own list is the final word.
Base is $39.95 per card (grade only, 5-card minimum, about 60 business days, $500 cover). Standard is $59.95 (grade plus the 1,000-point Score, 45 days, $1,000). Priority is $79.95 (30 days, $1,500). Express is $149.95 (10 days, $2,500). Premier, formerly Walkthrough, is $299.95 (3–5 days, $5,000, with $10,000 available). No value-based upcharges. Before the May pause the cheapest grade was $22, so Value is back but not at its old price; Standard and Priority now sit 4 cents under PSA's tiers of the same names. TAG says it may limit or pause individual tiers again if demand exceeds capacity.
The full file
What sets them apart
The most evidenced grade in the hobby. Cameras and AI score every card on a 1-1000 scale with each point deduction itemised, delivered as a QR-linked digital report — no other grader shows its working like this.
Independent of Collectors Holdings. Submission volume grew more than 800% between January 2025 and April 2026.
Where the slab sells
The gap is recognition rather than rigour: TAG's grades are arguably the most evidenced in the hobby, but evidence is not what the resale market prices.
eBay
Listed in eBay's professional grader filter, so buyers can search for TAG slabs — but TAG is not among the four graders covered by eBay's Authenticity Guarantee.
A TAG-graded card sold above $200 receives no eBay authentication or buyer protection.
Auction houses
Not standard inventory at Goldin, Heritage or PWCC, which key their catalogs to the four majors.
Card shops and general resale
Recognized by collectors who follow grading technology, but buyers search PSA and BGS populations when checking comparables, not TAG's.
Turnaround
TAG's own estimates as of 30 Sep 2026: Base 60, Standard 45, Priority 30, Express 10, Premier 3–5 business days.
Estimates were badly overrun during the 2026 backlog.
Backlog over time
TAG's backlog stood at 4% of a month's capacity on 20 Oct, down 233 pts from 237% on 14 Jul. At its highest it was 420% of a month's capacity; TAG gave no date for that.
of a month's capacity, 7 dated readings since 14 Jul. The blue dot is the latest; hollow dots are unconfirmed or worked out. Spacing is real time. Every reading is in the table below.
| Date | Reading | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct | 4% down 13 pts | Worked out | ConfirmedWorked out from TAG's tracker update of 20 Oct 2026: backlog 'reduced by approximately 99% from peak', and the peak was approximately 420% of monthly capacity, so 420% x 1/100 = 4.2%. TAG calls the backlog 'Nearly Complete' and has opened its Value tier. |
| 30 Sep | 17% down 46 pts | Worked out | ConfirmedWorked out from TAG's tracker update of 30 Sep 2026: backlog 'reduced by approximately 96% from peak', and the peak was approximately 420% of monthly capacity, so 420% x 4/100 = 16.8%. |
| 16 Sep | 63% down 38 pts | Worked out | ConfirmedWorked out from TAG's tracker update of 16 Sep 2026: backlog 'reduced by approximately 85% from peak', and the peak was approximately 420% of monthly capacity, so 420% x 15/100 = 63.0%. Also in our 20 Sep wire piece. |
| 26 Aug | 101% down 33 pts | Grader's page | ConfirmedTAG's tracker update of 26 Aug 2026: 'active backlog load is now approximately 101% of monthly processing capacity' (76% down from peak). |
| 13 Aug | 134% down 55 pts | Worked out | Confirmed |
| 29 Jul | 189% down 48 pts | Worked out | ConfirmedWorked out from TAG's tracker update of 29 Jul 2026: backlog 'reduced by approximately 55% from peak', and the peak was approximately 420% of monthly capacity, so 420% x 45/100 = 189.0%. |
| 14 Jul | 237% | Grader's page | ConfirmedTAG's tracker update of 14 Jul 2026: 'current backlog load is approximately 237% of monthly processing capacity, down from a peak of approximately 420%'. |
| Date unknown | 420% | Grader's page | ConfirmedTAG's tracker: at its highest point the active backlog was approximately 420% of then-current monthly processing capacity. TAG gives no date for the peak. |
Price history
TAG has not raised a listed price since Jul 2026.
Show the price history: 6 tiers, 8 changes
1 sightings come from archived copies of its pricing page; the rest are from our own records. Small ticks are sightings where the price held. A line ends where the evidence ends.
Value$29.95 new 26 Oct 2026
Base$39.95 new 30 Sep 2026
Standard$59.95 new 30 Sep 2026
Priority$79.95 new 30 Sep 2026
Express$149.95 new 30 Sep 2026
Premier$299.95 new 30 Sep 2026
Every change
| Date | Tier | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Oct 2026 | Value | First recorded at $29.95Routine checked the pricing page: unchanged | Our twice-weekly check |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Base | Reopened at $39.95Our current price table (Grade only) | Our price table |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Standard | First recorded at $59.95Our current price table (Adds the 1,000-point Score) | Our price table |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Priority | First recorded at $79.95Our current price table | Our price table |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Express | First recorded at $149.95Our current price table | Our price table |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Premier | First recorded at $299.95Our current price table (Formerly Walkthrough; $10,000 cover available) | Our price table |
| 22 Jul 2026 | Base | Paused, no prices listedTAG's pricing page banner: 'Regular tiers paused'. No prices listed. | Archived page |
| Date unknown | Base | $22, date not recordedThe cheapest TAG grade before the pause, per our 30 Sep Wire report. TAG's date for it is not recorded. | Our Wire report |
An archived page shows the price on the day it was saved, so a change happened somewhere between that page and the one before it.
The slab and the label
Subgrades: Four, online only
An unremarkable clear holder, and deliberately so — TAG's argument lives in the data attached to the slab rather than in the plastic around it.
Example slab shown for reference, not a card the editor owns.
TAG says the slab is completely sealed by ultrasonic welding at points around the edge, though not hermetically; through the clear edges those weld points can look like cracks. The standard slab is 5.25 by 3.125 inches, about the size of a CGC slab.
The black label puts a QR code beside the grade, and scanning it returns the DIG report: high-resolution defect maps, per-attribute scores and population. It is the only label here that treats itself as an index to evidence rather than a verdict.
What they grade
- Sports Cards
- TCG
Who it's for
- Personal Collection
- Authentication
- Condition Documentation
- Insurance
Condition documentation, where nothing else comes close. Every tier from Standard up includes the 1,000-point Score; cover runs from $500 on Base to $5,000 on Premier.
Tiers reopened on 30 September 2026 and may be limited again if demand outruns capacity.
Known concerns
Capacity has been the constraint through 2026. TAG paused Basic and Standard on 1 May and Express on 28 May as its backlog peaked at about 420% of monthly processing capacity.
By 30 September it reported that backlog down 96% and reopened every tier, with full catch-up still estimated for October. It warns tiers may be limited or paused again, and its turnaround estimates were overrun during the backlog.
Pricing is the newer concern. The reopened ladder costs 54–82% more at the bottom than before the pause and now tracks PSA's to within 4 cents on Standard and Priority, which removes the price argument for a slab the resale market recognizes less. Recognition is the longer-term concern — the open question is whether objective grading converts into market share, or stays a preference among collectors who value the data more than the liquidity.
History
TAG was built on a different premise: that grading should be measured rather than judged. It began grading cards in 2022, using patented computer-vision imaging developed over the preceding years by founder Steve Kass, rather than relying on a grader's eye.
The output reflects that. Every card is scored on a 1,000-point scale, then translated to the familiar 1–10 with half points so the market can read it. Submitters get an itemized digital report showing exactly where points were lost, reachable from the slab itself.
Service tiers split by how much of that a submitter wants: verification only, a standard 1–10 grade, or the full 1,000-point score and ranking.
Score breakdown
Five parts, each scored 0 to 100 and weighted. Market acceptance carries 60 of the 100, because the point of a slab is what the market pays for it.
Market acceptance 48 / 100 (weight 60). The other four parts together 71 / 100 (weight 40).
Market acceptance
48 / 100weight 60adds 28.8
Sold-price evidence: a TAG 10 sells for about 110% of a PSA 10 of the same card (1,948 Pokémon cards, TCGCharts). Sports cards have no equivalent sample yet.
Unverified, scored as zero: Recognised in a major non-US market.
Trust and verifiability
80 / 100weight 15adds 12.0
Holder and label
65 / 100weight 10adds 6.5
+5 The QR code returns the DIG report, with high-resolution defect maps, per-attribute scores and population.
Turnaround and access
85 / 100weight 5adds 4.3
−5 TAG warns it may limit or pause tiers again, and its turnaround estimates were badly overrun during the 2026 backlog.
Pricing
55 / 100weight 10adds 5.5
Weighted total 57.1, shown as 57 out of 100.
Scored on 10 Oct 2026. 1 input could not be verified and scores zero. How we score
On the Wire
All 3 TAG storiesReader reports
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