CGC Membership Math - Which tier is right for you?

Hello everyone,

I figured Iโ€™d come up with a quick guide on which CGC membership tier makes the most sense depending on how much money you intend to spend on grading. This guide is specifically for submissions and does not account for the 10% discount from the CCG Store.

Happy collecting! :innocent:

Associate - $25 yearly

Yearly Submission Cost: $0 - $148

Seeing as how this tier costs $25 to sign up for and you get nothing of monetary value in return, this tier should only by used by those who are submitting less than $150 worth of cards per year. This only makes sense for those who wish to submit a few cards.

Since bulk requires 25 cards or more, this tier does not make financial sense for those wishing to submit in bulk.

Tier Cost for Tier Min Number of Cards Max Number of Cards
Bulk - - -
Bulk w/ subgrades - - -
Economy $25/card 1 ($25) 5 ($125)
Economy w/ subgrades $40/card 1 ($40) 3 ($120)
Standard $35/card 1 ($35) 4 ($140)
Standard w/ subgrades $50/card 1 ($50) 2 ($100)
Express $70/card 1 ($70) 2 ($140)
Express w/ subgrades $85/card 1 ($85) 1 ($85)
WalkThrough - - -
WalkThrough w/ subgrades - - -

Premium - $149 yearly

Yearly Submission Cost: $149 - $1499

Unlike any of the other tiers, this tier is completely recouped by store credit. At a cost of $149/yr, you actually end up getting one free dollar, due to the $150 store credit that this tier gives you.

For anyone submitting in bulk (25 cards or more), this tier or higher is a necessity.

Tier Cost for Tier Min Number of Cards Max Number of Cards
Bulk $15/card 25 ($375) 99 ($1485)
Bulk w/ subgrades $30/card 25 ($750) 49 ($1470)
Economy $25/card 6 ($150) 59 ($1475)
Economy w/ subgrades $40/card 4 ($160) 24 ($1440)
Standard $35/card 5 ($175) 42 ($1470)
Standard w/ subgrades $50/card 3 ($150) 29 ($1450)
Express $70/card 3 ($210) 21 ($1470)
Express w/ subgrades $85/card 2 ($170) 17 ($1445)
WalkThrough $150/card 1 ($150) 9 ($1350)
WalkThrough w/ subgrades $165/card 1 ($165) 9 ($1435)

Elite - $299 yearly

Yearly Submission Cost: $1500+

This tier is quite costly, and the average submitter will probably not use it. If you happen to be spending more than $1500 on grading in a year, then this tier is for you.

Tier Cost for Tier Min Number of Cards
Bulk $13.50/card 112 ($1512)
Bulk w/ subgrades $27/card 56 ($1512)
Economy $22.50/card 67 ($1507.50)
Economy w/ subgrades $36/card 42 ($1512)
Standard $31.50/card 48 ($1512)
Standard w/ subgrades $45/card 34 ($1530)
Express $63/card 24 ($1512)
Express w/ subgrades $76.50/card 20 ($1530)
WalkThrough $135/card 12 ($1620)
WalkThrough w/ subgrades $148.50/card 11 ($1633.50)

Math for those interested

When figuring out when it is more beneficial to buy Elite instead of Premium, we have to determine at what price point getting 10% off of the total order is worth the additional $150/yr charge.

Let t = total submission cost

Premium:

p = t + 149 - 150
p = t - 1

Elite:

e = 0.9t + 299 - 150
e = 0.9t + 149

Finding the intersection:

t - 1 = 0.9t + 149
t = 0.9t + 150
0.1t = 150
t = 1500
16 Likes

Do you have a script for this (or excel?). It might have to be updated any time cgc changes prices :joy:

Something like this might also be able to be embedded in the post like a calculator

I donโ€™t have a script for this, I did it manually. But yes, if they update their prices it will have to be updated :slight_smile:

Where can I read more about embedding a calculator? Sounds cool.

I like this post, I used to grade with CGC a lot in 2021, I remember the walkthrough was 65/card.

1 Like