Five business days sits right in the middle of TGA's speed spectrum, and Express Grading has become a popular middle-ground choice for collectors who want their cards back reasonably quickly without paying Same Day's full premium. At $35 per card, it's a meaningful step up from Standard pricing.
Whether that five-day window actually fits your needs depends on what you're planning to do with the card once it's graded.
Here's a closer look at where Express Grading fits.
None of this requires prior grading experience to follow, and the same logic applies whether you're submitting a single card or several.
Collectors preparing for an upcoming show, planning a sale within the next couple weeks, or simply wanting results faster than Standard without paying the Same Day premium are the clearest fit for Express. It splits the difference between cost and speed effectively.
It's also a reasonable choice for smaller submissions where the total cost difference between tiers is only a few dollars per card.
At $35 per card versus Standard's $19, Express nearly doubles the per-card cost in exchange for a confirmed turnaround window rather than an open-ended wait. For collectors who value predictability over pure cost savings, that tradeoff is often worth it.
Standard Grading remains the better value when timing genuinely doesn't matter and the lower price is the priority.
Prepping cards properly before shipping makes the actual grading process go smoothly regardless of tier. EVORETRO's Graded Card Sleeves are ready once your cards return.
For a card you're planning to display right away, EVORETRO's Magnetic Acrylic Display Case gives it a premium presentation.
Business days exclude weekends and holidays, so a submission processed on a Thursday realistically returns the following week rather than exactly five calendar days later. Planning around business days, not calendar days, avoids miscalculating when a card will actually be back in hand.
Building in a small buffer beyond the confirmed turnaround window is a reasonable practice for anything tied to a hard deadline.
For a personal collection piece with no sale or event deadline attached, Standard Grading's lower price usually makes more sense than paying extra for speed that isn't actually needed. The five-day window only has value if something is actually waiting on it.
Reserving Express specifically for submissions with a real timeline keeps grading costs proportional to actual need.
Collectors submitting several cards at once don't have to put everything on the same tier — a couple of time-sensitive cards can go Express while the rest go Standard. This mixed approach often delivers the best overall value across a mixed-priority submission.
Sorting cards by actual urgency before submitting, rather than defaulting every card to the same tier, is worth the extra few minutes of planning.
When genuinely uncertain whether a submission needs Express speed, defaulting to Standard Grading and simply planning further ahead is usually the more cost-effective choice. Express earns its premium specifically when a real, confirmed timeline exists — not as a general hedge against uncertainty.
This kind of deliberate tier selection, rather than defaulting to speed out of habit, adds up to meaningful savings across multiple submissions over time.
Turnaround estimates can stretch during particularly busy periods, such as right after a major set release when submission volume spikes industry-wide. Building in extra buffer time around these predictable peak periods helps avoid disappointment when a five-day estimate takes a bit longer than expected.
Submitting slightly ahead of a known busy window, rather than right in the middle of it, is a simple way to improve your odds of hitting the standard turnaround.
$35 per card, with a confirmed 5-business-day turnaround.
No, Express Grading has no minimum requirement.
It costs nearly double Standard's $19 per card in exchange for a faster, confirmed turnaround.
Yes, different cards in the same submission can use different tiers based on urgency.
Turnaround estimates can extend slightly during high-volume periods, so building in a small buffer is wise.
Express Grading earns its price when a real deadline is in play. Browse EVORETRO's graded card accessories collection to get ready for your cards' return, and plan your timeline around business days rather than the calendar.
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