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CGC comic grading in 2026 costs $27 to $135 or more per book, set by era and declared value

By the PopJunk Serials desk. Updated Nov 1, 2026

CGC prices a comic by three things: the book's era, the value you declare and how fast you want it back. Grade is not one of them. On 1 November 2026, the fee ran from $27 a book for Modern Bulk to a $135 minimum on Unlimited Value. A single modern book declared at $450 cost $105 in the High Value tier.

Eight tiers carry the fee, the value cap and the speed

Source, read 1 November 2026: https://www.cgccomics.com/services/

Turnaround is CGC's estimate in working days and CGC states it is not guaranteed. The era tiers, Modern from 1975 to the present and Vintage before 1975, stop at a declared value of $400. High Value goes to $1,000 and Unlimited Value has no cap. The two Bulk tiers apply the Modern and Vintage terms at a lower fee, with a 25-book minimum.

A book that crosses the cap moves to a higher tier

A book declared at $450 does not fit Modern or Vintage, because both stop at $400. It goes to High Value. The extra over a Modern book is $75, and it buys the higher cap and the faster estimate. It has nothing to do with how the book grades.

CGC's page adds a rule that matters to anyone declaring low. If CGC decides a book's fair market value is higher than the value declared, it moves the book to the higher tier and the submitter pays the difference.

Worked totals show where each tier wins

Each row is the cheapest tier on the table that fits the submission. The last column adds the $5 online handling fee that CGC charges per invoice. Paper submissions pay $8 instead.

Twenty-five modern books at $100 each cost $675 in Modern Bulk. The same books in the Modern tier cost $30 each, which is $750. The difference is $3 a book.

Unlimited Value works as a percentage. The fee is 4 percent of fair market value, with a $135 minimum per book. A book at $5,000 comes to $200 by the percentage. A book at $2,000 comes to $80 by the percentage and is charged the $135 minimum.

Membership discounts cut the grading fee by 10 or 20 percent

The fees in the table are the free-account fees. CGC's page states that Associate and Premium members save 10 percent on grading and Elite members save 20 percent. CGC's membership page states the same discounts and adds that they cover pressing, autograph services and Fast Track. The table below applies them to the 25 modern books above and leaves the handling fee at full price, since the page words the discount as a saving on grading.

Membership has its own annual cost, listed on CGC's membership page. Set that cost against the savings before joining for a single submission.

Fast Track adds $15 a book and halves the estimate

Fast Track applies to the four era tiers. It adds $15 a book and moves the estimate from 60 working days to 30. For the 25 modern books, the grading fee becomes $1,050, up from $675.

The fees changed on 6 January 2026

CGC's news post on its 2026 price updates states that the new prices took effect on 6 January 2026 for submissions made in the US. Forms completed online before that date kept the earlier pricing if the books reached CGC in Sarasota, Florida by 20 January 2026. The post lists a Vintage Bulk tier as new, and it lists a $4 fee on each shipment sent through the submitter's own shipping account. It does not print the earlier fees, so no before and after comparison is possible from it.

The comic figures in that post match the services page read for this guide: Modern Bulk $27, Modern $30, Vintage Bulk $42, Vintage $45, High Value $105 and Unlimited Value at 4 percent with a $135 minimum.

Pressing and Signature Series carry separate price lists

Pressing is a separate service with its own fee table. When read, the pressing page listed Modern Bulk at $10, Modern at $12, Vintage Bulk at $27 and Vintage at $30 a book, and it states that pressing turnaround is added on top of grading turnaround. Its Unlimited Value row says grading fees are additional, so a pressed book pays both bills. Signature Series has its own comic fees in the same news post. Neither is priced in the tables here, and a pressed, signed book runs up three separate lines before it ships.

The calculator totals an order from the same data

The grading cost calculator holds the CGC comics tiers shown above. Enter the number of books and the value of each, add the handling fee and your own shipping and insurance, and it totals the order. It reads the same data file as this page, so the two agree.

Sources

• CGC Comics, Services and Fees, read 1 November 2026. Source of every tier, cap, minimum, turnaround, handling fee and Fast Track figure.
• CGC Comics, CGC grading fees, read 1 November 2026. Same figures, second page.
• CGC, 2026 price updates, read 1 November 2026. Source of the effective date and the $4 shipment fee.
• CGC Comics, Membership, read 1 November 2026. Source of the discount scope.
• CGC Comics, Pressing, read 1 November 2026. Source of the pressing fees quoted.