CGC Just Made EB Games an Official Submission Center in Canada. Here Is How Drop-Off Grading Actually Works.
Canadian collectors can now hand sports cards, TCG cards and non-sports cards to EB Games for grading by CGC. Here is what a submission center does, what it does not do, the questions to ask at the counter, and where the model fits in a year of record grading volume.
Grading Comes to the Mall in Canada
CGC has appointed EB Games an Official Submission Center in Canada, which means Canadian collectors can now hand their sports cards, trading card game cards and non-sports cards to an EB Games location and have them shipped to CGC for authentication and grading. EB Games, the Canadian sister chain to GameStop, is describing the move as an expansion of its trading card business beyond selling packs and boxes. The partnership starts with cards, and both companies have said there is a longer-term opportunity to add other collectible categories CGC grades, such as video games.
It is a meaningful change in a market where grading has mostly meant mailing cards across the border or waiting for a show. It is also worth understanding what a submission center is and is not, because the model is becoming more common on both sides of the border.
What an Official Submission Center Actually Does
A submission center is a retail location authorized to accept cards on behalf of a grading company. The cards are not graded in the store. The process usually looks like this:
- Intake. You bring your cards, usually already in penny sleeves and semi-rigid holders. Staff record each card, the service tier you want, and your declared value for insurance.
- Batching. The store consolidates submissions from many customers and ships them to the grading company in bulk, on the store's account, with the store's insurance and packaging.
- Grading. The grading company processes the order under the store's dealer account. Turnaround follows the tier you chose, which is typically the grading company's posted turnaround plus the store's shipping and handling time on each end.
- Return. Graded cards come back to the store and you pick them up. Payment is usually collected at intake, either at the grading company's published fee or the store's own price.
Why Collectors Use Them
- No shipping risk on your end. The store handles packaging, insurance and cross-border paperwork, which in Canada means no customs declarations or duties surprises on the return trip.
- No account setup. You do not need a grading company membership or a dealer account to submit through a center.
- A human looks at your card first. Good submission counters will tell you when a card is not worth the fee. That alone saves beginners real money.
- Bulk pricing. Stores with dealer accounts sometimes pass along volume rates that individual submitters cannot access.
What to Ask Before You Hand Cards Over
- What is the all-in price per card, and does it differ from the grading company's published fee? Some centers add a handling charge. That is fair, but it should be disclosed.
- What is the realistic turnaround including store shipping cycles? A store that ships to the grader once a week can add up to two weeks on top of the posted timeline.
- How is my card tracked? You should leave with a receipt listing each card by name, set and declared value.
- What happens if a card is lost or damaged? Ask whether the store's insurance covers declared value and who files the claim.
- Which tiers are actually open? Grading companies have been pausing and reopening value tiers all year. The store can only submit into tiers the grader is currently accepting.
Where This Fits in the 2026 Grading Picture
Grading volume set records this summer, PSA's backlog has been in the millions of cards, SGC tripled its cheapest fee to manage demand, and Beckett paused and then reopened its budget tiers. Against that backdrop, graders are competing on access as much as price. CGC putting a submission counter in a national mall chain is a distribution play: it meets collectors where they already buy packs. Whether the turnaround holds up once submissions start flowing from dozens of EB Games locations is the thing to watch. CGC's bulk queue was running at about 150 working days in August.
For collectors in the United States, the same model exists at hundreds of independent card shops that act as authorized submission dealers for PSA, SGC, CGC and Beckett. If you have never graded a card, walking into a shop that offers it is the lowest-friction way to start.
Looking for a shop that takes grading submissions? Browse our card shop directory, and read our card grading guide before you submit.