October 5 primary notice checked October 14, 2026. Routing, insurance and appointment requirements are operator statements. No shipment, turnaround, grade outcome, appointment or total-cost comparison was independently tested.
WHY IT MATTERS
For a Hong Kong submission, confirm whether the complete order is TCG-only. CGC’s notice sends sports, non-sports and mixed orders to Sarasota and back, while local TCG grading is a separate route.
TCG-only submissions have a local grading route
CGC’s October 5 announcement says trading card games are now graded full-time at its Hong Kong office. It explains that those TCG submissions no longer need to be shipped to its Florida headquarters for grading.
This is a service-routing distinction for collectors using the Hong Kong office, not a claim that every category submitted there stays in Hong Kong. The notice also distinguishes full-time office work from separate on-site grading events at trade shows. A submission at an office and a special show service should not be treated as the same timetable.
A mixed order follows the Sarasota route
The notice explicitly says only TCGs are currently graded full-time in Hong Kong. Sports cards, non-sports cards and mixed orders containing TCGs with other cards continue to be sent with insurance to CGC’s headquarters in Sarasota, Florida. After grading, those submissions travel back to the Hong Kong office, again with insurance, for return to submitters.
Before completing paperwork, identify each card’s category and ask which route applies to the complete proposed order. Adding a sports card to a TCG submission is therefore not merely another row on a checklist: under the published mixed-order rule, it changes the stated grading destination.
Do not assume splitting an order is automatically cheaper or faster. The announcement does not calculate separate-order costs or guarantee a completion date. Confirm the service quote and return arrangements for the route you actually choose.
Local grading has no additional local-service fee
CGC says there is no additional fee for local grading. That statement concerns the Hong Kong TCG service; it does not make grading, insurance or other submission costs free. The notice links service fees rather than setting one price for every submission.
Submissions may go through an Authorized Dealer or directly to the Hong Kong office. The announcement states that office visits are by appointment only. Check the operator’s current instructions and the applicable quote before arranging a handover. No appointment, dealer submission, payment or shipment was tested for this report.
Keep the route distinct from the expected grade
Local grading changes where the service is carried out; it does not promise the grade a collector wants. The announcement’s statements about quality, speed and demand are the operator’s promotional claims, not independently measured results in this report.
Keep the service selection, card list and submission confirmation together. If a collection mixes Pokémon or another TCG with sports or non-sports cards, resolve that category boundary before transferring custody. The relevant question is where the complete order will be graded and how it returns, not simply which office receives it.
