🔍 How to prep cards for grading
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Grading costs money, so it pays to check a card carefully before you send it. Here's the routine we follow, step by step.
Step 1: Decide if the card is worth grading
Look up what the card sells for raw (ungraded) and what it sells for graded, then compare that difference to the grading fee plus shipping both ways. If a high grade wouldn't add much value, the card is probably happier in a top loader. Grading makes the most sense for cards that are valuable, in great shape, or special to you.
Step 2: Inspect it under good light
Graders look at four things: corners, edges, surface and centering. Tiny flaws that are hard to see by eye can drop a grade, so use a loupe or magnifier and a bright lamp.
- Corners: look for soft or rounded tips, fraying, and white dots.
- Edges: check the back edges especially, where whitening and chipping show up most.
- Surface: tilt the card under the light to spot scratches, print lines, dents, and fingerprints. Holo and foil cards show scratches easily.
Step 3: Clean the surface gently
Fingerprints and dust can be mistaken for flaws. Hold the card by its edges and wipe the surface lightly with a clean, dry, lint-free microfiber cloth, moving in one direction. Use almost no pressure.
Step 4: Check the centering
Centering compares the border widths on opposite sides of the card. A card that's 50/50 is perfectly centered; one that's 70/30 has a much thicker border on one side. Each grading company publishes how off-center a card can be for each grade, and the top grade only allows a small amount, so check the current standard on the grader's website. A centering tool makes this quick and much more accurate than guessing.
Step 5: Sleeve it the way graders want
Put the card in a clean penny sleeve, then slide the sleeved card into a semi-rigid holder like a Card Saver I. Graders such as PSA prefer semi-rigids over hard top loaders because the card is easier to remove without damage. Don't use tape on the holder, and don't send cards in magnetic holders or screw-downs unless the grader asks for them.
Step 6: Fill out the form and double-check
Each card on your submission form needs the right year, set, card number and name. Mistakes slow things down. Put the cards in the same order as the form, and take a quick photo of the front and back of each card so you have a record of its condition before it leaves your hands.
Step 7: Pack it to survive the trip
- Stack the Card Savers together and wrap the stack so the cards can't slide around.
- Sandwich the stack between two pieces of stiff cardboard so it can't bend.
- Use a small box, not a bubble mailer, with padding so nothing rattles.
- Ship with tracking, and insurance for valuable cards. Follow your grading company's packing instructions too, since each one has its own rules.
Before paying for grading, make sure the card is genuine. Our guide on how to spot fake Pokémon cards covers the quick checks, and penny sleeves vs toploaders vs one-touch explains the holders mentioned above.
See everything we recommend on our gear page, or browse the cards in the vault.
More collector guides
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How to read a card, rarity symbols, packs vs singles, condition and protecting your first pulls.
- 🕵️ How to spot fake Pokémon cards
Eight fast checks, from spelling and set numbers to the light test, plus where to buy safely.
- 🗄️ How to store a card collection
Sort, box, binder and toploader the right cards, and keep them cool, dry and out of the sun.
- 🛡️ Penny sleeves vs toploaders vs one-touch
What each holder protects against, which cards need which, and a simple system to follow.
- 📒 The best binders for Pokémon cards
Side-loading vs top-loading, zip vs strap, how many pockets, and the two binder mistakes that damage cards.