Guide · Before you submit

Pre-grading checklist: what to check before you grade a card

Grading costs money and takes weeks. Ten minutes of checking at home tells you which cards deserve a submission and which should stay raw.

Updated September 26, 2026 · 7 min read

1. Centering

Centering is the only factor you can put a number on, and it caps the grade no matter how clean the rest of the card is.

• Measure the front and back with CardCenter Pro.
• Compare the worst axis with the grade you're aiming for (see centering standards).
• If the front is past 60/40, a PSA 10 is very unlikely. If it's past 55/45, don't count on a BGS 9.5 or CGC Gem Mint 10.

2. Corners

• Look at all four corners under a bright light, ideally with a jeweller's loupe or your phone camera at full zoom.
• Look for whitening (white specks where the colour has worn off), softness (a rounded rather than sharp tip) and dings or bends.
• Check the back corners too. Whitening shows up most on dark card backs.

3. Edges

• Run your eye along all four edges on both sides. Edge wear shows up as tiny white chips, rough cuts or "silvering" on foil cards.
• Pack-fresh cards can still have rough factory cuts. Graders count them.

4. Surface

Surface flaws are the hardest to spot and the most common reason a clean-looking card misses a 10.

• Hold the card under a single light and tilt it slowly. Scratches, scuffs and fingerprints show up only at certain angles.
• Look for print lines (thin factory lines across the holo), indentations or dents, and roller marks.
• Check the holo area carefully. It shows every scratch.

5. Cleaning: less is more

• A gentle wipe with a clean, dry microfiber cloth can remove dust and fingerprints.
• Never use liquids, erasers or chemicals, and never press, trim or "fix" a card. Altered cards are rejected or labelled as altered.

6. Is it worth grading?

Do the maths before you submit:

1. Look up recent sold prices (not asking prices) for the card raw and at the grades you realistically expect.
2. Add up the grading fee for the card's value tier, shipping both ways and insurance.
3. Be honest about the likely grade. If centering already caps the card at a 9, compare against the PSA 9 price, not the 10.
4. If the expected graded value minus costs isn't clearly above the raw value, keep the card raw or sell it raw with a centering report attached.

7. Pack it safely

• Put the card in a new, clean penny sleeve, then in a semi-rigid card holder, which most grading companies prefer to hard toploaders.
• Follow the company's current packing instructions. They change, and they differ between companies.

The quick version

• Centering measured front and back, within the target grade
• Four sharp corners with no whitening
• Clean edges with no chipping
• No scratches, print lines or dents under angled light
• Expected graded value clearly above raw value plus all costs

The final grade always comes from the grading company. This checklist and our tool help you decide; they can't guarantee a result.