Card Grading Guide

Turnaround times vary significantly by company and the service level you choose. Premium or expedited tiers can take a few days, while standard bulk submissions may take anywhere from 1 to 3 months depending on their current backlog.

It depends on the card's raw condition and intrinsic value. High-value vintage or pristine modern chase cards often see a massive price multiplier if they achieve a 9 or 10. However, cards in played condition or low-value modern bulk might not recover the upfront cost of the grading fees. You can use our Vendor Pricing Calculator to estimate what stores might offer for your raw cards before deciding to submit them for grading.

Sub-grades provide individual scores for the four pillars of grading: Centering, Corners, Edges, and Surface. Companies like BGS and CGC optionally offer them. They are fantastic for high-end cards to transparently prove why a card received its overall grade, though they usually incur an additional fee.

Yes, gently wiping the surface of holographic or foil cards with a clean, dry microfiber cloth to remove fingerprints and dust is highly recommended. Never use liquids, chemicals, or wax, as this will damage the cardboard and result in an "Altered" or rejected grade.

Crossgrading means cracking open a graded slab from one company and resubmitting the card to a different agency — usually to chase a higher numeric grade, move to a slab with a better resale premium (e.g., a BGS 9 cracked to attempt a PSA 10), or change the slab aesthetic. It comes with real risk: you pay grading fees again and there's no guarantee of a better grade. Only crossgrade when the target company's sold comps show a meaningful price premium that justifies the fee and risk.

If a grading company's authenticators determine a card has been chemically treated, trimmed, or artificially restored, they will return it ungraded and flag it as Authentic – Altered. This designation immediately and permanently destroys the card's resale value — any serious buyer will see it and walk away. Some ungradeable cards may simply come back as "Authentic" (genuine but non-gradeable). To avoid this, never use any liquids, chemicals, erasers, or abrasives on your cards at any time.

Pokémon: Vintage cards (Base Set 1st Edition, Shadowless, early Jungle/Fossil sets) command enormous premiums graded at PSA 9–10. Modern chase cards — alternate arts, special illustration rares, gold secrets — can also be very profitable in NM+ raw condition. Bulk commons and uncommons are almost never worth grading.

Sports Cards: Rookie cards of active superstars and legend vintage cards (Jordan, LeBron, Mantle) are the sweet spot. Modern base cards of current stars in pristine condition can be lucrative when the population of PSA 10s remains low.

Magic: The Gathering: Vintage power cards (Black Lotus, Moxes, dual lands) and Reserved List staples grade extremely well. Most modern Magic cards see low graded premiums because the MTG collector base historically prioritizes playability over slabbed condition — though this is slowly changing with collectors entering the market.

Beyond eBay, you can find graded cards on TCGPlayer (strong TCG inventory with built-in buyer protection), PWCC Marketplace (weekly and premier auctions for high-end slabs), Goldin Auctions (premium sports and Pokémon collectibles), and MySlabs (a dedicated graded-card marketplace with built-in cert verification). You can also find graded cards directly at trading card shows — arguably the best option since you can physically inspect the slab, verify the cert number on the spot, and negotiate face-to-face with the vendor.