How to Pre-Grade Your Cards Before Sending Them to PSA, BGS or SGC

Updated October 2026 · Evergreen guide

Grading costs money and takes time, and a low grade can make a card worth less than the fee you paid. "Pre-grading" means checking a card yourself before you submit it. You won't match a professional grader every time, but a careful self-check filters out cards with obvious problems and helps you choose the right service level. If you're new to grading, start with How Card Grading Works.

What you need

• A clean, lint-free microfiber cloth
• A bright, adjustable lamp (or a phone flashlight)
• A jeweler's loupe or magnifier (around 10x is common)
• A centering tool, or a ruler and a photo you can zoom into
• Clean hands, or nitrile gloves for valuable cards
• Fresh penny sleeves and semi-rigid holders for submission

1. Centering

Centering compares the width of opposite borders, written as a ratio such as 55/45 left-to-right and 60/40 top-to-bottom. Measure both the front and the back. Each grader publishes centering tolerances for its top grades, and the back usually has more leeway than the front. Look up the current standards for the company you plan to use.

How to measure at home:

1. Take a straight-on photo with the card flat and the camera parallel to it.
2. Zoom in and measure the left and right borders (in pixels or millimeters), then the top and bottom.
3. Divide each border by the total of the pair. For example, 3 mm and 2 mm gives 60/40.

Cards without a visible border (full-bleed designs) are judged by the image placement, which is harder to measure. Compare them against well-centered examples.

2. Corners

Look at each corner under magnification, front and back. A top-grade corner is sharp and square, with no white showing on colored borders, no fraying and no rounding. Common issues:

• Slight "touches" of white (often visible only under a loupe)
• Softness or rounding from handling
• Dings or bends from being dropped or packed tightly

Corner issues are among the most common reasons modern cards miss a 10.

3. Edges

Run your eye along all four edges under angled light. Look for chipping (especially on dark or chrome borders), roughness from the factory cut, and nicks. Some products are known for rough cuts straight from the pack. That's not your fault, but graders still count it.

4. Surface

The surface is where most hidden problems live. Hold the card at different angles under a single bright light:

• Scratches and scuffs, especially on chrome and foil cards
• Print lines or print dots from the factory
• Dimples, dents or indentations that only appear at an angle
• Wrinkles or creases, which usually drop a grade dramatically
• Fingerprints, smudges or haze, which you can sometimes clean off

A gentle wipe with a clean microfiber cloth can remove fingerprints and dust. Don't use liquids or chemicals: graders can treat chemical cleaning as alteration. Our guide to altered cards explains why.

5. Authenticity and alteration

If you bought a card raw, check that it hasn't been trimmed or recolored. Altered cards usually come back without a numeric grade, so you'd pay the fee and gain nothing.

Deciding whether to submit

Grade the card realistically, then ask three questions:

1. Is there a meaningful price gap between raw copies and graded copies at the grade you expect? Check sold listings for both.
2. Does the expected value cover the fee, shipping and insurance, with room to spare if the grade comes back one step lower?
3. Is it for your PC (personal collection) anyway? Some collectors grade cards for protection and display, not resale, and that's a valid reason.

Preparing a submission

• Put each card in a new, clean penny sleeve, then a semi-rigid holder. Most graders ask for semi-rigids rather than toploaders; check the current packing instructions.
• Fill out the submission form carefully, with the correct year, set, card number and player. Errors can cause delays.
• Choose a service level based on the card's declared value. Graders tier their pricing by value, and under-declaring can cause problems.
• Pack the cards snugly, ship with tracking and insurance, and keep photos of every card before it leaves.

Keep a record

Write down your own grade guess for each card, then compare it with the result when it comes back. After a few submissions you'll learn whether you're too generous on corners or too strict on centering, and your future picks will get better.

Pre-grading isn't about predicting the exact number. It's about not paying to grade cards that were never going to grade well, and it makes you a sharper buyer of raw cards too.