How to get a card graded

Seven steps, from deciding it's worth it to checking the slab.

Start to finish

The steps

You send the card to a grading company, it decides the grade, and it comes back sealed in a slab with the grade on the label.

1. Decide if it's worth it Grading runs from $20 to $600 a card. It pays on a clean card worth $50 or more raw. Work out a card's numbers.

2. Pick a company PSA, BGS, SGC, CGC and TAG all take cards by mail. PSA is the biggest and usually resells highest. The five compared.

3. Look the card over Check the centering and the corners under a loupe, and wipe the surface. What each grade asks for.

4. Put it in a Card Saver 1 A penny sleeve first, then the semi-rigid holder graders ask for.

5. Fill in the submission On the company's site: each card, what it's worth, and the service you're paying for.

6. Send it tracked and insured Insure it for what the cards are worth, in a box that won't bend. How to ship a card.

7. Check it when it's back Look up the certificate number on the slab and see that it is your card. Check a PSA certificate.

Where

By mail, to the company. Every one of the five takes submissions on its own site.
Through a shop or a show. Some card shops and card shows take cards in and send them for you.

What you need

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