Grading Guide

Grading is a third-party company sealing your card in a slab with a number from 1 to 10 on it. That number is decided by a human at PSA, BGS or CGC — never by Kevin. What Kevin does is help you photograph the card properly, judge its condition honestly, and work out whether the fee is worth paying before you post it.

• 10Gem Mint

  Virtually perfect. Sharp corners, full gloss, no print or surface flaws, and centering around 55/45 or better on the front.

• 9Mint

  One minor flaw only — a slight wax stain, a touch of print spotting, or centering up to about 60/40 on the front.

• 8Near Mint–Mint

  Very sharp with only a tiny surface or corner imperfection visible on close inspection.

• 7Near Mint

  Slight fraying on one or two corners, a minor print blemish, or light border wear.

• 6Excellent–Mint

  Visible corner wear or a small surface scratch, but the card still presents cleanly.

• 5Excellent

  Rounded corners, noticeable edge whitening, minor loss of gloss.

• 4Very Good–Excellent

  Clear wear on corners and edges, possibly a very light surface crease.

• 3Very Good

  Obvious handling: rounded corners, whitening, scuffing, or a light crease.

• 2Good

  Heavy wear, creasing, and significant surface damage.

• 1.5Fair

  Extreme wear but the card is still fully intact.

• 1Poor

  Major damage — heavy creasing, tears, staining or missing paper.

PSA can also add a qualifier to a grade: OC — Off-centre beyond the tolerance for that grade. ST — Stained. PD — Print defect. MK — Marked, usually ink. MC — Miscut.

• Centering

  Border balance on both the front and the back.

• Corners

  Sharpness, fraying or whitening on all four corners.

• Edges

  Whitening, nicks or chipping along every side.

• Surface / print quality

  Gloss, scratches, print lines, dimples, staining and creases.

• Overall eye appeal

  How the card presents once the areas above are weighed together.

Kevin walks you through the same six angles a grader effectively judges. Each one exists for a reason:

1. 1. Front · centering & print

   Card flat, phone directly above, fill the frame. No tilt — this shot shows front centering and print quality.

   Why it matters: PSA looks at front centering (border balance) and print quality on this view.

2. 2. Back · reverse centering & condition

   Flip the card and keep the phone square above it — this shot shows reverse centering and overall back condition.

   Why it matters: PSA also grades reverse centering and back surface condition, not just the front.

3. 3. Front · surface under moving light

   Tilt the card ~30° so light rakes across the front — this reveals surface gloss, scratches, print lines and creases.

   Why it matters: Surface condition (gloss, scratches, print defects, creases) is one of PSA's condition areas.

4. 4. Top corners & top edge · close up

   Zoom in on both top corners together, including the top edge between them.

   Why it matters: Corners and edges are separate PSA condition areas — fraying or whitening shows here.

5. 5. Bottom corners & bottom edge · close up

   Same again on both bottom corners, including the bottom edge between them.

   Why it matters: Bottom corners and the bottom edge take the most handling wear in binders and boxes.

6. 6. Side edges · left then right

   Inspect the full length of the left edge, then the full length of the right edge — one photo of each side is fine.

   Why it matters: Edge whitening, nicks and chipping are graded separately from corners.

PSA authenticates a card first, then assigns a grade. These photos help you judge condition yourself — Kevin cannot assign an official PSA grade from photos, and the final grade is PSA's judgment.

A high grade only matters if the slab is worth more than the raw card plus the fee. Kevin takes these numbers from you:

• Raw value — What the ungraded card sells for today.
• Grading fee — The service level you would actually submit at.
• Shipping both ways — Postage, insurance and return shipping.
• PSA 9 value — Recent sold price for a 9 of this exact card.
• PSA 10 value — Recent sold price for a 10 of this exact card.
• Chance of a 10 — Your honest estimate after reviewing the six photos.

It then works out the expected value — (chance of a 10 × PSA 10 value) + (rest of the time × PSA 9 value) − fees and shipping — compares it with selling raw today, and shows the break-even 10-chance: the minimum hit rate that makes submitting worthwhile. You get one verdict:

Kevin does:

• • Walks you through the six photo angles a grader actually judges.
• • Shows the five condition areas so you can score the card yourself before paying a fee.
• • Runs the break-even maths: fees, shipping, raw value, PSA 9 value, PSA 10 value and your own 10-chance.
• • Returns one verdict — Grade, Hold or Skip — with the reasoning and the risk written out.

Kevin does not:

• • Assign an official grade. Only PSA, BGS or CGC can do that.
• • Predict your grade from a photo. Kevin never invents a number it cannot support.
• • Use made-up comps. If a live price is unavailable it says so instead of guessing.