HOW TO KNOW IF A CARD IS WORTH GRADING

Some card types and players are considered “must grade” in the hobby, regardless of condition. A good example might be 1952 Topps Baseball, or any original, vintage Mickey Mantle card. For these examples, even a PSA 1 graded card sells for a premium over the raw card, and because the collector market for these cards is so strong, you might as well grade every one that you see. There are many more examples – almost exclusively in the vintage space – but the point is that for some cards, high-end condition isn’t required for grading to make sense.

Here are some things you should consider when deciding whether to grade a card:

Market value – this should be your first filter. “Common” cards, or really any cards that sell below $1 as a raw card, generally aren’t good candidates for grading. Unless you’re collecting a set for a grading company’s set registry (such as the PSA Set Registry), you’ll find that market prices for graded commons rarely exceed the cost of grading – even at top grades. Naturally there are exceptions for super rare or highly desirable sets – think 1952 Topps baseball, 1986 Fleer basketball, etc. – but think carefully before sending the grader your low-value cards and expecting a good financial outcome.

High-end condition – this is your next filter, separating the run-of-the-mill cards from the truly special ones. Card grading companies look for near-perfect centering (both top-to-bottom and left-to-right), sharp corners, crisp edges that are free of rough cuts or chipping, and – typically the most overlooked by collectors – a clean and smooth surface without lines, scratches, dimples, or other marks. Give extra scrutiny to post-1980 cards, for which there is a massive raw population, and even more scrutiny to modern base cards (post-2018) that are currently flooding the market. Wax or gum stain? Forget it. Print lines on a Chrome-type card? Expect to be downgraded 1-2 grades. If you can see it, the grader will see it, so don’t send anything that will grade so low that you can’t recover the cost of grading when you sell.

Personal value – this is the part where you throw the first two filters out the window. Sometimes, you just want to get a card slabbed for your collection, and you don’t care if it costs more than the card is worth. I collect several players whose cards are considered “commons” to others, and I’m sure a few graders have scratched their heads when looking at some of the cards I’ve submitted. So what? If it’s valuable to you, and you want it graded, go ahead and get it graded. That’s why these services exist.

I’d strongly encourage you to evaluate cards for grading as you get them. Don’t wait until you have 100,000 cards to review (you’ll pass over way too many worthy cards just to get the job done), and don’t handle your cards over and over again while you’re trying to decide. Raw cards begin to deteriorate the moment you touch them, so ideally you should touch them only once before either selling them, storing them, or preparing them for grading.