Complete Card Grading Strategy Guide
Master every aspect of card grading strategy — from centering and corners to edges and surfaces. Learn the AI pre-screening techniques that save money.
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Master every aspect of card grading strategy — from centering and corners to edges and surfaces. Learn the AI pre-screening techniques that save money.
In short: A winning grading strategy means evaluating all four sub-grades, filtering out weak candidates before you spend on fees, and matching each card to the right company. AI pre-screening cuts submission costs while keeping your high-grade hit rate high.
Card grading is not just about sending cards to PSA, BGS, or CGC and hoping for the best. A complete card grading strategy means evaluating every aspect of your card before committing money to a submission. The collectors who consistently profit from grading are the ones who treat it as a calculated process rather than a gamble.
This guide covers the full grading strategy framework: understanding every sub-grade, learning how to self-evaluate your cards, using AI pre-screening to filter your submissions, and optimizing every step of the process to maximize your return on investment.
Every major grading company evaluates cards across four core categories. Whether you submit to PSA, BGS, or CGC, graders are looking at the same fundamental attributes. BGS and CGC explicitly break these out as sub-scores, while PSA uses a holistic approach informed by the same criteria.
Centering measures how well the printed image is positioned relative to the card's borders. It is expressed as a ratio (for example, 60/40 left-to-right and 55/45 top-to-bottom). Poor centering is one of the most common reasons cards fail to achieve top grades.
Centering thresholds by company:
| Grade Target | PSA Tolerance | BGS Tolerance | CGC Tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gem Mint (10) | 60/40 or better | 50/50 to 55/45 | 55/45 or better |
| Mint (9) | 65/35 or better | 55/45 to 60/40 | 60/40 or better |
| Near Mint (8) | 70/30 or better | 60/40 to 65/35 | 65/35 or better |
Centering is the one sub-grade you can measure precisely before submitting. Use the CardGrade.io centering tool to get exact measurements. For a deep dive into centering evaluation, read our centering guide.
Corner sharpness is evaluated under magnification. Graders look for:
Corners are particularly vulnerable on vintage cards and cards that have been stored without sleeves. Even a single soft corner can drop a card from a 10 to an 8.
Corner evaluation tips:
Edge quality encompasses the entire perimeter of the card. Graders assess:
Edges are often overlooked by submitters who focus primarily on centering and corners. However, edge issues can be just as damaging to your final grade. Use the CardGrade.io edge analysis tool to identify problems before submitting. For detailed guidance, see our card edge and surface grading guide.
Surface quality covers the entire face and back of the card, including:
Surface is arguably the hardest sub-grade to self-evaluate because many surface defects are only visible under specific lighting conditions. The CardGrade.io surface tool uses AI to detect surface issues that are easy to miss with the naked eye.
Before spending money on professional grading, every card should go through a systematic self-evaluation. Here is the framework experienced graders use:
Hold the card at arm's length and look for obvious issues:
If you spot major issues at this stage, the card is likely a 7 or below and may not be worth grading unless it is rare or vintage.
Under good lighting and with magnification:
Rate each sub-grade on a 1-10 scale based on your inspection. Your overall grade will typically be limited by your weakest sub-grade. A card with perfect centering, perfect corners, perfect edges, but a surface scratch is not getting a 10.
Common self-evaluation mistakes:
Self-evaluation is important, but it has limits. Human eyes miss things, especially under inconsistent lighting. This is where AI pre-screening changes the economics of card grading.
CardGrade.io analyzes your cards across 47 inspection points in 29 seconds, providing predicted grades for PSA, BGS, and CGC with 92.8% accuracy. This is not a replacement for professional grading. It is a filter that helps you identify which cards are worth the investment.
The optimal workflow combines self-evaluation with AI analysis:
Consider a collector planning to submit 30 cards at PSA's Value tier:
| Approach | Cards Submitted | Total Cost | Average Grade | Profitable Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No screening | 30 | $720 | PSA 7.5 | 12 of 30 |
| Self-evaluation only | 22 | $528 | PSA 8.2 | 14 of 22 |
| AI pre-screening | 16 | $384 | PSA 9.0 | 14 of 16 |
The AI-screened submission costs $336 less while delivering the same number of profitable cards. Over a year of submissions, this adds up to significant savings.
Not every card benefits from professional grading. Here is a decision framework:
For every card, run this formula before submitting:
Expected graded value - Raw value - Total grading cost = Profit (or loss)
If the number is negative or barely positive, sell raw. If the expected profit is substantial, grade it. For help estimating grading costs, see our guides on PSA grading costs, BGS grading costs, and CGC grading costs.
Your grading strategy should include selecting the best company for each card. Different companies offer different advantages. For a full comparison, read our card grading companies comparison.
| Scenario | Best Choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum resale value (sports cards) | PSA | Highest market premium for most sports cards |
| Want sub-grades displayed | BGS | Sub-grades included by default |
| Budget-conscious submissions | CGC | Lower entry-level pricing |
| Chasing the ultimate grade | BGS Black Label | 10 across all sub-grades is the hobby's pinnacle |
| Pokemon and TCG cards | PSA or CGC | Both command strong premiums in this market |
PSA strategy: Focus on cards with a strong chance at PSA 10, as the value jump from PSA 9 to PSA 10 is often dramatic. PSA's holistic grading approach means a card with one slightly weaker area may still achieve a 10 if the overall impression is gem mint.
BGS strategy: Consider BGS when your card has exceptional sub-grades across the board. A BGS 9.5 with strong sub-grades can command premiums close to a PSA 10 for many cards. If all four sub-grades are 10, the BGS Black Label designation carries the highest premium in the hobby.
CGC strategy: CGC is growing in market acceptance and offers competitive pricing. Their grading standards are generally considered strict, so a CGC 10 carries significant weight. This can be advantageous for buyers who value grading accuracy.
Once you have identified which cards to grade and where to send them, optimize the submission itself:
Group your cards by the grading company that gives them the best chance. Do not send every card to the same company out of convenience.
Within each company, group cards by declared value to use the most cost-effective service tier. See our cost breakdowns for PSA, BGS, and CGC.
Card preparation directly affects your grades. Fingerprints, dust, and improper packaging can cause damage between your evaluation and the grader's desk. Read our guide to preparing cards for grading submission for step-by-step instructions on cleaning, sleeving, and packaging.
The most successful collectors treat grading as an ongoing process, not a one-time event:
Before your next submission, run your candidates through CardGrade.io. The AI analyzes centering, corners, edges, and surface across 47 inspection points and predicts grades for PSA, BGS, and CGC simultaneously.
Why submit blindly when you can know your expected grades in advance?
Smart grading is not about submitting more cards. It is about submitting the right cards to the right company at the right time. Sign up for CardGrade.io and start building a data-driven grading strategy today.
PSA tier status and pricing via PSA. Confirm current tiers before submitting.
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Founder, CardGrade
Jamie Budesky is the founder of CardGrade and the engineer behind its AI vision grading pipeline. An Army veteran and IT specialist (DoD, since 2017), he writes about card grading, AI/ML grading technology, and collecting strategy — grounded in CardGrade's own grading data.
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