Free PSA Service Lets You Easily Compare Cards' Grades: What Collectors Need to Know
Free PSA Service Lets You Easily Compare Cards' Grades: What Collectors Need to Know
CardGrade.io Editorial·Published Feb 21, 2026·9 min read
Free PSA Service Lets You Easily Compare Cards' Grades: What Collectors Need to Know
PSA's Cert Verification tool at psacard.com/cert is one of the most useful free resources in the hobby, and most collectors barely scratch the surface of what it offers.
Enter a certification number, and PSA pulls up the card's grade, description, year, set, and card number. Cross-reference it with the PSA Population Report, and you can see exactly how many copies of that card exist at each grade level. All of this is free. No account required. No subscription.
If you're buying graded cards, verifying authenticity, researching population data, or planning submissions, this tool should be part of your workflow. Here's how to use it effectively.
What PSA Cert Verification Shows
Every PSA-graded card has a unique certification number printed on the label inside the slab. The PSA Cert Verification tool lets you look up that number and confirm the card's details.
Information returned for each cert number:
Grade: The numerical grade PSA assigned (1-10, plus qualifiers like OC, MC, PD)
Card description: The card name, player, or character
Year: The year the card was produced
Set: The set or product the card belongs to
Card number: The card's number within the set
Certification date: When the card was graded
PSA Authentication label type: Standard, Dual Grade, etc.
This is the baseline verification that every buyer should perform before purchasing a PSA-graded card. If the cert number doesn't return a result, or if the returned information doesn't match the card in front of you, something is wrong.
How to Verify a PSA-Graded Card Before Buying
Step-by-step verification process:
1. Locate the cert number.
The certification number is printed on the PSA label, typically near the top or bottom of the label. It's a long numerical string (usually 8-10 digits). On newer slabs, there's also a QR code that links directly to the verification page.
2. Go to psacard.com/cert.
Enter the cert number in the search field. The tool accepts cert numbers for cards, autographs, tickets, comics, video games, and other PSA-graded items.
3. Compare the returned information to the physical card.
Verify that:
The grade matches what's on the label
The card description matches the actual card
The year and set are correct
The card number is right
4. Check for red flags.
If the cert number returns a different card than what you're looking at, the slab may contain a swapped card (a counterfeit slab holding a different card than originally graded). If the cert number returns no results, the slab may be counterfeit entirely.
5. Examine the slab physically.
Cert verification confirms the grade exists in PSA's database, but it can't tell you whether the slab itself is genuine. PSA notes on their site that criminals do attempt to counterfeit PSA inserts using actual certification numbers found from public sources. Physical inspection of the slab (hologram, label quality, case construction) is still necessary.
The PSA Population Report: Free Scarcity Data
The PSA Population Report is a companion tool that provides grade distribution data for every card PSA has graded. It's been free since PSA made it publicly accessible (previously it required a $39.95 annual subscription through the SMR Online Price Guide).
What the Pop Report shows:
For any card you search, you'll see the total number graded at each level: PSA 1 through PSA 10, plus Authentic. This tells you exactly how scarce (or common) a given grade is for that card.
Example: 2023 Pokemon SV Obsidian Flames Charizard ex #223
The Pop Report might show:
PSA 10: 2,400
PSA 9: 1,800
PSA 8: 400
PSA 7 and below: 150
This data reveals that PSA 10s are relatively common for this card (modern print quality), which means the PSA 10 premium over PSA 9 may be modest. For a vintage card where only 50 PSA 10s exist vs. 500 PSA 9s, the premium for the top grade is much steeper.
How to access it:
Go to psacard.com/pop/search and search by set name, year, and player/character. The database is updated daily as new cards are graded.
Using Pop Data for Buying Decisions
Population data directly affects card pricing. Here's how to use it:
Identifying overpriced cards.
If a seller lists a PSA 10 at a premium price but the Pop Report shows 5,000+ PSA 10s exist, the card isn't scarce at that grade. Compare the asking price to recent completed eBay sales. High-population PSA 10s tend to have lower premiums over PSA 9s.
Finding undervalued cards.
Some cards have surprisingly low PSA 10 populations, meaning few people have submitted them for grading. If a card has strong demand but only 200 PSA 10s in the pop report, the supply-demand dynamic favors higher prices. Cards with low pop counts at top grades are often underpriced in the raw market because sellers don't realize how scarce the graded version is.
Timing submissions.
Population data tells you how many other people have already submitted a card. If you're considering grading a card and the PSA 10 population is already 10,000+, your PSA 10 will compete with thousands of identical graded cards on the market. If the pop is only 500, your graded copy enters a thinner market with more pricing power.
Tracking population growth.
Check the Pop Report periodically for cards you own. A PSA 10 population that doubled in three months means grading volume is high and future dilution is likely. A stable or slowly growing population suggests the submission window is closing as collectors move on to newer sets.
Pop Report Limitations
The Population Report has blind spots worth understanding:
It only counts PSA-graded cards. Cards graded by CGC, BGS, SGC, TAG, or any other company don't appear. The actual total population of high-grade copies is higher than what PSA's report shows.
Crossovers inflate numbers. When a collector "crosses over" a card from CGC or BGS to PSA (sends the other company's slab to PSA for regrading), it adds to PSA's pop without representing a new card entering the market. Some popular cards have been crossed over multiple times.
Grade changes aren't always reflected. If a card is regraded by PSA (through their review service) and receives a different grade, the old grade entry may persist in the database temporarily. This is uncommon but can skew numbers for specific cards.
No condition census by owner. The Pop Report tells you how many exist at each grade, but not who owns them. A card with 100 PSA 10s where 80 are held by long-term collectors and only 20 are actively traded behaves differently in the market than one where all 100 are listed for sale.
How Cert Verification Complements AI Pre-Grading
PSA's free tools and CardGrade's AI pre-grading serve different stages of the card collecting workflow:
Before grading (pre-submission):
Use CardGrade's AI pre-grading and free centering tool to evaluate your raw card's condition. This tells you what grade the card is likely to receive. Pair this with PSA Pop Report data to determine whether grading the card makes financial sense given the existing population.
Example: Your AI pre-grade predicts PSA 9-10 for a raw Pikachu VMAX. The Pop Report shows 8,000 PSA 10s already exist. The PSA 10 sells for $35 and grading costs $28. Even if it grades PSA 10, profit is minimal. The combination of pre-grade data and population data tells you to keep this card raw.
After buying graded cards:
Use PSA Cert Verification to confirm the card's grade and authenticity. Use the Pop Report to confirm the card's scarcity at its grade. This due diligence takes 60 seconds and can prevent costly authentication mistakes.
When selling graded cards:
Reference the cert number and Pop Report data in your listings. Buyers find this information reassuring. A listing that says "PSA 10, cert #12345678, pop 340" signals a seller who knows the market and is transparent about the card's position within it.
PSA Verified: The Authentication Upgrade
Beyond cert verification, PSA offers PSA Verified, a service that adds an additional layer of authentication to graded cards. PSA Verified uses NFC (Near Field Communication) technology embedded in the slab, allowing buyers to tap their phone against the case for instant digital verification.
This addresses the counterfeit slab problem that basic cert verification can't fully solve. While anyone can look up a cert number and print a fake label with matching information, duplicating the NFC chip is significantly harder.
PSA Verified is currently available on newer slabs and through specific submission services. It's worth prioritizing when buying high-value cards ($500+) where the counterfeit risk is highest.
Mobile Access
PSA's cert verification is available through the PSA app (available on iOS and Android), which includes a barcode scanner for quick cert lookups. At card shows, in-store purchases, or when evaluating a potential buy in person, the app makes verification instant.
The app also provides access to Pop Reports and auction price data, making it a comprehensive research tool that fits in your pocket.
Building These Tools Into Your Workflow
The most effective collectors and dealers use multiple tools at each stage:
Acquiring raw cards:
Identify target cards based on market demand
Check PSA Pop Report to assess grading scarcity
Pre-screen with CardGrade AI before buying (if evaluating condition remotely)
Every one of these tools is free. PSA's cert verification, Pop Report, and mobile app cost nothing. CardGrade's centering tool is free. The information advantage they provide is available to anyone willing to spend a few minutes per card on research.
The collectors who use these tools systematically will make better buying decisions, better grading decisions, and better selling decisions than those who rely on gut feeling and guesswork.
The CardGrade.io editorial team writes about card grading, AI technology, and collecting strategy. Our guides are researched against official PSA, BGS, and CGC standards.
