March 13, 2026 • 18 mins
In our Grading 101 minisode, The Jewce talks about the ins and outs of the grading process. He goes over what to grade, where, how, and why. If you are ready to get started grading your cards, this is where to start.
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Zo, hello, and welcome to Talking Card with
Glenn Hobby and today that youjust made the juice here.
We have another mini tool forthe day.
(00:22):
This one is all about grading.
This is grading 101.
A lot of people are just gettinginto the hobby.
So this episode is gonna focuson the ins and outs of grading,
why you would want to grade yourcards, what to look for, where
to grade, how to grade.
We're gonna dive deep into thosethings for this mini stode.
(00:43):
Great for beginners if you'vebeen grading before.
You might find some helpful tipsin here, but this is mostly for
people that are new to thehobby.
First thing you need to do isask yourself, why do you want to
grade?
Is this for a PC card?
Is it to increase the value ofthe card?
Do you just want it sledgeauthentic without a grade?
(01:06):
So, first we're gonna go overthe reasons to grade for your
PC.
Uh people may tell you thatgrading for your PC is not worth
it.
That is nonsense.
Your PC could be graded cards,it could only be tens, it could
be whatever you want.
But remember, PC, personalcollection, personal, what you
(01:31):
want.
So don't let people tell youthat a card is not worth grading
just because it's for your PC.
If your PC uh you want it toinclude graded cards, you want
it to be including cards thatyou pulled that you want graded,
go for it.
Grade what you want, collectwhat you want.
The biggest reason that peoplegrade though is to increase the
(01:54):
value of their cards.
The thing I'm mostly going todiscuss modern cards here, that
is what I collect and what Ihave experienced here.
For modern cards, if you arelooking for a way to increase
the value of that card, onlygrade that card if you think it
will gem, as in you think youwill get a gem mint 10.
(02:14):
If it's a nine, you're generallynot worth grading.
Usually the cost of it to getgraded, you'll be lucky to
breaking even.
This is for ultra modern.
Keep that in mind.
The other thing to think aboutif you're planning to sell to
increase value, are you planningto sell right away?
Don't forget about turnaroundtime.
(02:35):
PSA can take six months or moreto grade sometimes to the lowest
level.
They can have backups where ittakes even longer than that.
So just something to be awareof.
If you want to sell that hotrookie, let's say you just
pulled an awesome kind ofgriffin card, and you know, hey,
I had this in a 10, I'm going tobe able to maybe triple my value
out of this.
(02:55):
It may not be worth it becauseyou're selling peak.
It could pass you by while thatcard is in grading.
You do not want that to happen.
You don't want to be caughtholding the bag, paying extra to
grade a card when you pass thatplayer's peak and you could have
just sold it raw.
Something to definitely keep inmind is those turnaround times.
(03:15):
For me personally, that thethings that I try to grade, the
largest part of my collectionthat I have graded are my Bowman
prospects, guys that I'll beholding for a while that I don't
think are going to make theirdebut soon.
So I think their debuts can bethe best time to sell.
Or also players that won't havea value hit.
Otani, always a good guy tograde right now.
(03:39):
And has been for the past fewyears.
Judge, with other establishedvets, people that their prices
aren't as volatile.
You know, my Soto and my Metsthat I've added to my PC.
I don't mind getting them gradedbecause those are going to be
either forever items or for Metsfans, he's going to be around
for 15 years.
So you know that he's going tobe around for a while.
(04:01):
No reason to think that he won'tremain hobby relevant for a long
time.
So something to keep in mind.
That's just the way I do it.
There is no one way to look atgrading, but that's how me
personally what I found I've hadthe most success with.
The other reason why you mightwant to grade, I guess it
(04:21):
wouldn't be considered grading.
You just want to slab it.
People do this with one-on-ones.
Some people will tell you don'tgrade one-on-ones because it
doesn't matter.
I'm okay with grading them.
The one-on-ones I've had, I'vegraded a few.
It's helped me to sell themeasier.
Getting them slabbed, itprotects the card.
It opens you to more sellers.
Some marketplaces, if it's areally big card, I think Golden
(04:43):
will want it graded anyway.
It just helps and make sure thatthere's no issues with getting
that one-on-one into sellers'hands.
So something to keep in mind.
As far as what grading entails,what they are looking at, the
grading companies themselves,they are looking at four things.
They are looking at surface,centering, corners, and edges.
(05:08):
This is for the front and back.
Do not forget the back of thecard.
So the first thing, surface.
Are there any dents, scratches,any noticeable defects?
Paper and chrome, you can lookat differently.
Chrome is more susceptible toscratches, of course, and dents.
Paper, you can havediscolorations for the surface,
(05:28):
other defects, but surface tendsto be more of a problem with
chrome in my experience, withthe modern stuff, than with
paper.
Centering, you gotta look at topto bottom and left to right.
Don't forget front and back.
I believe PSA is somewherearound, has to be better than
40, 60.
(05:49):
They publish the numbers.
I think that it might even bemore strict, like 55, 45 to get
a 10.
You can usually notice it withthe naked eye.
There are tools to help youfigure out centering.
Some people use apps.
There's none that I wouldrecommend right now.
There are some physical toolswhere you can place something
above it.
I think Brett Kleiman is evenworking on a physical device to
be able to do that.
(06:10):
So something to look for.
You can follow him on Twitter ifyou want to see.
BK breaks.
But centering, there are toolsto help you determine that.
Besides that, it's prettyself-explanatory.
Corners, is there any whiting onthe corners?
Do they look dented at all?
Usually you can see this withthe naked eye.
You really want to give it agood look.
(06:31):
Just one corner can keep youaway from a 10.
So definitely something to keepin mind when you're looking at
those cards.
Want to get them graded.
Paper cards for me, it's alittle harder to see the corners
on.
Chrome, it's very easy for me tosee as far as if there's any
whiting on there.
Also depends on the color of thecard.
A card with a black border tothe edge, you're really going to
(06:53):
be able to see the corners andthe edges a lot better as far as
if there's any defects.
Something that, of course, thegrading companies can see as
well.
The last factor they're lookingat is the edges.
Again, any whiting.
Is there any peeling?
Is there any phrase front andback?
Next up, let's go over what arethe best things to grade.
(07:14):
The first thing, it's just cardsthat are playing worth it.
You don't want to pay to grademore than a card is worth.
I usually need the card to beworth at least$50 raw.
Unless it's a prospect I reallybelieve in, I usually want it to
be worth at least$75 in a 10.
Those grade, the gradingservices with PSA, it's going to
be about$25 minimum per card,depending on what service you
(07:37):
use.
Also, the kinds of cards aresomething that you want to keep
in mind.
I've had more success withChrome than with paper, but some
people will tell you the otherway around because Chrome has
those surface issues that can beread more easily when the cars
are getting rated.
The ultra premium sets I do seeto have better quality too.
(07:58):
Like gilded, I've had moresuccess getting tens.
Uh, black and white, forwhatever reason, has a really
high gem rate.
So the card set itself, topseries one or flash of product,
can be a little tougher to getgraded, and the pops can be
crazy depending on what card.
It's really tough to get gems onpatch cards, thicker stock, and
(08:22):
die cut cards.
I try to avoid getting thatgraded unless you have someone
with a lot of experience maybelooking the card over.
Die cut cards pretty much havemore edges, and the die cutting
system is not perfect.
So it tends to have issues.
Thicker stock, that there's justa larger margin for error.
Same with patch cards.
It's really tough to get tensout of that.
(08:44):
I also don't like to grade incase cards like dynasty, black
and white, pristine.
They generally generally holdmore value in case than as a PSA
9.
And in that top loader, it canbe hard to evaluate the
condition.
Sometimes you can't clearly seethe edges, especially.
(09:06):
Those are usually thicker cards,too.
So it might be tough.
What I really like to grade arethe Bowman cards that are going
to be sitting anyway, thoseprospects.
I'm hoping you're going to panout in a couple of years.
You don't want that prospect togo off and then decide to get it
graded.
So I like to have that cardready to go, have a PSA 10 of a
few of their cards.
(09:26):
Maybe I want to offload somewhen they're getting really hot,
or maybe they just are about tomake their debut.
All of a sudden, you just don'twant to be caught off guard and
be scrambling to get those cardsgraded to try to get the max
value out of it.
Next up is how to get it graded.
So the first option is to justsend it in yourself direct.
You will prep your own cards,prep as in, wipe it down,
(09:50):
protect the card yourself.
PSA I say use card savers to dothis, not top loaders.
And usually you'll do thisthrough the mail.
They do have drop-off eventsmore at higher population areas
or at big card shows.
But you're probably going to bepreparing this in the mail.
Usually I'll put my cardstogether, grab some cardboard,
(10:12):
just like when you probably getcards shipped.
So put the cards together in thecorrect order, put cardboard on
either side that are slightlybigger than the card, and then
some painter's tape around that,and you're good to go.
The second option that you haveis to go through a third party.
I would recommend finding anauthorized dealer.
(10:33):
My favorite service is Gem Mint,GemMint.com.
They also have a Facebook group.
They have an easy form to fillout.
They will do prep services foryou at about$1 extra per card,
less I checked.
They will do a grade review, butthat is at an extra cost as well
if you want that.
So if they they have a bettereye than you, of course, have
(10:55):
experience with tens, maybehundreds of thousands of cards.
They can provide you with inputon whether or not they think a
card will tend.
Of course, there are noguarantees, but they can tell
you if there are any noticeableflaws that would prevent from
jamming that a regular personusually can't see.
And they can even provide andput your cards into card savers
(11:17):
for you, which is helpfulbecause most collectors don't
carry card savers.
And you can buy some yourself,but yeah, I just when I was
first getting cards graded, thatwas my go-to.
You're also not charged for themuntil the cards are ready.
Same with uh sending inyourself.
Gem Mint provides text messagesupdates through each step as
(11:40):
well.
So that is certainly helpful aswell.
Um, you know, you're not gonnabe left wondering what step
you're in.
It can take a while betweensteps, but you'll always have
communication that way, which isnice.
So if your grades pop, you don'thave to go in checking every
day.
You'll literally get a texttelling you that your grades
have popped.
The other option is to drop offat LCS, as in local card shop,
(12:04):
or even a card show.
They do offer differentbenefits, but you don't need to
mail yourself.
A lot of people aren'tcomfortable mailing in cards
themselves, especiallyhigh-value cards.
They don't want to be the oneresponsible for their own cards
or for insuring them.
And if something happens withthe mail, if something happens
with the mail having to gothrough a claim.
And these people, the LCS or thecard show, they generally have
(12:26):
the knowledge of what's a gradeand they can advise you further
than I am, specifically to yourcollection and talk you through
the process of what exactly youare going to expect with them
and how they get you your cardsback.
I do not recommend going throughGameStop for higher value cards.
I've had, I have not done itmyself, but what I've heard is
(12:50):
generally it's favorable, but Ihave heard some negative things.
The biggest reason why I'mtelling you not to do this is
I've heard that if your GameStopcloses, then you have to go to
the next closest one to get yourcards.
For some people, that could be ahuge issue.
I can't 100% confirm this, but Ihave heard it from pretty good
(13:12):
sources that this is the case.
So, GameStop, hopefully youdon't have to worry about your
GameStop closing, but if itdoes, just something to keep in
mind, especially when you canhave those really lengthy times.
I wouldn't trust them to beexperts exactly with the cards.
You know, your experiences canvary, but obviously they do
other things that are not likean LCS that's focused just on
(13:33):
cards.
Something to keep in mind.
It is an option that is outthere, though.
So if you have lower value cardsand you just want a quick, easy
way to go down to your localGameStop and do it, you can, but
I really don't recommend it forhigher value cards, or if
there's a chance where youthink, like, hey, my GameStop is
on the way out.
(13:54):
All right, and then there is, ofcourse, who to grade with.
So there are a few differentoptions.
It depends on what you'relooking to get graded, what
value you want and are lookingfor, and just playing who you
like.
The four that I'll mention arePSA, Beckett, SGC, and Tag.
Personally, I have only gradedwith PSA.
(14:16):
So for the other three, take myadvice with a grain of salt if
you'd like.
But there's a reason why I haveonly graded with PSA.
It is the best value.
It's not the cheapest, and it'snot the fastest.
It has the highest cost and thelongest weight.
But this is where you are, thisis where you will generally get
the best return for your money.
(14:37):
This is what other collectorsreally look for.
People had their problems withPSA, but at the end of the day,
this is really what sells thebest.
The biggest complaint is gettingupcharge.
So PSA charges based on thecard's value.
And the more they charge you,also the faster turnaround time,
allegedly, because I have hadcards sent in at the same time
(15:01):
where the cards where I wassupposed to get them back
sooner, I got back later, andvice versa.
But not really something toworry about.
I recommend to try to choose thecorrect option in the beginning.
So people like to choose thecheapest option.
That way they're only payingextra if their card gems, but if
their card end has to be like aneight or a nine, then they don't
have to pay worry about payingextra money.
(15:24):
The reason why I recommend goingwith the option that really fits
your card if it gems, becauseshe only should be sending in
modern cards that are going togem is first of all, you get a
card back faster and you'regoing to be insured for the
proper value.
So if something happens to yourcard and you choose one of those
lower tiers, you're only insuredup to the value of that tier.
So if your card gets damaged forsome reason, hopefully it
(15:46):
doesn't happen, but it does.
They deal with millions ofcards.
If it happens to you and youchose a tier where you're only
insured up to$500, which is athousand dollars card,$1,000
card, you're only gonna get$500back in value or money, however,
they reimburse you.
But if you do it for the correcttier, then it'll be for the
actual value of the card thatthey can find on through however
(16:09):
they do their comps, eBay orwhat have you.
Next up is Beckett.
So Beckett is the next bestoption, but I think it's fallen
off in recent years.
It's less cost, it's a smallerturn of return on time, but
you're not gonna get the samevalue as PSA.
It's tougher grades.
A 10 will be generally bettervalued, especially if you have
(16:30):
that black label that's nothinglike PSA like it.
Black label is Beckett gives yousubgrades, which people really
like.
So you can see your individualgrades for the four properties
we talked about (16:39):
corners, edges, surface, and centering.
You can see you have to pay tohave the subs on there, but you
can see that on there.
And if you get tens in all ofthem, you get a black, pristine
10, and that label goes for ahuge premium.
They are ultra rare, ultra toughto get.
A lot of traditionalists reallylike Beckett still, so it's not
(17:02):
the worst choice, but I'm stillPSA all day.
It's just I have experience withthem.
It's the easiest way to resell acard.
If this is your PC, then dowhatever you want.
A lot of people like to PCBeckett.
There's still definitely amarket out there.
People aren't going to generallyturn away from a card if it's
Beckett, but PSA will get moreeyes on it, especially because
(17:26):
they know that they can resellit easier.
Next up is SGC.
I really don't have a lot ofvalue.
I really don't have anyexperience with them.
It is an even cheaper option.
It's better for vintage and PC.
A lot of people love those,those slabs that they do.
So just another option to keepin mind.
I would really only use it forPC because I really don't
(17:47):
collect any vintage.
And the last option is tag.
Again, this is really a strictlyPC option, in my opinion.
People think that their valuesare going to rise.
You will see some peaks just aspeople get in and out seasonally
from tag, it seems.
They have great-looking slabs,they're all clear, but it's just
unknown whether or not it canend up being the next HGA, which
(18:09):
was at one point like the newhot slab that everyone liked the
look of.
But it does seem to havestronger legs.
It seems to be people seem to beinto it for longer.
So something to keep in mind.
That's about all to know to getstarted with rating.
Hopefully, this was helpful.
I will do more mini sodes in thefuture.
Thank you so much for listening.
(18:30):
Have a great day.
Zo, hello, and welcome to Talking Card with
Glenn Hobby and today that youjust made the juice here.
We have another mini tool forthe day.
(00:22):
This one is all about grading.
This is grading 101.
A lot of people are just gettinginto the hobby.
So this episode is gonna focuson the ins and outs of grading,
why you would want to grade yourcards, what to look for, where
to grade, how to grade.
We're gonna dive deep into thosethings for this mini stode.
(00:43):
Great for beginners if you'vebeen grading before.
You might find some helpful tipsin here, but this is mostly for
people that are new to thehobby.
First thing you need to do isask yourself, why do you want to
grade?
Is this for a PC card?
Is it to increase the value ofthe card?
Do you just want it sledgeauthentic without a grade?
(01:06):
So, first we're gonna go overthe reasons to grade for your
PC.
Uh people may tell you thatgrading for your PC is not worth
it.
That is nonsense.
Your PC could be graded cards,it could only be tens, it could
be whatever you want.
But remember, PC, personalcollection, personal, what you
(01:31):
want.
So don't let people tell youthat a card is not worth grading
just because it's for your PC.
If your PC uh you want it toinclude graded cards, you want
it to be including cards thatyou pulled that you want graded,
go for it.
Grade what you want, collectwhat you want.
The biggest reason that peoplegrade though is to increase the
(01:54):
value of their cards.
The thing I'm mostly going todiscuss modern cards here, that
is what I collect and what Ihave experienced here.
For modern cards, if you arelooking for a way to increase
the value of that card, onlygrade that card if you think it
will gem, as in you think youwill get a gem mint 10.
(02:14):
If it's a nine, you're generallynot worth grading.
Usually the cost of it to getgraded, you'll be lucky to
breaking even.
This is for ultra modern.
Keep that in mind.
The other thing to think aboutif you're planning to sell to
increase value, are you planningto sell right away?
Don't forget about turnaroundtime.
(02:35):
PSA can take six months or moreto grade sometimes to the lowest
level.
They can have backups where ittakes even longer than that.
So just something to be awareof.
If you want to sell that hotrookie, let's say you just
pulled an awesome kind ofgriffin card, and you know, hey,
I had this in a 10, I'm going tobe able to maybe triple my value
out of this.
(02:55):
It may not be worth it becauseyou're selling peak.
It could pass you by while thatcard is in grading.
You do not want that to happen.
You don't want to be caughtholding the bag, paying extra to
grade a card when you pass thatplayer's peak and you could have
just sold it raw.
Something to definitely keep inmind is those turnaround times.
(03:15):
For me personally, that thethings that I try to grade, the
largest part of my collectionthat I have graded are my Bowman
prospects, guys that I'll beholding for a while that I don't
think are going to make theirdebut soon.
So I think their debuts can bethe best time to sell.
Or also players that won't havea value hit.
Otani, always a good guy tograde right now.
(03:39):
And has been for the past fewyears.
Judge, with other establishedvets, people that their prices
aren't as volatile.
You know, my Soto and my Metsthat I've added to my PC.
I don't mind getting them gradedbecause those are going to be
either forever items or for Metsfans, he's going to be around
for 15 years.
So you know that he's going tobe around for a while.
(04:01):
No reason to think that he won'tremain hobby relevant for a long
time.
So something to keep in mind.
That's just the way I do it.
There is no one way to look atgrading, but that's how me
personally what I found I've hadthe most success with.
The other reason why you mightwant to grade, I guess it
(04:21):
wouldn't be considered grading.
You just want to slab it.
People do this with one-on-ones.
Some people will tell you don'tgrade one-on-ones because it
doesn't matter.
I'm okay with grading them.
The one-on-ones I've had, I'vegraded a few.
It's helped me to sell themeasier.
Getting them slabbed, itprotects the card.
It opens you to more sellers.
Some marketplaces, if it's areally big card, I think Golden
(04:43):
will want it graded anyway.
It just helps and make sure thatthere's no issues with getting
that one-on-one into sellers'hands.
So something to keep in mind.
As far as what grading entails,what they are looking at, the
grading companies themselves,they are looking at four things.
They are looking at surface,centering, corners, and edges.
(05:08):
This is for the front and back.
Do not forget the back of thecard.
So the first thing, surface.
Are there any dents, scratches,any noticeable defects?
Paper and chrome, you can lookat differently.
Chrome is more susceptible toscratches, of course, and dents.
Paper, you can havediscolorations for the surface,
(05:28):
other defects, but surface tendsto be more of a problem with
chrome in my experience, withthe modern stuff, than with
paper.
Centering, you gotta look at topto bottom and left to right.
Don't forget front and back.
I believe PSA is somewherearound, has to be better than
40, 60.
(05:49):
They publish the numbers.
I think that it might even bemore strict, like 55, 45 to get
a 10.
You can usually notice it withthe naked eye.
There are tools to help youfigure out centering.
Some people use apps.
There's none that I wouldrecommend right now.
There are some physical toolswhere you can place something
above it.
I think Brett Kleiman is evenworking on a physical device to
be able to do that.
(06:10):
So something to look for.
You can follow him on Twitter ifyou want to see.
BK breaks.
But centering, there are toolsto help you determine that.
Besides that, it's prettyself-explanatory.
Corners, is there any whiting onthe corners?
Do they look dented at all?
Usually you can see this withthe naked eye.
You really want to give it agood look.
(06:31):
Just one corner can keep youaway from a 10.
So definitely something to keepin mind when you're looking at
those cards.
Want to get them graded.
Paper cards for me, it's alittle harder to see the corners
on.
Chrome, it's very easy for me tosee as far as if there's any
whiting on there.
Also depends on the color of thecard.
A card with a black border tothe edge, you're really going to
(06:53):
be able to see the corners andthe edges a lot better as far as
if there's any defects.
Something that, of course, thegrading companies can see as
well.
The last factor they're lookingat is the edges.
Again, any whiting.
Is there any peeling?
Is there any phrase front andback?
Next up, let's go over what arethe best things to grade.
(07:14):
The first thing, it's just cardsthat are playing worth it.
You don't want to pay to grademore than a card is worth.
I usually need the card to beworth at least$50 raw.
Unless it's a prospect I reallybelieve in, I usually want it to
be worth at least$75 in a 10.
Those grade, the gradingservices with PSA, it's going to
be about$25 minimum per card,depending on what service you
(07:37):
use.
Also, the kinds of cards aresomething that you want to keep
in mind.
I've had more success withChrome than with paper, but some
people will tell you the otherway around because Chrome has
those surface issues that can beread more easily when the cars
are getting rated.
The ultra premium sets I do seeto have better quality too.
(07:58):
Like gilded, I've had moresuccess getting tens.
Uh, black and white, forwhatever reason, has a really
high gem rate.
So the card set itself, topseries one or flash of product,
can be a little tougher to getgraded, and the pops can be
crazy depending on what card.
It's really tough to get gems onpatch cards, thicker stock, and
(08:22):
die cut cards.
I try to avoid getting thatgraded unless you have someone
with a lot of experience maybelooking the card over.
Die cut cards pretty much havemore edges, and the die cutting
system is not perfect.
So it tends to have issues.
Thicker stock, that there's justa larger margin for error.
Same with patch cards.
It's really tough to get tensout of that.
(08:44):
I also don't like to grade incase cards like dynasty, black
and white, pristine.
They generally generally holdmore value in case than as a PSA
9.
And in that top loader, it canbe hard to evaluate the
condition.
Sometimes you can't clearly seethe edges, especially.
(09:06):
Those are usually thicker cards,too.
So it might be tough.
What I really like to grade arethe Bowman cards that are going
to be sitting anyway, thoseprospects.
I'm hoping you're going to panout in a couple of years.
You don't want that prospect togo off and then decide to get it
graded.
So I like to have that cardready to go, have a PSA 10 of a
few of their cards.
(09:26):
Maybe I want to offload somewhen they're getting really hot,
or maybe they just are about tomake their debut.
All of a sudden, you just don'twant to be caught off guard and
be scrambling to get those cardsgraded to try to get the max
value out of it.
Next up is how to get it graded.
So the first option is to justsend it in yourself direct.
You will prep your own cards,prep as in, wipe it down,
(09:50):
protect the card yourself.
PSA I say use card savers to dothis, not top loaders.
And usually you'll do thisthrough the mail.
They do have drop-off eventsmore at higher population areas
or at big card shows.
But you're probably going to bepreparing this in the mail.
Usually I'll put my cardstogether, grab some cardboard,
(10:12):
just like when you probably getcards shipped.
So put the cards together in thecorrect order, put cardboard on
either side that are slightlybigger than the card, and then
some painter's tape around that,and you're good to go.
The second option that you haveis to go through a third party.
I would recommend finding anauthorized dealer.
(10:33):
My favorite service is Gem Mint,GemMint.com.
They also have a Facebook group.
They have an easy form to fillout.
They will do prep services foryou at about$1 extra per card,
less I checked.
They will do a grade review, butthat is at an extra cost as well
if you want that.
So if they they have a bettereye than you, of course, have
(10:55):
experience with tens, maybehundreds of thousands of cards.
They can provide you with inputon whether or not they think a
card will tend.
Of course, there are noguarantees, but they can tell
you if there are any noticeableflaws that would prevent from
jamming that a regular personusually can't see.
And they can even provide andput your cards into card savers
(11:17):
for you, which is helpfulbecause most collectors don't
carry card savers.
And you can buy some yourself,but yeah, I just when I was
first getting cards graded, thatwas my go-to.
You're also not charged for themuntil the cards are ready.
Same with uh sending inyourself.
Gem Mint provides text messagesupdates through each step as
(11:40):
well.
So that is certainly helpful aswell.
Um, you know, you're not gonnabe left wondering what step
you're in.
It can take a while betweensteps, but you'll always have
communication that way, which isnice.
So if your grades pop, you don'thave to go in checking every
day.
You'll literally get a texttelling you that your grades
have popped.
The other option is to drop offat LCS, as in local card shop,
(12:04):
or even a card show.
They do offer differentbenefits, but you don't need to
mail yourself.
A lot of people aren'tcomfortable mailing in cards
themselves, especiallyhigh-value cards.
They don't want to be the oneresponsible for their own cards
or for insuring them.
And if something happens withthe mail, if something happens
with the mail having to gothrough a claim.
And these people, the LCS or thecard show, they generally have
(12:26):
the knowledge of what's a gradeand they can advise you further
than I am, specifically to yourcollection and talk you through
the process of what exactly youare going to expect with them
and how they get you your cardsback.
I do not recommend going throughGameStop for higher value cards.
I've had, I have not done itmyself, but what I've heard is
(12:50):
generally it's favorable, but Ihave heard some negative things.
The biggest reason why I'mtelling you not to do this is
I've heard that if your GameStopcloses, then you have to go to
the next closest one to get yourcards.
For some people, that could be ahuge issue.
I can't 100% confirm this, but Ihave heard it from pretty good
(13:12):
sources that this is the case.
So, GameStop, hopefully youdon't have to worry about your
GameStop closing, but if itdoes, just something to keep in
mind, especially when you canhave those really lengthy times.
I wouldn't trust them to beexperts exactly with the cards.
You know, your experiences canvary, but obviously they do
other things that are not likean LCS that's focused just on
(13:33):
cards.
Something to keep in mind.
It is an option that is outthere, though.
So if you have lower value cardsand you just want a quick, easy
way to go down to your localGameStop and do it, you can, but
I really don't recommend it forhigher value cards, or if
there's a chance where youthink, like, hey, my GameStop is
on the way out.
(13:54):
All right, and then there is, ofcourse, who to grade with.
So there are a few differentoptions.
It depends on what you'relooking to get graded, what
value you want and are lookingfor, and just playing who you
like.
The four that I'll mention arePSA, Beckett, SGC, and Tag.
Personally, I have only gradedwith PSA.
(14:16):
So for the other three, take myadvice with a grain of salt if
you'd like.
But there's a reason why I haveonly graded with PSA.
It is the best value.
It's not the cheapest, and it'snot the fastest.
It has the highest cost and thelongest weight.
But this is where you are, thisis where you will generally get
the best return for your money.
(14:37):
This is what other collectorsreally look for.
People had their problems withPSA, but at the end of the day,
this is really what sells thebest.
The biggest complaint is gettingupcharge.
So PSA charges based on thecard's value.
And the more they charge you,also the faster turnaround time,
allegedly, because I have hadcards sent in at the same time
(15:01):
where the cards where I wassupposed to get them back
sooner, I got back later, andvice versa.
But not really something toworry about.
I recommend to try to choose thecorrect option in the beginning.
So people like to choose thecheapest option.
That way they're only payingextra if their card gems, but if
their card end has to be like aneight or a nine, then they don't
have to pay worry about payingextra money.
(15:24):
The reason why I recommend goingwith the option that really fits
your card if it gems, becauseshe only should be sending in
modern cards that are going togem is first of all, you get a
card back faster and you'regoing to be insured for the
proper value.
So if something happens to yourcard and you choose one of those
lower tiers, you're only insuredup to the value of that tier.
So if your card gets damaged forsome reason, hopefully it
(15:46):
doesn't happen, but it does.
They deal with millions ofcards.
If it happens to you and youchose a tier where you're only
insured up to$500, which is athousand dollars card,$1,000
card, you're only gonna get$500back in value or money, however,
they reimburse you.
But if you do it for the correcttier, then it'll be for the
actual value of the card thatthey can find on through however
(16:09):
they do their comps, eBay orwhat have you.
Next up is Beckett.
So Beckett is the next bestoption, but I think it's fallen
off in recent years.
It's less cost, it's a smallerturn of return on time, but
you're not gonna get the samevalue as PSA.
It's tougher grades.
A 10 will be generally bettervalued, especially if you have
(16:30):
that black label that's nothinglike PSA like it.
Black label is Beckett gives yousubgrades, which people really
like.
So you can see your individualgrades for the four properties
we talked about (16:39):
corners, edges, surface, and centering.
You can see you have to pay tohave the subs on there, but you
can see that on there.
And if you get tens in all ofthem, you get a black, pristine
10, and that label goes for ahuge premium.
They are ultra rare, ultra toughto get.
A lot of traditionalists reallylike Beckett still, so it's not
(17:02):
the worst choice, but I'm stillPSA all day.
It's just I have experience withthem.
It's the easiest way to resell acard.
If this is your PC, then dowhatever you want.
A lot of people like to PCBeckett.
There's still definitely amarket out there.
People aren't going to generallyturn away from a card if it's
Beckett, but PSA will get moreeyes on it, especially because
(17:26):
they know that they can resellit easier.
Next up is SGC.
I really don't have a lot ofvalue.
I really don't have anyexperience with them.
It is an even cheaper option.
It's better for vintage and PC.
A lot of people love those,those slabs that they do.
So just another option to keepin mind.
I would really only use it forPC because I really don't
(17:47):
collect any vintage.
And the last option is tag.
Again, this is really a strictlyPC option, in my opinion.
People think that their valuesare going to rise.
You will see some peaks just aspeople get in and out seasonally
from tag, it seems.
They have great-looking slabs,they're all clear, but it's just
unknown whether or not it canend up being the next HGA, which
(18:09):
was at one point like the newhot slab that everyone liked the
look of.
But it does seem to havestronger legs.
It seems to be people seem to beinto it for longer.
So something to keep in mind.
That's about all to know to getstarted with rating.
Hopefully, this was helpful.
I will do more mini sodes in thefuture.
Thank you so much for listening.
(18:30):
Have a great day.
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