Learn
Know the scale before you pay for it
Short guides to the parts of grading you can check at home: the standards PSA publishes, the centering ratios that decide grades, the photos that show what a grader sees, and the arithmetic that decides whether the fee is worth paying. Every number is cited to a page we read on the date listed.
Grading standards
PSA grading standards explained: what separates a 10 from a 9
PSA publishes one paragraph per grade. Here is each one, what the words mean on a real card, and where estimates go wrong.
Updated 2026-10-07 · 8 min read
Centering
PSA centering tolerances by grade, with worked examples
55/45, 60/40, 65/35: what the ratios mean, how to measure them with a ruler or a photo, and the three cards that trip people up.
Updated 2026-10-07 · 7 min read
Prep
How to photograph a card for pre-grading (and prep it for submission)
Phone, one window, one sheet of paper. The photo that lets a person or a model see what a grader will see.
Updated 2026-10-07 · 6 min read
Grading ROI
Is this card worth grading? The ROI math with current PSA fees
PSA's cheapest listed tier is $59.99 per card right now. Here is the break-even arithmetic on two real cards, one that clears it and one that does not.
Updated 2026-10-08 · 8 min read
Pokemon
Pokemon card grading guide 2026: fees, odds, pop reports and what to send
What grading costs this year, what grades modern and vintage Pokemon cards actually get, and how to pick the cards that justify the fee.
Updated 2026-10-08 · 9 min read
Sports cards
Sports card grading: the price gap between raw, PSA 9 and PSA 10
On a modern base card the 9 is worth about the fee and the 8 is worth less than raw. The ladder, with real numbers, and what it means for what you send.
Updated 2026-10-08 · 7 min read
Estimate, not a PSA grade. Not affiliated with PSA.