Common questions

Sports cards and trading cards of all kinds — baseball, basketball, football and other sports, plus trading card games and collectible sets. If you’re not sure whether a card qualifies, ask us before you submit.

Every card gets one overall grade from 1 to 10, where 10 is Pristine, 9.5 is Gem Mint, and 1 is Poor. Regular service reports a single whole number. Advanced service scores four core factors and can award half-point grades (like 9.5).

Regular ($50) authenticates the card and assigns one whole-number grade with front and back scans — no subgrades. Advanced ($500) scores the four core factors (centering, corners, edges, surface) individually, builds the overall grade from those subgrades, and adds print, gloss, color, structure, and a UV authentication pass — with detailed written notes and photography for every factor.

It isn’t a simple average. Inspired by Beckett’s methodology, the lowest of the four subgrades sets the floor and the overall can rise only slightly above it — a half point when one factor is uniquely low, a full point only when the floor is low and the others sit far higher. A 10 requires all four subgrades to be 10; a 9.5 requires none below 9.5. So subgrades of 10 / 10 / 10 / 9.5 come out to a 9.5. You can try the math yourself on the how-we-grade page.

Turnaround is currently 60–80 days from when your card arrives at our facility, for both service levels.

New submissions are paused while we work through current demand. Add your email on the home page and we’ll notify you the moment submissions reopen.

No. The registry is private by design. A card’s record can only be opened with the non-guessable code on its slab — by scanning the QR or typing the code. There is no browsable directory, and high-value cards can require an extra email verification.