HowTo Network emblem How To: Gaming THE HOW TO CO. — EDITION 10
A trading card passing through a glowing grading scanner

● REGION 01 · TRADING CARDS  —  CHAPTER 07

HOW TO GRADE
without the regret.

A slab is a number, a wait, and a resale multiple — and half the cards people send should never go. Three routes. Take them in order.

▸ THE ONE RULE OF GRADING

Most cards are worth more raw. A nine and a ten are one micron — and a thousand dollars — apart.

1 · POOR5 · EX9 · MINT10 · GEM MINT

The whole game lives in the last two points of the scale. That's what grading is really deciding — and why the order below matters: figure out if your card can even reach the top before you pay anyone to judge it.

The three routes.

DECIDE → SUBMIT → COMPARE.  PICK WHERE YOU ARE.

01

ROUTE 01 · DECIDE

Should You Grade It.

Run the break-even before you spend a cent. Most cards fail it — and that's the answer.

  • ▸The grading break-even in two minutes
  • ▸Spotting a card that won't grade well
  • ▸When raw beats slabbed for good
ENTER ROUTE 01 →
A collector's desk with sleeved cards under lamplight
A graded card sealed in a slab under studio light
02

ROUTE 02 · SUBMIT

PSA.

The name that moves resale most — and the tiers, timing, and pricing that come with it.

  • ◂Picking the right PSA tier
  • ◂Reading a PSA slab label
  • ◂Tracking a submission without refreshing all day
← ENTER ROUTE 02
03

ROUTE 03 · COMPARE

CGC & Other Graders.

Sometimes CGC, Beckett, or TAG is the smarter send. Here's when the other slab wins.

  • ▸PSA vs CGC, decided honestly
  • ▸Reading a CGC label
  • ▸Is Beckett worth it for your card?
ENTER ROUTE 03 →
Crystal-slabbed cards drifting through a violet nebula
Ian in his collection room

▸ FROM THE ARCHIVIST · IAN

"The break-even isn't the fee. It's the fee, the shipping, the wait, and the odds you're wrong about the grade."

READ: HOW TO KNOW WHEN TO SLAB A CARD →

Essays from Ian

THE ARCHIVIST ON GRADING
Ian's grading reference sheets and tools IAN · ESSAY · LIVE How to Read a Population Report Without Lying to Yourself The pop report tells the truth about rarity — you just have to let it, before you pay for a slab. READ → Card sleeves and protective supplies IAN · ESSAY · LIVE How to Ship a Card to a Grader Safely A card can lose a full grade in the mail. The pack-out that gets it there exactly as it left. READ → A precision scale on Ian's desk IAN · ESSAY · IN THE WORKS How to Budget a Grading Submission Fees, shipping, and the wait — the real cost of a stack before you send one you’ll regret. SOON →
Ian's grading bench: loupe, tweezers, inspection reports under a desk lamp

▸ THE ARCHIVIST’S DESK

A grade is a number a stranger assigns. What you send them is the one call that stays yours.

The how-to guides

STEP-BY-STEP · BY ROUTE · BY IRIS
A gloved hand holding a graded slab up to the light for inspection

Every guide runs one route all the way to the leaf.

ROUTE 01 · DECIDE

▸How to Run a Grading Break-Even in Two Minutes ▸How to Spot a Card That Won’t Grade Well

ROUTE 02 · SUBMIT

▸How to Pick the Right PSA Tier ▸How to Read a PSA Slab Label ▸How to Track a PSA Submission

ROUTE 03 · COMPARE

▸How to Choose Between PSA and CGC ▸How to Read a CGC Label ▸How to Decide If Beckett Is Worth It
Pull Rate ▸ PULL RATE · THE COMPANION BOARD Grading starts with the price. See what a card did today, before you send it in. CHECK THE BOARD →