Grading costs money and takes weeks, so check your card first. Here is how to pre-grade a Pokémon card at home the way the grading companies do, with examples of the flaws that cost a grade.
What graders check
Every grading company looks at the same four things: centering, corners, edges and surface. The weakest one usually decides the grade. You can check all four at home in a few minutes with a bright light, a magnifier (a phone camera zoomed in works) and a clean, soft surface.
1. Centering
Centering is how evenly the picture sits inside the yellow borders, measured left vs right and top vs bottom (and on the back). It’s written as the bigger side over the smaller: 55/45 means one border is a little wider. Most companies need about 55/45 or better on the front for their top grade (see the standards). Full-art cards still have centering: look at the thin border around the art.
How to measure: take a straight-on photo, zoom in, and compare the left and right border widths (a ruler app or centering tool helps). Do the same for top and bottom, and the back.
2. Corners
Look at all four corners under a light, front and back. A top-grade card has four sharp, square corners with no white showing.
3. Edges
Turn the card over: the blue back shows edge wear first. White spots along the edge (“whitening” or “silvering”) come from packs, sleeves and shuffling. One or two tiny specks may still allow a 9; a line of them won’t.
4. Surface
Tilt the card under a bright light so it reflects: scratches and dents only show at an angle. Check the holo foil and the back.
Is it worth grading?
If your card passes all four checks and the graded price (especially for a 10) is well above the raw price plus fees, it may be worth sending. Run the numbers in our grading calculator, and compare the companies in the grading standards guide.
The drawings show typical flaws; they are illustrations, not photos of real cards. Each company decides its own grades.