Should You Grade Your Pokemon Card? A Pre-Grading Checklist

A Pokemon card is worth grading only when condition, likely grade, market value, grading fees, shipping risk, and your selling plan all make sense together. Centering is the fastest condition filter, but it is not the whole decision. A perfectly centered card can still miss a top grade because of corners, edges, surface, print lines, dents, or eye appeal.

Use this checklist before you pay to grade a card.

1. Check centering first

Centering is the easiest condition issue to measure from a photo. If the front is clearly off-center, the card may not have the grade upside you need.

Quick read:

| Front centering | Pre-grading signal | |---|---| | 50/50 to 55/45 | Strong centering candidate | | 56/44 to 60/40 | Borderline for top-grade expectations | | 61/39 to 65/35 | Real centering risk | | Worse than 65/35 | Usually not a top-grade centering candidate |

Measure both front and back if possible. MintPick can help by straightening the photo first and giving left/right and top/bottom ratios.

2. Inspect corners

Corners are where many cards fail. Look for:

• whitening,
• soft corners,
• bends,
• dents,
• lifted layers,
• factory roughness,
• corner wear from binders or sleeves.

Zoom in on all four front corners and all four back corners. If one corner is obviously damaged, do not let good centering trick you into a bad submission.

3. Inspect edges

Edges can show whitening even when the front looks clean. Check the back edge especially closely because white chips are easy to see there.

Look for:

• edge whitening,
• chipping,
• rough factory cuts,
• dents along the side,
• frayed cardboard,
• pressure marks.

Modern cards with visible back-edge whitening often struggle to hit the highest grades even when centering is good.

4. Inspect surface

Surface is the hardest part to judge from a photo. You need angled light or a short video to see many issues.

Look for:

• print lines,
• scratches,
• dents,
• roller marks,
• stains,
• clouding,
• foil scratches,
• pressure impressions.

If you are buying online, ask for a tilt video on expensive cards. A single straight photo can hide surface problems.

5. Check value before fees

A card can be grade-worthy in condition but not worth grading in money. Compare:

• raw sold prices,
• PSA 9 sold prices,
• PSA 10 sold prices,
• grading fee,
• shipping and insurance,
• selling fees,
• expected time to sell.

Do not only look at PSA 10 comps. If the realistic outcome is PSA 9, the PSA 9 value is the number that matters.

6. Decide your goal

Your grading decision changes depending on why you are grading:

| Goal | What matters most | |---|---| | Personal collection | Authenticity, display, long-term protection | | Flip for profit | Expected value after fees | | Registry set | Consistency and grade target | | Vintage preservation | Authentication and protection | | Modern PSA 10 chase | Strict condition filtering |

For flipping, be ruthless. For personal collection, the math can be softer because the slab may have value to you even if the resale spread is not huge.

7. Use a pass/fail rule

A simple rule helps avoid emotional grading decisions:

Grade the card only if:

1. Front centering passes your target grade filter.
2. Back centering is not obviously bad.
3. Corners look clean under zoom.
4. Edges do not show obvious whitening.
5. Surface looks clean under angled light.
6. PSA 9 value does not destroy the economics.
7. PSA 10 value justifies the risk.

If two or more of those fail, do not submit unless the card is rare enough that authentication or protection is the main goal.

Where MintPick fits

MintPick is a centering and comparison tool, not a full grading oracle. It helps with the part of the checklist that is measurable from photos:

• front centering,
• back centering,
• left/right ratio,
• top/bottom ratio,
• comparing multiple copies in Stack.

It does not inspect surface, authenticate cards, or guarantee PSA grades. That is intentional. Use MintPick to make the centering part objective, then use your eyes and market data for the rest.

Bottom line

Do not ask "is this card good?" Ask a tighter question:

Does this specific copy have enough condition and value upside to justify grading fees and risk?

Start with centering because it is fast. Then check corners, edges, surface, and market math before you submit.