Anyone have advice on grading? Please

bdal23 · Aug 10, 2008

Guys I have been prospecting for years and now am looking into grading. The thing is I just dont have the graders eye. So I have some questions before I start

1) is it best to start with smaller submissions (ie 10) until I get a feel for what the graders are looking for in a gem mint card?

2) is it also a good idea to stick with a specific brand and year so you learn how that set is graded? Most of my cards are bowman chrome and bowman sterling

3) how do I ask for a minimum grade?

4) any tricks of the trade I should know? like how to clean cards? or look for imperfections?

Thanks for any help you can give

moxacaine · Aug 10, 2008

bdal23 said:
Guys I have been prospecting for years and now am looking into grading. The thing is I just dont have the graders eye. So I have some questions before I start

1) is it best to start with smaller submissions (ie 10) until I get a feel for what the graders are looking for in a gem mint card?

2) is it also a good idea to stick with a specific brand and year so you learn how that set is graded? Most of my cards are bowman chrome and bowman sterling

3) how do I ask for a minimum grade?

4) any tricks of the trade I should know? like how to clean cards? or look for imperfections?

Thanks for any help you can give

i would recomment buying a loupe. it really helps when looking at corners, edges and surface. you dont need anything stronger then a 10x or 15x. i have noticed a huge difference in my submissions since using one.

this is the one i use

http://cgi.ebay.com/10X-MAGNIFIER-LOUPE ... dZViewItem

EbAyAdDiCt · Aug 10, 2008

I would add starting with a smaller submission like you suggested. Also, somewhere on the form you write your minimum grades for each card, i dont think there is an official line, you just write it in...............good luck!

BGSRCGUY · Aug 10, 2008

Do you know anyone around your area that grades a lot? Id suggest asking them, once you get used to what they will be looking for its pretty easy to do.

ThoseBackPages · Aug 10, 2008

All great advice posted so far.......

i would add for the "Min Grade"

what i do is.....

take a post it, or a print out, and write on it what you want the min grade to be,
and anything else (ie: dont slab if not a min grade of X.X, or slab "authentic" if doesnt
meet min grade, etc), then directly tape tape that message to the Card Saver of that
particular card

BGSRCGUY · Aug 11, 2008

ThoseBackPages said:
All great advice posted so far.......

i would add for the "Min Grade"

what i do is.....

take a post it, or a print out, and write on it what you want the min grade to be,
and anything else (ie: dont slab if not a min grade of X.X, or slab "authentic" if doesnt
meet min grade, etc), then directly tape tape that message to the Card Saver of that
particular card

Make sure to use cardsavers, the graders like those better than toploaders.

bdal23 · Aug 11, 2008

thanks so much guys!!
I had a loupe but it was lost in my move so I need a new. That link to a loupe will really help thanks.
Also, as luck will have it I met someone at a local show who is pretty good at grading. We've talked a lot at the past few shows and next show we are gonna set up together and hes gonna give me a little lesson on grading. Should be fun.
Im gonna spend the net month picking out one I think are good and then give him a look before I send.
Thanks again for all the help. I will surely be nervous when I send for the first time but hopefully I can get better at it and help someone else in the future.

Im also going to keep a ledger and write down what subgrades I graded the card at that way I can compare when I get them back and make adjustments accordingly.
I think in the beginning I wont do the minimum grade as I would like to see how how well/badly I did on the subgrades.

BGSRCGUY · Aug 11, 2008

bdal23 said:
thanks so much guys!!
I had a loupe but it was lost in my move so I need a new. That link to a loupe will really help thanks.
Also, as luck will have it I met someone at a local show who is pretty good at grading. We've talked a lot at the past few shows and next show we are gonna set up together and hes gonna give me a little lesson on grading. Should be fun.
Im gonna spend the net month picking out one I think are good and then give him a look before I send.
Thanks again for all the help. I will surely be nervous when I send for the first time but hopefully I can get better at it and help someone else in the future.

Im also going to keep a ledger and write down what subgrades I graded the card at that way I can compare when I get them back and make adjustments accordingly.
I think in the beginning I wont do the minimum grade as I would like to see how how well/badly I did on the subgrades.

Remember grading is Subjective, one grader might see a subgrade as 9.5 another as a 9 or 8.5. Just keep trying and youll get the jist of what they are looking for.

952melvin · Aug 12, 2008

Lots of good info:

I have found that you really cant specify what you want enough. I have had a lot of problems with BGS, so I like to try to post my minimums with a sharpie directly onto the penny sleeve, I also write them next to the card on the Sub Form.

And make sure if you want it authenticated if it does not meet minimum grades make sure that is clearly on there. They apparently missed that part on my last sub since the card came back raw.

Utleyfan1 · Aug 19, 2008

I would say keep it small as my only sub has been a add on to a group sub where I sent along 2 cards. I got 2 9.5's and next time I'll be sending along 10-15 cards. However if you have a buddy with a good eye, I wouldn't see an issue in sending along a bigger sub. Good luck!
Tom

madman1978 · Sep 10, 2008

with everything else I would add
Review the cards in natural light Sunlight is best
shows so much more then would expect

gregbara · Oct 1, 2008

All great suggestions here.

What I do is pull some cards that I want to send, then review them twice. I usually start by checking the centering, an often overlooked aspect which can really tank a grade. After I weed out those for centering, I then start looking corners and edges. Once that is done I do surface. I will wipe with a eyeglass cloth to clean any smudges, then I will look at it in light and use the glare of the light to identify any scratches. At this point I will wipe the card again and put into a penny sleeve, the the CardSaver.

Best of luck.

madman1978 · Oct 3, 2008

I was given a GREAT suggestion by a person who know grading

Check your cards in the sunlight as well
This helped he a great deal on judging the cards for grading
You can see things in the natural light better then artificial light

Welcome to our community

Be apart of something great, join today!

Anyone have advice on grading? Please

bdal23

New member

moxacaine

Active member

EbAyAdDiCt

New member

BGSRCGUY

New member

ThoseBackPages

New member

BGSRCGUY

New member

bdal23

New member

BGSRCGUY

New member

952melvin

New member

Utleyfan1

New member

madman1978

Active member

gregbara

New member

madman1978

Active member

Similar threads

Staff online

Members online

Latest posts