How do I assess mid-graded cards?

Grading
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For 2026 I have set the goal for myself to fill at least one spot in the binder every month. With just 45 cards left to buy the majority of the cards are on the (very) high end. Spending multiple thousands of euro’s on a mint copy to put in the binder is absolutely not an option, neither is buying PSA8’s and up and having them stored in a box while the spot keeps empty.

I came to the realisation that maybe… I just have to start buying PSA 5/6/7’s and crack them open. This will drop the price point significantly and still gives a very good looking card in the binder.

Jumping onto eBay and just searching, sorting by just these grades gives a lot options and range. But many slab sellers just have a front scan up, which often are very clear but also don’t show defects. So then I start wondering… all defects are on the back? It’s just a faded holographic layer that bumped the grade down? Or a scratch that doesn’t show up on the scan? Past experiences with eBay sellers is that they want to do as little as possible to make their profits, so questions often are ignored or answer with “see the listing”. And then… you got the people using photos with flash/lighting glare making it even harder to spot the defects because they can be masked by the glare.

So… how do I assess? Just dig up the PSA info up? Any hints?

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Everything from the mid 6xxxxxxx certs onwards will have front and rear scans on the PSA site. Just type in the certification number here

You could also try contacting the seller/s to ask for more pictures/reason for the low grade.

As a tip, if you see a PSA 6 with seemingly no damage, its almost always a surface issue which you cannot see on the scan (bend/dent)

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See. I didn’t knew about the 6x certs. I tried to look some up, like the few slabs I got, and nothing showed up.

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Right now, PSA slabs are pricey. I would actually recommend finding nice CGC graded copies to crack out. You’ll find them to be cheaper as well. Their in-house scans are often good to assess for specific types of damage.

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I agree with @Dyl, if you’re looking to buy to crack out do CGC. Even with the current crazy market CGC 8.5-9.5’s can be bought for super cheap and are great looking cards for a binder.

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Yeah. I looked at CGC and other grading company slabs too. Especially since PSA seem to have a 10-15% premium because it’s PSA.