** tl:dr → if the following is too long to read, just don’t read please and carry on! If it’s too long to read, but you still want to help out by giving me proper insight or recommendations, then I am essentially asking for what your “best practices” for a grading sub prep is. If you feel this has been asked and answered 100s of times, I can assure you, I’ve watched dozens of hours of YT videos on the subject from many people, some members here, I’ve read tons of the threads, and none of them seem to provide the easiest, yet detailed and not outdated information. If you know of any YT videos or any threads on E4 that I possibly overlooked, you can share those! And also, if you use any type of LED lighting solution, ring lit, magnifier, portable or stationary, mechanical arm or none, etc. that you couldn’t recommend more highly as essential to you, would love that as well! For those who have the time and feel like giving me their insight and detailed process, I’d be more than appreciative. I’m sure there are many people both new and old who could learn something. **
I anticipate that grading fees will continue to rise, much like everything else in the world, and also that demand is slowly dying and pricing being pushed down for the majority of sets and cards apart from a handful. I am not a business or looking to become one, but I also do not want to end up with many 8s or 9s even for cards I desperately feel nostalgic about having opened or acquired myself to have to sell off / trade off the less desired grades. I was planning to just bite the bullet and do a bulk 1000 card sub, do the minimum in terms of inspecting and packing, sending to the middle-man and letting them do all the cleaning and such, but it’s come to my attention that gem mints have become very hard to obtain or also just a question of timing and luck. I want to reduce my margin of error as well as actually improve as much as I can in terms of judging quality and condition. I would rather trade off or sell off my desired doubles in great condition to other collectors for a fair price vs. hoarding them or better yet trying to convince people why they should buy inferior grades to the ones they can’t afford. I, for one, am looking to continue to collect and add many 10s for certain sets and cards in my collection, and the personal connection with knowing you pulled it, or made the proper judgement call when buying the single or binder is unmeasurable. Thank you in advance!
(1) card handling → is it best to use white cotton gloves or no one notices much of a difference (in terms of avoiding creating smudges or fingerprints when handling the cards for preparation, dust, etc.)
(2) card cleaning → I originally was using a tiny microfiber cloth like the ones you use to clean a lens on your DSLR or a screen, etc. but I recently saw a YTer from the sportsworld using a standard-sized microfiber cloth like the ones you would use to just dust down surfaces or your car and stuff. He placed the card closer to one side, lifted the cloth on the other side, proceeded to pat down the card lightly in a circular motion and all that, then big brain 500iq flipped the card carefully on the reverse without touching the card just by lifting the cloth, repeated the same process. Is this the best method to clean/wipe down your cards? Or is there something or a specific product people swear by?
(3A) card inspection → so I bought one of those 15$ German-branded LED pull-out magnifiers they sell usually to stamp/collectors. Went to pick up some poly sleeves for paper money and finally decided to ask about all the different tools and which ones were good for cards. The dude working wasn’t a super card person, but he said they use this one religiously to validate authenticity for the MTG cards they often take in for trade or whatnot. I realised later I was less concerned with authenticity of my cards, but more what the best way would be to create the ideal lighting and magnifying scenario. That mini magnifier, is great for inspecting raw cards quickly on a local or binder pick up, but I want a more stationary solution that offers a better field of view. So that same YTer with the sports cards, was using one of those bigger led-ring magnifiers on a mechanical arm, kind of like what the dentist uses. This seemed much more like what I would want. So if anyone can recommend a specific one they personally use or product they use that they swear by, I would love that!
(3B) card inspection → once properly set up and with the ideal lighting and magnifying situation, what are we looking for? On previous submissions to the middle-man, I just focused on sending well-centered cards (that I gauged to the best of my knowledge visually) and either NO visible whitening/silvering anywhere for the more modern stuff OR at the very least the best well-centered WOTC card with the least amount of visible whitening and silvering. And of course any highly visible print lines. But now, equipped with a much better setup, what am I quickly scanning with my eyes for once magnified.
(4) card sleeving → once you’ve cleaned your card, insert in a fresh sleeve. Never use a perfect fit and typically regular loose fit penny sleeves are what is recommended. I recently got burned and bought a bulk order online since there’s been a shortage at any of my LGS’s and the ones I got where not the typical “Ultra Pro Card Sleeves – 100ct” I was used to, but instead this new ones “Ultra Pro EASY GRADE Card Sleeves – 100ct”. I desperately needed them to sleeve things up, and quickly realised how easy they rip at the incision they’ve created at the top right + how the top of the card is kind of exposed. For sleeving to stack them and store in boxes, they definitely won’t do the trick for me. I had to re-sleeve many many cards that would have the plastic tear at the slightest amount of contact, but I had no choice. I ended up buying another bulk order online ans received the right ones, so proceeding to slowly re-sleeve them with the good ones. I know Gary’s recent videos a few weeks back, he recommended the loose ones, but the variation that come a bit thicker or whatnot. I don’t doubt there’s usefulness there, but seems more like the tinier things to try and get right.
(4) annotating → does anyone have a type of color coding system they personally use for the post its? Like your pre-grade 10s X color, pre grade 9s, Y color, etc. or maybe by set, or maybe by level of rarity? Or just stick and go.
(5) cardsavers → once sleeved, put into the card saver (I really liked Gary’s bigbrain move of cutting them, and I pre cut my savers for this sub and think it’s very clever and useful)
(6) storing / prepping to ship → Once cards have been cleaned, inspected, sleeved, annotated and put into cardsavers. Now what?! What if I don’t plan on doing my sub until X date or until I’ve amassed X amount of cards to submit. Where and how do you store them for ideal sub preparation? In batches of how many? What kind of box or storage is used? Is using the now empty box of 200 CardSaver Gold boxes good? Bubble wrap? Etc.
(7) post-prep data entry → Of course, enter your order and the cards in a sheet somewhere to be able to enter the stuff later or send them to your middle-man and all that.
And of course anything else I have missed or failed to think of in terms of the logical steps to the process. It isn’t a secret that the more prepared you are, and the more time you take to preparing things, the better odds you have in achieving your desired results.
Last, but not least, I appreciate anyone who takes the time to help answer any of my questions or provide any useful recommendations.
I genuinely enjoy and aknowledge the amount of work, the amount of hours, the amount of money that many of the helpful members on E4 have gone through in order to gain all this priceless information, oh and of course the amount of mistakes they have made to learn from! I know a lot of members who run blogs on the side or YT channels, have often mentioned they’d do one of these detailed videos at some point because they know how confusing and conflicting the information out there is, but haven’t seemed to get around to it. I’ve watched all the FourthStar videos I could find on PSA, read his old thread on the subject, and as much as they provide foundational insights, they seem a bit outdated now.
Thank you!