EDIT: Agh, ninja’d by Marie…but still, This thread should help you with the card quality for PSA 10s, and a couple other grades. But generally this is the process I use to evaluate cards for grading, which is similar to PSA’s:
- Remove them from all protective casings (toploaders, sleeves, etc)
- Look at the card under a bright desk lamp or LED light.
CARD FRONT
3) Check the holo pattern for scratches. If many are obvious, the card will not score a 10, more likely an 8 or 9.
4) On older cards, check the sides for silvering. This is a major problem in WOTC sets and your cards will not score 10s with this silvering.
5) Check the front centering. Remember You can find the centering requirements here: www.psacard.com/Services/PSAGradingStandards
CARD BACK
6) Check for edgewear. This is where the above thread comes in helpful. Contrary to popular opinion, a card does not have to be perfect with no edgewear whatsoever, but it needs to be virtually perfect. Edgewear is much more apparent on English cards than Japanese.
7) Check the back centering. PSA is much more lenient on this, again, see the above link.
GENERAL
8) Check for major card damages such as creases. These give your card an automatic 6 or below and you should definitely look out for any type of crease, even if small.