What to Check When a Card Arrives

Start recording while the package is still sealed and keep filming in one unbroken take until the card is out. That video is the only evidence that holds up if a dispute follows, whichever link in the chain caused the problem: the seller, the courier, or the forwarder.

Do not delete it straight away. Wait until you have confirmed the card is as described and the return window has closed. Buyers often notice a dinged corner days later, by which point there is nothing left to show.

PSA, BGS and SGC all judge condition on the same four things: corners, edges, surface and centering. You do not need to be a grader, but running through those four catches what photographs hide.

Turn the corners against the light and look for whitening or fraying. Scan along all four edges for small nicks. Hold the surface at an angle, because scratches and print dents are nearly invisible head-on. For centering, compare the width of the white border top to bottom and left to right.

Centering is the only one of the four you can assess from a photograph, which is why a listing whose images do not show the borders clearly is worth one extra question before you buy.

This step is the one most often skipped and the most useful. PSA, BGS and SGC each publish a free certification lookup: enter the number printed on the slab and the registry returns the player, year, set and grade recorded for that card.

If what comes back does not match the card in your hand, or nothing comes back at all, the problem is the slab itself. Counterfeit holders and low-grade cards swapped into high-grade slabs are found exactly this way.

The lookup is free, needs no account, and takes under a minute. Do it before anything else once a graded card arrives.

Packages shipped internationally pass through temperature swings. If a card arrives colder than the room and goes straight into a sleeve or case, the moisture that condenses is sealed in with it, and a hazy bloom can appear on the surface days later.

Leave the card in its original packaging indoors for an hour or two before handling it. The step costs nothing and takes no effort, and it avoids damage that is close to irreversible.