Graded Card

A graded card is a trading card that has been professionally evaluated by a third-party grading company, assigned a numeric condition grade, and permanently sealed in a protective holder called a slab along with a unique certificate number. The grading company, such as PSA, BGS, or SGC, uses standardized criteria to assess the card's centering, corners, edges, and surface before sealing it. Once slabbed, the card becomes tamper-evident and its grade and certification number become publicly searchable in the grader's population database.

Graded cards trade more efficiently in the collector and investment market because the slab provides objective third-party authentication and condition assessment that buyers trust. A raw card's condition is subjective and visible to the naked eye only at point of sale, creating information asymmetry. By contrast, a graded card's numeric grade and cert number are verifiable across any marketplace, making pricing more transparent and reducing dispute risk. Most high-value cards in the secondary market are graded, and many collectors view slabbing as essential for cards with significant collector demand or rarity. The grade itself, rather than the card's individual merits, often becomes the primary pricing reference when cards are traded.