Teaching · For Teachers

Measure the borders
before you pay to grade.

A card’s grade comes down to four things graders check: centering, corners, edges and surface. Measure the front borders, rate the rest from 1 to 5 under a bright light, and add the value and the grading fee. The logger works out the centering ratio and tells you when grading would cost more than it could add.

Log a cardWhat you get

Your cards

The worked example is made up and names no real player: a well-centered rookie card, an off-center insert in a binder and a creased common card stored loose. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Teaching · For TeachersFree

What you finish with
A record per card: set, number, subject, four border measurements, corners, edges and surface from 1 to 5, print defects, estimated value, grading cost, storage and five checks. Works out front centering for each pair, the weakest condition score and the fee as a share of the value; totals the value; flags off-center cards, surface damage, grading that costs too much and loose or binder storage.
Who it is for
Young collectors and their families, and teachers using cards for measurement, ratio and percentage lessons.
Format
Browser logger with a saved record per card. Prints one card, every card in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Measure the four front borders in millimetres.
  2. Rate corners, edges and surface under a bright light at an angle.
  3. Add the value from recent sold listings.
  4. Add the full grading cost, shipping included.
  5. Grade only what the flags say is worth it.

Log a card

How cards are judged

What graders look atCenteringBorder widths, left toright and top to bottom.Top grades allow littleimbalance on the front.Corners and edgesSharp corners, cleanedges with no chipping.The first things to wearin a binder or a pocket.SurfaceGloss, scratches, printlines, dents andcreases.A crease usually capsthe grade, whatever elseis perfect.What graders look atCenteringBorder widths, left to right and top tobottom.Top grades allow little imbalance on thefront.Corners and edgesSharp corners, clean edges with no chipping.The first things to wear in a binder or apocket.SurfaceGloss, scratches, print lines, dents andcreases.A crease usually caps the grade, whateverelse is perfect.
Each grading company publishes its own standards; check the current ones before you send a card.

The math

Centering is a ratio: the larger border divided by both borders together. Borders of 3.6 and 1.8 millimetres make 3.6 ÷ 5.4, about 67 percent, written 67/33. It makes a good classroom exercise in measurement, ratios and percentages.

Storage

A soft penny sleeve inside a rigid top loader protects corners and surface. Binder pages are fine for cards you handle often but rub edges over time; rubber bands and loose stacks do the most damage.

Sources

  1. Professional Sports Authenticator. PSA grading standards, including centering tolerances by grade (psacard.com).
  2. Beckett Grading Services. Grading scale and subgrades for centering, corners, edges and surface (beckett.com).
  3. Sportscard Guaranty. SGC grading scale (gosgc.com).
  4. National Governors Association and CCSSO (2010). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, grade 6 ratios and proportional relationships.

The worked examples are made up. Grades and values are estimates; grading companies set and change their own standards and fees. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.