Get the most out of AI Grading Lab
A step-by-step guide to submitting cards, reading results, and using the ROI calculator to decide whether grading makes sense.
1. Getting Started
Create a free account in seconds — no card on file required just to look around. Each new account starts with the option to try the service before purchasing credits.
When you're ready, head to the Pricing page to buy a credit pack. One submission uses one credit, and credits are valid for 6 months from purchase.
2. Submitting Your Cards
Go to Upload and drag-and-drop your photos. Each card needs a front and a back image.
Photo tips for the best results
- Bright, even lighting (no harsh shadows or glare)
- Card fills most of the frame — fully in-focus
- Plain background (a tabletop, mat, or neutral surface)
- Hold the camera parallel to the card so corners look square
Add the card identification details (set, year, player, etc.). Click Submit — one credit is deducted per submission and analysis usually completes within a couple of minutes.
3. Reading Your Results
Each result page shows a predicted PSA grade, a probability distribution across grades 1–10, and detailed sub-grades for centering, corners, edges, and surface.
The confidence band tells you how certain the model is. A tight band on a single grade is high confidence; a spread across two or three grades means the card sits near a boundary and could go either way.
Open the flaw heat-map to see exactly where the AI flagged issues — surface scratches, corner softness, or off-centering. Toggling these helps you understand why the predicted grade landed where it did.
4. The ROI Calculator
On every result page you'll find an ROI Calculator that estimates whether grading is likely to be profitable. Enter:
- Raw value — what the ungraded card sells for today
- Graded value at each grade — what the card sells for at PSA 8, 9, 10, etc.
- Grading + shipping cost — your total out-of-pocket cost
The calculator multiplies each graded value by the model's probability for that grade, subtracts your costs, and gives a recommendation: Likely Worth Grading / Borderline / Likely Not Worth It.
Where to find accurate market values
For the strongest ROI estimates, we recommend:
- Card Ladder — probably the best overall option. Card Ladder aggregates historical sale data across platforms and lets you look up graded card values by year, brand, player, and PSA grade. Great for a quick, data-backed number.
- PSA Auction Prices Realized — go to psacard.com → Auction Prices, search for your card by year/brand/player, and review recent sales by grade.
- eBay Sold Listings — filter to Sold Items and match the same year/brand/grade. Average the last 3–5 sales for a realistic number.
AI Grading Lab is not affiliated with or endorsed by Card Ladder, PSA, or eBay.
Click Save Values on the calculator and your numbers stick to the submission — they're also used for ROI sorting on your Submissions page.
5. Bulk ROI with the CSV Template
Don't want to enter ROI values one card at a time? From your Submissions page, click ROI Template to download a pre-filled CSV with all your graded cards and their top-3 predicted grades.
Fill in the three Value at Grade columns (what the card sells for at each predicted grade), then upload it back with Upload ROI Template. The system computes ROI for every card at once and saves the results.
All three grade values are required
For each card you want to update, you must enter a value for all three predicted grades (Value at Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3). If any of the three is blank, that entire card will be skipped — no partial updates.
Can't find an exact value? Estimate it. A rough guess based on similar cards is far better than leaving a field empty. Check Card Ladder, PSA Auction Prices, or eBay sold listings for nearby comps, and round to a reasonable number — you can always update it later.
Cards with all three values blank will be left unchanged (their existing ROI data stays intact). Grading Fee and Other Costs are optional — if left blank, the system uses your default grading fee.
6. Your Submissions Dashboard
The Submissions page is your archive. Search by player or set, filter by predicted grade or recommendation, and sort by:
- Date — newest or oldest first
- Predicted Grade — find your highest predicted grades quickly
- ROI: Highest Profit — see your most profitable opportunities first
- ROI: Lowest Profit — surface losers to skip
- ROI Status — group cards by Likely Worth Grading first
Each row shows a colored ROI badge if you've saved values for that card — green = worth, amber = borderline, red = skip.
Use the Bulk Export button to download a CSV of selected submissions with grades, sub-grades, and ROI numbers — perfect for spreadsheets or import into your inventory tracker.
7. Single-Card Marketplace Export
On any result page, scroll to Marketplace Export. You can generate:
- A polished PNG card branded with your predicted grade — drop it into a Discord, X, or eBay listing
- A pre-formatted eBay-ready text block with title, condition, predicted grade, and disclaimer
- A printable PDF report with all the details
Tick the Include ROI Analysis checkbox to layer your saved ROI numbers into the PNG and text exports. Heads up: that checkbox is greyed out until you've entered and saved values in the ROI Calculator above.
8. Help Us Get Better — Report Real Outcomes
Once you get a card back from PSA, come to your submission and click Report Actual Grade. Enter the real grade you received — that single click feeds the validation loop and helps the model improve over time.
Reporting outcomes is optional, but it's the most valuable thing you can do for the community.
9. Frequently Asked Questions
Is this an official PSA grade?
No. AI Grading Lab provides AI-generated PSA-aligned grading estimates only. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by PSA. Always treat results as a guide, not a guarantee.
How accurate is the prediction?
The model performs strongest on common modern issues (centering, corner wear, surface scratches). It tends to under-call hard-to-see flaws like print lines or microscratches that PSA graders may catch in person. Use the confidence band as a sanity check.
Do credits expire?
Yes — 6 months from the date of purchase. Six months is plenty of time to work through a meaningful batch of cards, and that policy is exactly what lets us keep the per-card price as low as it is.
Can I refund unused credits?
Credits are non-refundable, but they don't lock you into a subscription either. You only ever pay for what you actually use.
Where can I get help?
Email [email protected] — we're a small team and we read everything.