How to spot a fake

The most common manipulation in trading cards is trimming: cutting the edges or corners of a lower-grade card to make it appear to have sharper corners, then submitting it for grading. Grading companies use measurement tools to detect trimmed cards and will label them as altered. Buying cards already in PSA, BGS, or SGC holders eliminates most authentication risk for modern cards. For vintage raw cards, learn the printing characteristics of the era

Paper stock, ink color, and print patterns are consistent within a print run and differ from reproductions. The other common fraud is counterfeit graded holders. Genuine PSA and BGS holders have specific security features. If a deal seems too good to be true on a high-value graded card, buy from an established platform with buyer protection rather than a private individual.

CollectorGrade take

Graded cards in genuine holders from PSA, BGS, or SGC carry authentication risk orders of magnitude lower than raw cards. For any card above a few hundred dollars, the grading fee is cheap insurance.