← All guides

AI Pre-Grade

5-minute read · Collector+

AI Pre-Grade is the AI pre-submission gut check for cards and comics. You take five guided photos. AssetVault returns a grade range with a confidence score. Then the "Should I Grade?" tool tells you whether the resale math makes sense given live per-grade pricing — submit, borderline, or skip.

What it does NOT do

It is not a substitute for PSA / CGC / BGS / SGC. Real grading is done by humans with calibrated lighting, microscopes, and standardized rubrics. AI Pre-Grade is a phone-based pre-screen that helps you decide whether to spend $30+ on real grading.

Below 40% confidence, AssetVault refuses to estimate at all. We'd rather say "we can't tell" than mislead you into a submission.

How to run it

1. Open the item's Detail screen, or the AI Pre-Grade tab from the Scan menu.
2. Pick Card or Comic.
3. Take five photos following the on-screen guide:
   1. Front — flat, phone directly above, even lighting
   2. Back — same as front but flipped
   3. Top-left corner — close-up to read corner sharpness
   4. Top-right corner — same
   5. Surface — angled to catch surface scratches in the light
4. Tap Run. Result appears in 8–12 seconds.

You can run with as few as 3 photos but accuracy drops sharply. The 5-photo capture is what's calibrated against the rubrics.

Reading the result

• Bucket — e.g. "PSA 7–8". The likely grade range, never a single number.
• Confidence — 0–100. Bands: low (under 60), medium (60–80), high (80+).
• Components — sub-scores for centering, corners, edges, surface. Per the PSA / CGC rubric.
• Flags — specific issues that capped the estimate (whitening on left edge, surface scratch, off-center 60/40, etc.).
• Why this confidence — transparency section. Photo quality, angle coverage, consistency between angles, type difficulty.

"Should I Grade?" decision tool

Tap "Should I grade?" from the result. Enter the item name (or it pulls from Detail). The tool:

1. Pulls live eBay sold-listings prices for each grade in the predicted range.
2. Weights them by confidence — if AI Pre-Grade said PSA 7–8 at 70% confidence, that's a probability distribution across 7 and 8.
3. Computes expected value: EV = Σ (P(grade) × market price at grade).
4. Subtracts grading fee + shipping (default $30 + $15, editable).
5. Shows Submit / Borderline / Skip with the math behind it.

Calibration over time

Every AI Pre-Grade is saved to history. When you eventually get the real grade back, you can update the entry — over time, this is how we calibrate the model. (The data stays on your device. We use the aggregate to inform future prompt tuning, never your individual entries.)

Best practices

• Lighting. Diffuse natural light is best. Direct flash hides surface defects.
• Plain background. Black or grey, not patterned.
• Fill the frame. Card / comic should occupy ~80% of the photo for the front/back shots.
• Macro for corners. Get within 4 inches. Tap to focus.
• Surface shot — angle the light. Hold the card just below your light source so scratches catch it.