The straight-answer FAQ

No. Prelim gives an estimate, not an official grade. It is not a grading company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by PSA, Beckett (BGS), CGC or TAG. Only a grading company can grade your card, after handling it in person.

Every result names the company it refers to and carries an “(est.)” label, so it always reads as “Likely PSA … (est.)” rather than a bare number.

Your photos are compared against photos of slabbed cards graded by each company. The estimate is then capped by any visible defects, so a problem the system can see holds the estimate down however good the rest of the card looks.

Each company has its own scale and its own standards. One number would hide those differences, so each company gets its own estimate, built from slabs graded by that company.

We are measuring it on a fresh held-out set of cards, registered in advance, and we will publish numbers only from that set.

Until then, treat every result as an estimate and read the confidence figure and any review flags that come with it.

When the evidence is thin, the result says so instead of guessing. “Not enough slab data yet” means there are too few graded examples to compare against; “Needs review” means the system is not sure.

A result is also flagged when two models disagree by two or more grades, or when confidence is under 50%. In those cases the lower estimate is the one shown.

Vintage WotC-era English Pokémon cards, from 1999 to 2003. The sets page lists exactly what is covered.

Start at /start. It opens a one-time upload link on your phone, valid for 30 minutes. Photograph the front and the back of the card; corner close-ups are optional.

Even, glare-free light and a card lying flat give the system the clearest view of the surface, edges and corners.

No. You get a one-time link that opens in your phone’s browser. There is nothing to install and nothing to sign up for.

No, they are optional. Close-ups give the system a better look at corner wear, which is one of the defects that can cap an estimate.

When the system is unsure which card it is looking at, it shows its top three candidates and you confirm the right one with a single tap.

Raw (ungraded) values come from third-party market sources, such as TCGplayer market prices and PriceCharting. Every value is shown with its source and the date it was taken, and recent sales are shown where available.

Prices move, so check the date next to each figure.

It is a conservative first read on whether sending the card in makes sense, weighing the card’s value against the cost of grading plus shipping.

It is not investment or financial advice. The decision to grade, buy or sell is always yours.

Photos you upload are processed on the operator’s own server to produce your report. Your results link lasts about 24 hours.

During the beta the photos are kept on that server; a retention period and a deletion request process are being set and will be in the privacy policy before launch.

No advertising trackers and no third-party analytics. Your theme preference is stored in your browser’s local storage.

The beta signup form stores only your name, email and signup time, on the operator’s server, and they are used only to contact you about the beta.

It is free during the beta. Paid plans are coming soon. No payment is taken on this site.

Prelim is built and run by an independent collector-developer and is currently in private beta.

It is not affiliated with PSA, Beckett, CGC, TAG, Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK or The Pokémon Company. Pokémon is a trademark of its owners.