Grading tutorial? Advice before you submit?

[Belfast1933]

Wondering if there are seasoned “DIY” home graders who might share their advice with the rest of us to help project likely TPG grades before we go to the trouble and cost of submitting to SGC, PSA or BVG

Perhaps there has been threads on this subject in the past?

I am familiar with the technical definition of the grades from the major TPGs but I struggle sometimes projecting grades to justify the effort and cost to submit.

I’ve seen jewelry loops used, have heard of careful measurements to ensure cards are not trimmed, high end scans etc. But I’m not sure I have seen a comprehensive method that other successful DIY grading collectors have tested and semi-validated.

I’m becoming a bit OCD about my own collection (I’m a HOF baseball collecrtor - a long way to go still!) and prefer to have all of my display cards graded - and I sell my graded dupes to help pay for what I still need for my HOF quest.

Any advice or techniques to share? I believe the conventional wisdom is that grading standards are a bit of a moving target, subject to inconsistencies, and probably more stringent now than in the past.

Looking forward to hearing your advice -

Thx,

Jeff