01 · LIVE SCAN
Locks on and measures
Four markers lock the card in place, the scan sweeps it, and every edge is traced so centering is measured, not guessed.
APx is a true hybrid grading company. Every card is scanned, measured and run through our Surface X-ray by AI built on Claude by Anthropic, then confirmed by an expert grader. Every card gets its own Card DNA, a fingerprint made from its surface, and all four subgrades print on every gold-foil label.
Crack a slab, send the same card back to the same company, and the grade can come back different. So who is really setting the standard? We built APx so every grade comes with its receipts.
Watch with sound · 36 seconds
Every card that comes through our studio runs through the same four AI instruments before an expert grader picks it up. Here is what each one does.
Four markers lock the card in place, the scan sweeps it, and every edge is traced so centering is measured, not guessed.
A filter strips out the picture's color and shading so scratches, dents, print lines and specks light up for the AI and the grader.
The card's own surface texture becomes a one-of-a-kind fingerprint, seeded by its cert number and shown on its cert page.
Grades, centering and every defect the AI finds are logged in our lab, and a human grader confirms each one before it is final.
Sample Card DNA · cert 24282602
No two cards are exactly alike, even two copies from the same pack. When we grade your card, we turn its fine surface texture into a fingerprint that belongs to that card alone.
Scan, X-ray, DNA, log. Thirty-six seconds inside the system every APx card goes through, and why a human grader always makes the final call.
APx is built AI-first. Every card that comes through our studio is imaged, measured and inspected by our AI system before an expert grader ever picks it up. The AI catches what the eye can miss. Our graders make the final call. You get the precision of a machine and the judgment of a human, on every single card.
Our AI finds the card edge and the print border and measures centering to the pixel, so 55/45 means 55/45.
Each corner and edge is zoomed in and checked for whitening, dings, chipping and soft tips, front and back.
Low-angle light from four directions makes scratches, print lines and dents stand out, and the AI flags every one it finds.
The AI drafts the subgrades and lists what it found. An APx grader inspects the card in hand and confirms, adjusts or overrules.
Markers lock the photo, the color chart corrects the light, centering is measured, corners are zoomed, the surface is scanned and the AI drafts a grade for our graders to confirm.
We built a home edition of our studio system so anyone can get an AI estimate from the comfort of their own home. Print the free APx Grading Mat, snap a few photos with your phone, and see an estimated grade before you ever ship a card.
| Home edition | APx studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Your phone and the printed mat | Fixed overhead camera, the same height and angle every time |
| Lighting | Room light plus your phone's flash | Controlled lighting from four directions |
| AI inspection | Centering, corners, edges, surface | The full system, every card |
| Human grader | None, AI estimate only | Expert grader inspects the card in hand, plus a second check |
| Result | An estimated grade range | Official subgrades, gold-foil label and verifiable cert |
| Cost | Free | From $8 per card |
The home estimate is a guide, not a grade. Phone photos can miss things we see in the studio, so your official APx grade may be higher or lower. Every official grade is set by an APx grader with the card in hand.
A digital centering overlay, built right into the free estimator. We find the border, you check the gold lines, and the live percentages turn straight into your centering subgrade on the APx chart.
Centering, corners, edges and surface are printed on the label, so buyers see exactly why a card earned its grade.
Our grading scale, criteria and how the overall grade is worked out are all public, so the same card gets the same grade.
Every slab carries a unique cert number. Anyone can look it up here to confirm the card, grade and subgrades.
Tap a marker to see what each part of an APx label tells you.
Logged, imaged on the APx mat and matched to your order.
Our AI measures centering and zooms every corner and edge.
Four-direction lighting and AI flag scratches, dents and print lines.
An expert grader confirms the subgrades in hand, then a second grader checks.
Gold-foil label printed, slab sealed, cert published.
Move the subgrades and watch the label update. This is the same rule our graders use.
Enter the cert number printed on the label to confirm the card and its grades match our records.
Try 24282602 to see a sample result.
Subgrades and gold-foil labels come standard at every level. No upcharge for card value.
How evenly the image sits within the borders, front and back.
Sharpness of all four corners, checked under magnification.
Chipping, whitening or roughness along every edge.
Scratches, print lines, dents and gloss, under multiple lights.
Each card gets a separate score for centering, corners, edges and surface. They're printed on the label so anyone can see what's behind the overall grade.
Every card is imaged on our grading mat, then our AI system, built on Claude by Anthropic, measures centering to the pixel, zooms in on every corner and edge, scans the surface under angled light and drafts a set of subgrades with notes on anything it finds. An expert APx grader then inspects the card in hand and sets the final grades.
No. APx is a hybrid: the AI measures and flags, and a human grader makes every final decision, with a second grader checking. The AI makes our graders faster and more consistent; it never grades a card on its own.
No. The home estimate is a guide based on your phone photos, which can miss things our studio equipment catches. Your official grade, subgrades and cert come only from an APx grader after inspecting the card in hand.
We average the four subgrades, round down to the nearest half point, and never let the overall grade sit more than one point above the lowest subgrade. Try it in the grade calculator above.
Turnaround depends on the service level: 2 business days for Express, 7 business days for Standard and 21 days for Bulk, counted from the day your cards arrive.
Enter the cert number from the label in the verify box above. The record shows the card, overall grade, all four subgrades and the card's Card DNA, a fingerprint made from its own surface scan.
Yes. All cards in our care are insured under our private umbrella policy. Additional shipping insurance can be added to your return shipment for extra protection.
In most cases, yes. We often accept cards graded by other companies for crossover into an APx slab. Reach out before you send them and we'll confirm your cards are eligible.
Start a submission today and get every detail on the label.
Tell us what you're sending and we'll reply with your order number and shipping details.
Last updated November 2026
These terms apply to every submission to APx Grading ("APx", "we", "us"). By submitting cards, you agree to them.
APx examines trading cards, assigns an overall grade and four subgrades, seals each card in a tamper-evident slab with a labeled cert number, and records the result in our online cert database.
Grades and subgrades are APx's professional opinion based on our published standard at the time of grading. Grades are not a guarantee of value or of the grade another company would assign. Grading decisions are final unless you request a review, which may carry a fee. Estimates from our free home grading tool are produced by AI from your photos, are for guidance only and are not APx grades.
Turnaround times are estimates counted from the day your cards arrive and are logged. Express is 2 business days, Standard is 7 business days and Bulk is 21 days. Large volumes, missing information or unpaid balances may cause delays.
Prices are listed per card for each service level. Bulk orders require at least 50 cards. Payment is due before graded cards are shipped back. We may update prices at any time; changes do not affect orders already received.
We often accept cards graded by other companies for crossover. Contact us first to confirm eligibility. A crossover grade is our own opinion and may differ from the original grade.
To the extent permitted by law, APx's liability for any card is limited to the value you declared for that card on your submission. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, or for natural defects in a card that existed before grading.
If an order remains unpaid or unclaimed for 90 days after we've contacted you, we may charge reasonable storage fees.
We may update these terms; the version posted here applies to new submissions. These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
We collect your name, email, phone, shipping address and the details of the cards you submit so we can process and return your order. We never sell your personal information. Card details, grades and cert numbers are published in our cert database so anyone can verify a slab; your name and contact details are never shown there. Payment details are handled by our payment provider. If you use our free AI grade estimator, your photos are processed in your browser and only the straightened card images are sent to our AI provider, Anthropic, to produce your estimate; we don't store them on our servers. Contact us anytime to ask about or delete your personal information.
APx Grading · 110 Beech St, Belmont, MA 02478 · Apxgrading@gmail.com · (339) 238-0015