If you have 100 raw cards, 20 of them are Gems, 50 are Mints, and 30 are duds. Your job is to find the 20 Gems without wasting money grading the others.
The "Three Pile" System
Go through your stack one by one. Do not look at value yet. Look at condition only. Sort them into three piles:
Pile A: The "Gems" (Send)
Criteria: Flawless to the naked eye AND flawless under the loupe.
Action: Prepare for submission immediately.
Pile B: The "Mints" (Hold)
Criteria: One tiny flaw (white corner, off-center). Likely a PSA 9.
Action: Check the "PSA 9 Value" on 130point. If (Value > Grading Fee + $20), move to Pile A. If not, keep raw.
Pile C: The "Raw Bind" (Sell)
Criteria: Visible surface scratches or soft corners.
Action: Sell on eBay as "Raw NM". Do not waste $16 grading this.
The 3-Pass Workflow
Don't inspect everything at once. Do it in passes to save time.
- Pass 1: Centering (Naked Eye). Flip through the stack fast. If it's noticeably off-center, toss to Pile B. (Time: 3 seconds per card).
- Pass 2: Corners (Loupe). Check the 4 corners of the survivors. Any white showing? Pile B. (Time: 10 seconds per card).
- Pass 3: Surface (Lamp). The final boss. Angle check the survivors. Any print lines? Pile B. (Time: 20 seconds per card).
Result: You only spend detailed time on the cards that passed the easy tests first.