Card grading is always going to be subjective. However, many companies offer guides to help you in grading. Sportlots has reviewed many of these guides and have come up with one that seems to best fit our needs.
As a buyer, please understand that many sellers are loading thousands of cards daily. In order to get these listed online, it's just not feasible and cost effective for sellers to closely look at each and every common card. For this reason, we don't have grades listed higher than NM, so in many cases buyers may actually obtain cards in higher grades, but buyers may also find some common cards that are slightly below grade. Sportlots asks sellers to generalize the overall condition of common cards from the set they are loading. We suggest that the sellers grade on the conservative side to prevent or minimize issues. Also, Sportlots also expects that sellers more carefully grade star cards that are worth more money.
PIC - Pictured CardPictures are worth 1,000 words.... When a seller adds a picture of a card to Sportlots inventory, they no longer submit a formal condition of the card. The card can now be graded by the customer instead of a subjective opinion of seller. The seller can still add detailed notes to provide an opinion of the grade or to better describe potentially unseen defects in the card.
Since pictures are preferred by customers, all cards with pictures, regardless of condition or price, will be listed highest in the sort order when viewing cards
Pictures inserted for a card must be of that card for sale. The only exception is when multiple quantities exist for the same card pictured.
This is the highest grade allowed on Sportlots. Cards at this grade can actually be considered NM or better, since no higher grade is available for seller.
Sportlots does not grade cards below GOOD. Any cards purchased that are in GOOD condition should not have any expectations and should just be purchased as set fillers. If the grades between GOOD, FAIR and POOR are important to you as a buyer, you should first contact the seller for more information regarding the cards condition before purchasing.