How card restoration works before grading

Card restoration is careful bench work that reduces flaws like whitened edges, soft corners, indents and creases before a card is graded. It is different from cleaning, which only takes off surface dust, fingerprints and light contamination. Any work on a card counts as alteration, the grading company decides whether it accepts the card, and no grade is ever guaranteed. Our sister business CardRevive does card restoration and cleaning; this page explains how it works so you can decide if your card needs it.

CardRevive uses three plain terms. Cleaning removes surface dust, fingerprints and light contamination only. Restoration adds targeted work on edges, corners, indents, gloss and creases where it suits the card. Grading prep means checking whether the card is ready to grade, choosing a grader, packing it and submitting it. If a card needs no work, CardRevive skips the restoration fee.

CardRevive lists surface cleaning, edge repair, corner correction, indent reduction, crease reduction, and surface haze and grime reduction. Mould removal is a separate specialist repair. Cards already in a slab can be cracked out first; CardRevive does this for PSA, BGS, PCG, ACE and CGC slabs at A$20 per card, then treats and resubmits the card. CardRevive works on Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece and sports cards. It never recolours or paints a card.

First you start a submission in the online portal and post your cards in. Every card is photographed front and back on arrival and assessed under magnification before any work. You get a quote, and nothing is done until you approve it. Then the card is restored, sent to the grader you chose if you asked for grading, and returned to you. If the card turns out not to need work, you skip the restoration fee and pay only the inspection (A$10 per card on mail-in and online submissions) and any grading.

Every grader sets its own rules, and the grader, not the restorer, decides. CardRevive says that, as at July 2026, PSA lists evidence of restoration and cleaning among its No Grade outcomes, and that PSA may return such a card without a slab and still charge the grading fee. CardRevive tells customers that any work is alteration, discloses it, and offers a minimal-intervention option with smaller expected gains. If you sell a restored card, CardRevive advises telling the buyer, and it keeps before-and-after records to help.

Restoration is priced as a percentage of the card's declared value, which staff check at inspection, with a minimum per card. CardRevive lists four speeds: Standard (75 to 90+ business days), Express (40 to 60+), Priority (15 to 30+) and 48-Hour Priority. See the current restoration prices and tiers before you send anything. Checked 31 October 2026. Current prices and times are on CardRevive's site.

Not sure yet? Run a scan through the CardRevive AI Grader to see which of the four areas is holding the card back, then read CardRevive's guide should you restore a trading card before grading?. Read what AI pre-grading checks to see what a scan can and cannot tell you.