How to Check a Graded Slab Is Genuine (PSA, BGS, CGC)

MV Guides · Buying safely

Fake slabs are the biggest worry for card collectors in 2026. PSA says it stopped more than US$200 million of counterfeit and altered collectables in 2025, and more than half were Pokémon. The trick that catches most people: a fake slab printed with a real cert number that belongs to a different card. So a cert number that "checks out" isn't proof on its own. Here's how to check properly.

1. Look up the cert yourself, and check every detail

1. Type the grader's address in yourself (for PSA, psacard.com/cert). Don't rely on a lookup link or screenshot someone sends you.
2. Enter the cert number from the slab's label.
3. Check that everything matches the slab in the photos: year, set, player or character, card number, parallel or variety, and the grade. One wrong detail is a red flag.
4. If the lookup shows pictures of the card, compare them with the seller's photos: centring, corners, print marks and any small flaws. A different-looking card means the cert number has been copied.

2. Ask for real photos

• Clear photos of the front and back of the actual slab, not stock images.
• The label should be sharp and readable, with the cert number visible.
• For an expensive card, ask for a photo with a note showing your name and today's date. A genuine seller won't mind.

3. Look closely at the slab

• The case: clean, even seams. Cloudy "frosting" along the edges, visible glue, or a case that flexes are warning signs.
• The label: crisp printing, correct fonts and logo, and a sharp hologram, not one that looks printed flat. PSA's buyer's guide notes that on a genuine label you can make out the text through from the other side when you hold it up to the light. A fake front stuck over a real label blocks that.
• The card: sitting straight in the inner holder, and matching the label.

4. Red flags

• A price well below what the card normally sells for. Check the Market Value guide.
• A brand-new seller with no reviews selling several high-value slabs.
• Stock photos, blurry labels, or a seller who won't send more photos.
• Pressure to pay outside the platform, or by PayPal "Friends and Family".

5. Pay the safe way

Always pay with PayPal Goods & Services, never Friends and Family, bank transfer or crypto. Goods & Services gives you PayPal's buyer protection if an item isn't as described. On MVCollect, that's the only way sales are paid.

How MVCollect helps

• Every graded listing shows its cert number with a link to the grader's own lookup.
• MV checks every cert number against all other listings. The same number can't be live from two different sellers, and a cert that sold on MV and turns up again from someone other than its buyer is checked by the MV team.
• See something wrong? Use Report listing on the listing page.

If you think you've received a fake

1. Don't open the slab. Breaking it destroys the evidence.
2. Take clear photos of the slab, the label and the packaging.
3. Open a dispute on MV and with PayPal straight away.
4. Contact the grading company. Most want to hear about counterfeit holders.

Checked October 2026. Grading companies update their labels and security features, so check the grader's own website for its latest guidance.