Frequently asked questions

SGS SAFEGUARD GRADING SERVICES (hereafter “Safeguard”) is an independent company offering a service for the protection, authentication and grading of collector cards. Our company does not buy or sell any collector cards and has no financial interest in the market for the cards it certifies.

Our team currently consists of 16 people.

Our company is located in France, in the city of Niort (Deux-Sèvres).

The gradation of a card takes place in 10 main steps:

1. Selection of your cards on the Site, then validation and payment of your order;

2. Your order will be shipped to our workshop in accordance with our shipping instructions;

3. Upon receipt, the contents of your order are carefully checked and your cards are immediately photographed, packaged in penny sleeves, which are then placed in a Card Saver and secured in a vault for processing;

4. Authentication and grading of your cards by 2 to 3 graders (see EXPERTISE);

5. Recording your graded card information in our population database;

6. Printing of the unique security label identifying your cards and mentioning their certification elements and insertion of your cards in high transparency archiving sleeves;

7. Encapsulation of your cards to protect them in the Safeguard case;

8. Careful quality control to ensure that there are no errors in labelling or appearance;

9. New front and back photo of each of your cards now graded to make them available for consultation on the Site;

10. Shipment of your graded cards to your address after being carefully protected and packed in our customised packaging solutions.

The Safeguard grading ensures that your cards receive excellent service and packaging. In this sense, it brings many advantages:

• Advanced protection of your cards over time thanks to our high-end archiving sleeve and our custom-made tamper-proof case;
• Verification of the authenticity of your cards by experienced staff with professional inspection equipment;
• Accurate and objective grading that accurately and harmoniously reflects the condition of your cards with the help of our experts’ sub-scores and grading certificates (optional);
• Embellish your cards with a sophisticated case with a clean, modern design and a label;
• Greater attractiveness of your cards for resale or exchange on the secondary market;
• The feeling of exclusivity of sometimes being one of the few or even the only owner(s) of certain cards in the population register.

Safeguard is currently grading the following games (including Sport Cards) :

+ Inazuma Eleven TCG, Legend of the Five Rings: TCG, The Three Kingdoms Kayou, Hajime no Ippo Fighting Spirit, Rise TCG, Taiga Hockey Cards, + Cardmaster Master Vending

Cardmaster Master Vending,

Pokémon Meiji Stickers, Pokémon Bandai Stickers, Pokémon Topsun Stickers, Pokémon Artbox Stickers, Pokémon Amada Stickers, Pokémon Nintendo Mini Stickers, Pokémon Lotte Wafer Stickers, Pokémon Action Flipz are also accepted.

Safeguard grades cards in all languages. If the language of the card you want to grade does not seem to be available, please contact us at: [email protected].

No, Safeguard does not grade these items.

Yes, we grade the signed cards and can give them the following endorsements:

• Verified Signature (signature provided with evidence such as a photo or witnessed by our team)
• Unverified Signature (signature provided without proof)
• Altered Signature (signature changed or erased in part).

Yes, Safeguard grades all cards affected by design errors or production accidents as long as they can be properly and safely inserted into our protective case.

No, Safeguard does not grade these cards.

Safeguard will systematically refuse grading of the following cards:

• Reproductions or imitations of official cards;
• Maps whose authenticity is questionable or unverifiable according to the information available to us;
• Cards that have undergone a process of recolouring, restoration, trimming or changing the back of the card (also called “rebacking”) or any other form of deep alteration of their structure after production;
• Les cartes altérées par des illustrateurs ;
• Abnormally cut cards that are too large for our case (clearly exceeding the classic 63x88mm format);
• Cards whose structural integrity is very seriously compromised (perforations, large missing portions, marked signs of burning, considerable soiling, mould, extreme twisting, etc.);
• Cards whose state of deterioration no longer allows them to be accurately identified or their authenticity to be confirmed;
• Cards whose nature or condition is deemed too fragile to be safely encapsulated;
• Cards where there is a strong suspicion of theft.

No, there is no minimum or maximum limit.

The fee schedule for the certification of your cards is available by clicking on the following link: Prices

Payment for orders on the Site is made by bank card or credit card from the Visa® or MasterCard® network. Payments by Paypal® are also accepted.

No, each order can only be paid for with a single payment method.

Yes, international payment cards are accepted. When placing your order, you will need to enter the international billing address linked to your payment card.

All transactions made on the Site are secure. The presence of a padlock next to the address of the page beginning with “https” indicates that you are in a secure environment. Thanks to the 3DSecure system, the security of payments made with Visa® and Mastercard® is reinforced by the “Verified by Visa®” and “MasterCard® SecureCode” payment methods.

Your bank account will only be debited once your order has been validated.

Yes, you can.

No, to place an order, all you have to do is add the cards you want in the configurator on the Certification page and adjust the specifics of each of your cards (language, edition, number, declared value, grading options, etc.) in your order basket.

No, you can only choose one processing service per order.

No, the processing time does not include the delivery time.

The processing time of your order starts when your order is received in our workshop or when it is collected in person by one of our logistics agents. It will end when your order leaves our workshop to be shipped to you.

Absolutely, just log in to your account, go to your customer area and then to the “My Orders” page. Then select the order whose status you would like to know.

The declared value is the estimated monetary value of your card on the market at the time of ordering. It is expressed in euros and its determination can be based on the following elements:

• Recent sales on online sales platforms
• Average price of current ads on these platforms
• Recent prices at official auctions
• Expertise of well-known shops or collectors in the card game sector
• Rarity (circulation, population referenced or available on the market, etc.)

This value fluctuates but can be approximated by any customer at any given time.

It is important that you use the resources available to you to correctly estimate the value of the cards you wish to have certified. This declared value will affect the certification fee or the availability of certain offers for the certification of your cards.

If insurance is selected, the declared value will also be used to determine :

• the reference value of your card in the event of a claim for damage to the card at Safeguard’s premises;
• the reference value of your card, which will be used to insure the transport from our premises.

It is therefore important that you take the time to find out the value of your cards in relation to their apparent condition and to make a sufficiently accurate estimate of their declared value when placing your order.

If Safeguard determines that the declared value submitted for one of your cards differs significantly from its actual market value, Safeguard reserves the right to invalidate the declared value indicated and may require you to pay for the service level corresponding to its actual market value. If you refuse or are unable to pay for the correct level of service, then we will return the uncertified card to you at your expense.

As soon as we receive your order at Safeguard, our agents carefully check, during a filmed opening, that the cards handed to us correspond perfectly with those on the order form.

The front and back of your cards are individually photographed and then carefully packaged together with their anonymous order form in a dedicated storage basket and stored in a strong room under video surveillance.

Safeguard’s computer system allows us to monitor the progress of your order and the location of your cards in real time. The cards remain stored in their individual baskets throughout the processing process until they are shipped to you. In addition, our internal protocol requires each employee to process only one order at a time to ensure that the integrity of the order is maintained at each stage of processing.

Under no circumstances can cards from different orders be mixed together. You can therefore be sure that you will get back the same cards that you sent us.

It is possible that your order confirmation will be sent a few minutes after payment has been received. Please also check your “Spam” box, where the email could slip through depending on your email settings.

It is also possible that emails from the sgscards.com domain are blocked on your email address. Please check with your email provider to make sure this is not the case.

Finally, sometimes your order simply won’t go through due to server congestion, a bad connection or other technical problems.

If you are not sure whether your order has been validated, please log in to your account and consult the “My Orders” page in your customer area to check that it has been taken into account and its status.

If you have not received an e-mail 15 minutes after placing your order and it does not appear on the “My Orders” page, please contact us at the following address: [email protected].

If your shipment is found to be lost by your carrier, we will refund the full amount of your order to the payment method used when you placed your order.

Your order has probably been cancelled for one of the following reasons:

• You have not sent your order within a reasonable time and we have decided to refund your money;
• You still have an outstanding dispute on another order and we would like to close this dispute first;
• We are not able to guarantee Safeguard quality commitments or self-imposed deadlines due to internal organisation, shortage of raw materials, work overload or other reasons;
• We have identified an error on your order;
• Your order was particularly badly packaged;
• We have identified a potential fraud and we are unable to receive cards from you (uncertain origin of the cards, sending inauthentic, counterfeit, inked cards, etc.).

This list is not exhaustive. Safeguard reserves the right to unilaterally cancel an order without justification.

The “Comments” field in your shopping cart will allow you to express your uncertainty regarding the identification of these different elements.

SGS CARDS
Ludotrotter Aulnay – 46 avenue Anatole France, 93600 AULNAYSOUS-BOIS
France

Safeguard does not recommend any particular carrier. However, we recommend that you protect your cards adequately and choose an insurance policy that covers the full estimated market value of your cards. Safeguard cannot be held responsible for the loss of an order before it is received at our workshop.

You can come to our premises to drop off your order or pick it up once it has been processed. For more information, please contact our customer service at: [email protected].

Depending on the nature of your order and your travel constraints, collection from your home or an agreed location can be arranged. For more information, please contact us at the following address: [email protected].

At first glance, cardboard boxes are preferable to letters. In most cases, choose registered mail (or any similar type of mail that requires a signature) and insure your shipment for the estimated market value of the cards.

1. Protect your cards from rubbing and micro-scratches:

Place your cards in soft but thick sleeves if you use toploaders (cards in penny sleeves tend to slip out during transport) or use card savers for which penny sleeves are quite adequate. Please avoid the following models: “pro/perfect/precise fit” and the “double sleevage” technique.

2. Protect your cards from scratches and light creases:
Place your sleevaged cards preferably in card savers, or for want of a better option, in toploaders with a tab for easy removal of your cards. Please do not use tape to cover the opening of your card savers/toploaders.

3. Arrange and pack your cards together:
Arrange your cards in the order shown on your anonymous packing slip (sent to your email address within 24 hours of your order) and pack them together. You can use cellophane or adhesive tape, taking care not to wrap them too tightly.

4. Protect your shipment from shocks:
Whether you have a small or large number of cards, protect them from shock with bubble wrap, foam, newspaper or cushioning particles. The cards should be held firmly in the package so that they do not move freely. However, make sure that the box is not completely filled with your shipment to avoid the risk of it bursting open under its weight.

5. Insert the anonymous packing slip into your parcel. If it is not possible to print it out, we ask you to note the following on a piece of paper and enclose it with your parcel: the order reference, the date of the order and the number of cards sent. We will then print your anonymous dispatch note ourselves when we receive your parcel for further processing of your order.

6. Seal your parcel securely, ensuring that it cannot be accidentally opened and that its contents cannot be identified from the outside.

7.  Insure your parcel to the full declared value of your cards, then send your parcel to us at the following address, carefully retaining your proof of posting:

Safeguard accepts packages or envelopes that are sent to us, whether damaged or not. This is to limit the damage that could be caused by the return of an already opened or damaged parcel (see General Terms and Conditions of Sale).

If a parcel or envelope is delivered to us damaged or opened, we will accept it and contact you immediately to report the incident. The item will be photographed on receipt and the opening filmed. Depending on the situation, we will then make a proposal for the further processing of your order.

When you place an order, we send you an order form by e-mail. This is anonymous and will be used to identify your order at the workshop. Please print it out and enclose it with your parcel. If you are unable to print it, please write the reference number of your order on a blank piece of paper, without including your first or last name.

It is not essential to provide us with the tracking number of your shipment immediately, but please keep it safe. We will ask you for it if your parcel is declared lost by your carrier.

You can send several orders in one package. In this case, we ask you to provide each order form, but also to pack your cards separately without mixing them together. Incorrect packaging may result in the cancellation of your order.

Delivery charges vary according to the place of delivery, the weight of the shipment, and the total declared value. If you need a precise quotation, please write to us at  [email protected].

This is very likely. Please contact the customs authorities in your country for further information. Safeguard is legally obliged to provide accurate information on customs declarations and therefore cannot prevent the application of customs duties, various import taxes or charges related to customs clearance by carriers.

It is possible that your package may be opened during a customs inspection. Safeguard has no control over these inspections. Please note that it is therefore not possible for us to compensate for any loss, seizure or damage incurred during a customs inspection.

The delivery time is generally between 1 and 5 working days* from the date of dispatch.

*Working days include days from Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

For security reasons, Safeguard will not process any orders for which delivery is requested to a post office box or poste restante. All packages sent by Safeguard shall be handed over to the recipient against signature and therefore no packages shall be left in a letterbox.

Deliveries to forwarding companies are also excluded.

You can change the delivery address of your order. To do so, please send a request to the following address:  [email protected].

By default, we use the postal address you entered in your Safeguard customer account on the Site.

Yes, you have the possibility. To do so, please send us a request from the e-mail address in your customer account to the following address: [email protected]. Please indicate the name and surname of the designated person and forward the e-mail informing you of the availability of your order once it has been processed, so that he or she can collect it with his or her identity card.

Depending on the volume of your order, your cases will be sent to you in :

• a cardboard sleeve inserted in a tamper-proof bubble envelope;
• a high quality storage box in a rigid carton with suitable cushioning material.

Safeguard makes it a point of honour to offer your boxes the best possible level of protection for their transport to your home.

Our processing involves storing your card in a secure vault under video surveillance. Every order is logged and a rigorous inventory is taken every day.

The vault is a high-security area and only senior staff have access to it.

In order to guarantee the peace of mind of our customers, we insure each shipment from our workshop up to the full declared value of the order, with no limit on the amount.

Although rare, the loss or damage of a parcel remains a possibility despite the seriousness of the carriers we work with.

In the event of a suspected loss, we will need to ensure that the parcel has not been temporarily held or misplaced, which would ideally allow your cards to be recovered.

If the loss or damage to the package containing your cards is confirmed by the carrier, we will immediately refund the declared value of your order without waiting for any action from the carrier.

the Safeguard grading scale ranges from grade 1 (VERY POOR) to grade 10 (GEM MINT)

Similarly, the sub-grades assigned for each major characteristic reflecting the production quality and state of conservation of a card also range from sub-grade 1 to sub-grade 10.

For a detailed visual presentation of our grading scale, please visit our Grading Scale page.

At Safeguard, every card is given the utmost attention, regardless of its condition, rarity or stated value.

While we grade all cards against the same criteria in accordance with our grading scale, the wide divergence in production quality between them, depending on their date of printing or place of production, means that we sometimes have to adjust slightly the consideration given to some of their original defects.

For example, the cards in the EX Dragon Frontiers set are notorious for frequently having particularly pronounced print lines. These cards will sometimes benefit from a slightly more lenient gradation for these original imperfections.

On the other hand, cards with an exemplary production quality, such as those belonging to the Aquapolis set, will be evaluated with a higher level of requirement.

Authentic is a grading option where a card will be given an “A” grade instead of a numerical grade and sub-grades if its condition does not meet the minimum grade specified at the time of ordering. This is often the preferred service when only a card with sentimental value is to be protected and its condition might indicate an unsatisfactory grade.

Sometimes a production accident is sufficiently notable or singular to constitute what is sometimes called an “error card” or “misprint card”, sometimes making the evaluation of certain characteristics unsatisfactory with regard to the usual grading criteria. This type of card may be given a special grade rather than an overall grade, depending on your wishes, and in any case will only receive numerical sub-grades in the categories not affected by the particularity of production that affects it (e.g. no centring numerical sub-grade for an “Off-centered” card (“N/A”: Not Applicable instead) but the other three numerical sub-grades will be maintained). As for the classic rating, the attribution of this grade will depend on the successive appreciation of several of our specialists to determine whether the card in question is eligible or not.

On the other hand, marked or inked cards will also be given a special grade (MK: Marked) but will not receive an overall grade.

Nota Bene: When a production “oddity” directly concerns the design of a card, the latter will sometimes be considered as a “variant” (e.g. Red Cheeks Pikachu – Base Set 1st Edition) or a “variant error” (Wartortle Evolution Box Error – Base Set 1st Edition) and will thus be given a regular grade but with a specific additional mention. The mention of a design error on a box label will depend on its importance and the frequency of its occurrence.

The awarding of a special grade is at the sole discretion of Safeguard and cannot be requested by the customer when placing an order. The customer may, however, leave a comment in a special area to enable him/her to make any comments or observations on this subject.

This is possible and will depend in particular on whether the curvature is natural or not and on the intensity of the curvature. A minor deviation in flatness formed naturally will have no effect, whereas a slightly more pronounced curvature or one resulting a priori from handling, will be likely to cause its surface sub-grade to fall. On the other hand, excessive curvature or torsion will lead to a refusal of grading in order to avoid an unsightly final result in our case.

The authenticity and condition of each card is independently assessed by hand by 2 to 3 experts equipped with sophisticated analysis equipment and with continuous information monitoring to keep their knowledge up to date in order to maintain a faithful and harmonised application of our grading scale. However, our graders are computer-assisted for certain tasks requiring mathematical accuracy, such as measuring the centre of gravity. Safeguard’s aim is to offer expertise that combines the analytical skills of an experienced human eye with the rigour of an objective assessment.

Yes, you can send us cards that have been graded by other companies. The ordering procedure and the grading fee are the same as for the certification of a non-graded card, but you will receive a €1 credit note for each card submitted in crossover. You will be able to mention that your card has already been graded by another grading organisation in the “Comments” field of your order basket.

We understand that it is sometimes disappointing to receive a grade below our initial expectations. A collector’s love and passion sometimes causes him to lose sight of the real condition of a card that bears witness to his history. It is not uncommon for particularly small or inconspicuous flaws, which only become apparent under adequate lighting or magnification, to escape even the most careful inspection by an individual. Nevertheless, our grading process, based on a standardised criteria analysis grid, guarantees you an accurate, regular, thorough and impartial rating. For more information on our grading protocol and evaluation criteria, please visit the Grading page and our Grading Scale page.

However, if you feel that your card has been subject to an obvious grading error, you can send us your request by e-mail to the following address:  [email protected].

Although most surface deposits can be cleaned, Safeguard does not clean to limit any risk of damage to your cards. We only perform a simple non-contact dusting using a low pressure air stream to ensure that your card is encapsulated without dust or residue.

To verify the authenticity of your Safeguard case, you can inspect several elements:

The authenticity number printed on the label must match a genuine card in our database:
You can go to our website under “Check an authenticity number”. Enter the unique Safeguard grading number from the label on your case in the appropriate field and start your search. You can also scan the QR code on the back of the label to access the page on our website that proves the authenticity of your card. Then check that the information on the label of your case matches the information on the grading form available on our website.

The front and back photos displayed on the unique grading form should match the appearance of the card in your case. For example, compare the centring of your card with that of the card shown in the photo and check that it has identical defects or features in the same places (white spots, printing spots, shape of the corner cut-out, etc.).

The edges of the case should not show any suspicious marks.
Make sure that the edges of the case are even and free from abnormal marks such as glue marks, air bubbles, cracks or fissures.

The print on the label should be fine and even.
The label has a particularly fine print, both in the border in the background and in the very fine cut of the silver film in the area of the “SGS” logos.

SGS SAFEGUARD” is embossed on the front of the case.
The “SGS” marking on the case also includes a “SAFEGUARD” statement that can be seen under a microscope.

Safeguard graded cards are free of impurities.
As the soldering process takes place in a controlled atmosphere, the presence of dust or other debris in the case is a sign of irregularity.

As these security features are very difficult to reproduce, they assure you of the authenticity of your card. If you have any doubts, please do not hesitate to contact our team by writing to us at the following address:  [email protected].

The population tracker allows you to view all the cards graded by Safeguard, to access their photos, their grade and sub-grades and to see the detailed population by grade of each card. If the cards have a rating certificate, you can also consult it and read the rating team’s conclusions.

You can subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here. Otherwise, all our news is available on our social networks and on our website in the Blog section, where you will find the articles “Safeguard news”.

Creating an account on our site allows you to place orders to graded your cards and access real-time tracking of their processing status.

As an individual, you can only create one account in your name. However, if you have a business, you can open an additional account for your company.

Certainly. Safeguard is committed to guaranteeing your rights by complying with the French Data Protection Act of 6 January 1978 and with the RGPD. More information on the processing of your personal data and our privacy policy on the Privacy Policy page. For a request for access, deletion or rectification, please send your request to the following address: [email protected].

Safeguard seals its cases using ultrasound to ensure a complete seal between the two assembled parts and to guarantee the inviolability of our protective case. No glue is used in the process.

Absolutely. Safeguard cases are designed to fit together naturally for easy storage.

Sleeves, Toploaders or Card Savers are systematically returned when the remaining space in the parcel allows it and when this does not lead to additional costs for the shipment.

Safeguard does not offer a label personalisation service.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. To enable us to correct the anomaly, we invite you to contact us at the following address: [email protected]. We will do our utmost to rectify the situation of your case free of charge and as quickly as possible.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We invite you to describe the irregularity to us at the following address: [email protected]. We will do our utmost to correct our database as soon as possible after confirmation of the anomaly by our team.

Safeguard does not offer a direct appraisal service and therefore cannot appraise the financial value of your cards.

No, for the sake of rigour and reliability, the assessment of the condition of a card or the verification of its authenticity cannot be carried out using simple photos or videos. Safeguard therefore refuses to carry out any analysis on cards that its grading team cannot physically inspect.

Grading is perfect for any card that you find attractive, that you would like to preserve for safe keeping in your collection, that has some sentimental value, or that you may wish to resell after having its authenticity verified and its actual condition determined.

Safeguard does not offer accessories for sale at the moment. However, we are considering the design of multiple accessories to protect and enhance your collection in the near future.

As your cards are inserted in highly durable and chemically neutral archival sleeves, which are encapsulated in a protective case, their appearance will not change over time if you store your graded cards properly (see How to store my Safeguard cases).

In order to properly store your Safeguard grading cards, choose a dark area or at least one without exposure to sunlight, without humidity and at room temperature.

For example, avoid attics, cellars or unheated garages.

For more information on the characteristics of our case and the precautions to take for its conservation, we invite you to consult the Safeguard Case page.