Raw cards · graded upside

Slab Hunter

Q: Why are there so few picks?

Because most listings fail a check. Most raw copies are ordinary near mint, many photos are too small, glary or sleeved to judge, and a lot of clean-looking copies are already priced where a PSA 8.5 wouldn't leave a profit.

Find raw Pokémon cards with hidden grading potential.

The aim: raw copies that still make a profit if they come back a PSA 8. Every pick clears a PSA 8.5; a 9 or a 10 is upside.

UltraBall scans active Pokémon listings, analyses the seller’s photographs, generates a condition report and highlights cards where the potential graded value may justify the asking price. Every card on this board links to its full scan report: every corner, every edge, both surfaces and the centering, front and back.

Deals

Cards priced below market.

The average copy, for less than it sells for.

Slab Hunter

Copies better than average.

Raw cards that may justify a premium because of how they could grade.

0 live picks0 auctions34 copies scanned in the last 7 days, 2 passed

No copy has passed every check right now. That happens: most raw listings are ordinary near mint, or their photos can’t show enough. Meanwhile, see the deals or auctions ending soon.

Recently scanned

Every copy Slab Hunter has scanned lately, on the board or not. Grades are our estimates from the seller’s photos, not PSA grades. Open any one for its full scan report: the seller’s photos with every corner, edge and surface scored, what each grade would pay, and why it was or wasn’t picked.

How Slab Hunter picks a card

A funnel, cheapest check first, so the full scan is only spent on copies that have earned it. Every listing that falls out is kept with its reason, so we can check later how the ones we passed on actually graded.

Step 1
The watchlist
Our own prices, grading data and PSA population pick the cards worth hunting: ones where a copy bought at raw NM money would still leave a profit as a PSA 8.5. About 600 cards, not the 20,000 in the catalogue.
Step 2
Every raw listing of those cards
Live eBay listings, each already matched to its exact card and printing by the same matcher behind our prices.
Step 3
Raw copies only
Slabs are turned away, including ones from smaller graders a title slips past, and so are titles that admit wear, proxies and lots.
Step 4
The money screen
Priced under the card's Buy Ceiling: still a profit if it comes back a PSA 8.5. Auctions ending within a day that the bidding already treats as special; Buy It Now copies around raw NM.
Step 5
The photo check
The whole gallery is pulled from eBay. It needs a clear front and a clear back, big enough and in focus, and not a stock scan.
Step 6
Identity check
The front photo is read by our card recognition: a slab, a different card or a Japanese copy is stopped here.
Step 7
Full scan report
The same scan our AI card grader runs on your own cards: centering front and back, all eight corners, all eight edges and both surfaces.
Step 8
Condition Score and Opportunity
How clean the copy looks, then how good a buy it is at today's price against PSA 7, 8, 9 and 10 values, grading fees and selling fees.
Result
On the board
The scan says near mint or better (PSA 7+), the photos can be trusted, and across every grade it could come back as, grading still clears the minimum profit. Kept up to date until it sells or ends.

Condition Score vs Opportunity Score

Condition Score is the copy itself: centering, corners, edges and surface from the scan report, pulled towards its weakest part and anchored to the scan’s own grade estimate, because a slab is held back by its worst corner, not its average.

Opportunity Score is the buy: first whether it still makes a profit as a PSA 8 (the aim) or 8.5 (the bar), then the Condition Score, how far the photos can be trusted, the modelled result after grading and selling, the room under the Buy Ceiling, how often PSA 9s and 10s of the card actually sell, the seller’s record and the bidding. A near-perfect copy already priced at PSA 10 money scores low here, and every risk flag costs points.

What the Opportunity Score weighs

Profit at PSA 8 or 8.530%
Condition Score20%
Photo confidence10%
Modelled result after grading and fees10%
Room under the Buy Ceiling10%
Graded and raw liquidity10%
Seller record5%
Bidding, or Best Offer5%

Then reduced for each risk flag: a serious flag takes off 15%, one worth checking 6%.

Slab Hunter questions

What is the difference between Slab Hunter and Deals?

Deals finds cards priced below what that card sells for. Slab Hunter finds raw cards that may be worth paying more for: the market prices an average near-mint copy, and a copy that is cleaner than average, with sharp corners and good centering, can be worth a premium because of what it might grade.

Does a high Condition Score mean the card will get a PSA 10?

No. The Condition Score is how clean the copy looks in the seller's photos. Listing photos top out at 1,600 pixels and are taken flat, so holo scratches, print lines, dents and light whitening often don't show. PSA grades the card in hand. Nothing here guarantees a grade from PSA, CGC, BGS or anyone else.

What is the Buy Ceiling?

The most the copy could cost, before shipping, and still leave a profit (at least 15% of everything spent, and $25) if it comes back a PSA 8.5, once PSA's fee, postage both ways and eBay's selling fees are counted. Every report shows the same sum at PSA 8, 8.5 and 9. It is a threshold on today's market values, not advice. Auctions usually rise in the last minutes.

Why are there so few picks?

Because most listings fail a check, and that is the point. Most raw copies are ordinary near mint, many photos are too small, glary or sleeved to judge, and a lot of clean-looking copies are already priced where a PSA 8.5 wouldn't leave a profit. Slab Hunter shows its reasons not to buy as prominently as its reasons to.

How often is Slab Hunter updated?

It runs every ten minutes. Auctions in their last three hours have their bid checked with eBay on every run, fixed-price listings twice a day, and a listing that ends or sells leaves the board straight away.

Grading your own raw cards? Try the AI card grader, the same scan Slab Hunter runs, or the grading calculator.