Grading is very inconsistent
Response from developer
Thanks for giving ZeroPop a try, and sorry these results felt off. A few things in the photo can move a grade a lot. A card inside a slab or a top loader sits behind a layer of plastic, and that plastic picks up glare, reflections and its own scratches, which can read as surface wear or hide real damage. Harsh overhead light, shadows across the card, or a busy background can do the same. For the most accurate read, take the card out of any sleeve or top loader when you can, lay it flat on a plain dark surface, and use soft, even light with no glare on the face. We would love to look at these two scans and see exactly what happened. Please reach out through Settings > Contact Us in the app and mention these two cards, and we will dig in.
Junk
Response from developer
You’re right. The same card should get a reasonably consistent grade, and we’re sorry that didn’t happen. Even PSA, TAG, and other grading companies can give different grades when a card is cracked and resubmitted, but the results shouldn’t vary wildly. Different photos can affect the grade, especially if there’s glare, shadows, blur, or a slight change in angle. For the best results, remove the card from its sleeve or holder, clean your camera lens, use bright indirect light, place it on a flat contrasting background, and make sure every corner and edge is clear. If you’re still getting very different grades, please contact us through the app and send us the scans so we can look into it.
Nice app to have before sending cards away to grade
Response from developer
Sorry about that. Most scan problems come down to lighting or angle, so try even light with no glare and lay the card flat instead of holding it up. If it still fails, email hello@zeropop.app with your phone model and the card you were scanning. I'll look into it and write back. Robert, ZeroPop
Thinks 25th anniversary is a sticker
Response from developer
I dug into your exact scan and you were right. The grader read the printed gold 25th anniversary badge and the small Cynthia portrait on your Celebrations Garchomp C LV.X as stickers stuck on the card, and that wrongly tanked your surface score to a 4.5. It also mislabeled the card as a Supreme Victors Charizard G, which is why the price looked off too. Both were bugs on our end, both are fixed, and the fix is already live. I regraded your card with the correct data: it's a 7.0 now (the corner and edge wear is real, but the surface is clean), with the right card, set, and price. I also added 15 free scans to your account, no email needed. Thanks for the writeup. Reports like this make the grader better for everyone.
Decent grader
Response from developer
Thanks for taking the time to write this up, and for grading against your own tools. Feedback this specific is rare and genuinely useful. You nailed the centering point. We measure centering instead of eyeballing it, exactly because most AI graders fall apart there, so hearing it line up with your centering tool means a lot. On corners, edges, and surface, your read matches what we see internally. Those three run a little optimistic against strict graders, and tightening them is what we are heads down on right now. We want accuracy, not friendly grades, so we are calibrating those three down to match. On Slab or Sell, you caught a real bug and we already fixed it. The newest version pulls real sold comps for graded cards, so a 1968 Brooks Robinson PSA 10 will show a true market value, not $56. Update and rescan it and you should see the difference. If anything still looks off, email me, I want to see it. Really appreciate you pushing us.
