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Restoration can clean a card, and it can also earn a No Grade

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Graders want an unaltered surface, so most restoration work sends a card back raw with a No Grade code and the fee already spent.

Key points

  • N1 trim, N2 restoration, N3 recolor, N5 altered stock, N7 cleaning return raw.
  • You still pay the grading fee on those codes.
  • N6, N8, and N9 are the no-fee codes.

The PSA FAQ lists the codes plainly. Trimming is N1, restoration is N2, recoloring is N3, altered stock is N5, and cleaning is N7. All of them come back raw, and you still pay the grading fee. The no-fee codes are N6, N8, and N9, covering size, factory cut, and a service that is not offered.

This page is not a restorer directory. Ask the grader in writing before you pay anyone to clean a card.

Upside

For fingerprints and light dust, some shops offer a basic counter clean, including the HobbyX submission page. That is housekeeping rather than repair. A reholder is a cracked slab moved into a new one, not a fix for the card inside it.

Downside

The PSA terms define trimming, re-coloring, bleaching, cleaning, and waxing as “Doctoring,” and you warrant that you are not submitting a doctored card. Beckett’s live page says every card is checked for trimming, doctoring, and alteration before grading.

A shop clean can still come back as PSA N7, because intent does not change the code. Altered holders also take a haircut in the market, and no single percentage covers every card.

With the spreadsheet

Add restoration cost, grading cost, and batch time together. Then subtract the cases where you miss the grade and where the card returns as a No Grade. The formula sits on psa-10-hk, which is written in Cantonese. Remember that Marketcap prices an unrestored PSA 10 printing, so a restored copy is not the card that index describes.

FAQ

Does a professional clean count as doctoring?

PSA’s terms list cleaning among the practices it calls Doctoring, and cleaning returns as N7. Who performed the work does not change the code.

Do I get my money back on a No Grade?

Not on N1, N2, N3, N5, or N7. Those codes return the card raw and the grading fee still applies. Only N6, N8, and N9 are the no-fee codes.

Is a reholder the same as restoration?

No. A reholder moves a card from a cracked slab into a new one. It does not change the card, and it does not repair a surface problem.

Next steps

Ask your grader in writing before paying for any surface work, then compare companies on which grader. Price the unrestored printing on CardZ Marketcap, and open packs on Cardz.game.

Sources

Not PSA or Cardz. FAQ / terms read 2026-09-01.