Authentic Investment Company
AIC Grading
It grades cards and sells the cards it grades, and almost all of them are tens.
Our score5/100TierDNo. 35 on the scorecards
Resale standingRaw valueOn a high-value card, expect a buyer to cut it out and regrade it.
Cheapest way in$10Multi-Value
Typical turnaroundNot publishedReader reports →
BacklogNone published
Cert lookupNone foundA buyer cannot verify this slab
Owned byIndependent
The short version
1 min to read it all, belowWhy it scores 5
The full breakdownWhere the slab sells
- eBay Authenticity GuaranteeNot listed
- Major US auction housesNot standard inventory
- Public cert lookupNone found
What to watch
The clearest conflict of interest on this site. The company assigns grades and then sells the cards carrying those grades, and nearly every item observed in its own inventory is a 10 priced between $19.99 and $99.99.
All known concernsPricing
Official price listThe site lists three grading services — Standard at $15, Multi-Value at $10 and VIP at $19.99 a card — as bookable one-hour appointments from a website-builder booking template, with no turnaround stated.
| Tier | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Value | $10per card | Booked as a one-hour appointment |
| Standard | $15per card | Booked as a one-hour appointment |
| VIP | $19.99per card | Booked as a one-hour appointment |
Prices as checked on 28 Sept 2026. They change often; the grader's own list is the final word.
Inventory it sells directly is priced $19.99–$99.99, nearly all of it graded 10.
The full file
What sets them apart
The clearest conflict of interest on this site, and it is visible from the shop page. AIC grades cards and simultaneously sells its own graded inventory — and virtually every card in that inventory is a 10, listed between $19.99 and $99.99.
A grading company whose revenue depends on its own slabs selling has no structural reason to grade them honestly.
Where the slab sells
No evidence of recognition. Not on eBay's professional grader filter, not covered by the Authenticity Guarantee, not standard inventory at any auction house. A card in an AIC holder is very likely worth less than the same card raw, because a buyer who wants it ungraded must pay to crack it out.
Price history
AIC Grading has not raised a listed price since Oct 2026.
Show the price history: 3 tiers, 0 changes
These come from our own records. Small ticks are sightings where the price held. A line ends where the evidence ends.
Multi-Value$10 unchanged since 26 Oct 2026
Standard$15 unchanged since 26 Oct 2026
VIP$19.99 unchanged since 26 Oct 2026
Every change
| Date | Tier | Change | Source |
|---|
An archived page shows the price on the day it was saved, so a change happened somewhere between that page and the one before it.
The slab and the label
Subgrades: None
Example slab shown for reference, not a card the editor owns.
What they grade
- Sports Cards
- Autographs
Who it's for
- Protection & Preservation
Nothing here supports a resale or authentication case. If you want the card in a holder and nothing more, that is the whole offer.
Known concerns
The clearest conflict of interest on this site. The company assigns grades and then sells the cards carrying those grades, and nearly every item observed in its own inventory is a 10 priced between $19.99 and $99.99.
There is no certification lookup and no population report, so neither the grade nor the scarcity it implies can be checked by anyone. Separately, the public website is an unfinished template: it still carries a '(c) 2035 by Business Name' footer, several untouched 'Placeholder' blocks, and category URLs left over from a furniture template — /category/chairs resolves to football cards. None of that affects grading directly. All of it speaks to how much care is being taken.
History
Based in Bradenton, Florida. Operates as a grading service and simultaneously as a seller of its own graded inventory.
Score breakdown
Five parts, each scored 0 to 100 and weighted. Market acceptance carries 60 of the 100, because the point of a slab is what the market pays for it.
Market acceptance 0 / 100 (weight 60). The other four parts together 13 / 100 (weight 40).
Market acceptance
0 / 100weight 60adds 0.0
Unverified, scored as zero: Recognised in a major non-US market.
Trust and verifiability
0 / 100weight 15adds 0.0
−10 The company assigns grades and then sells the cards carrying them, nearly all graded 10, and its public website is an unfinished template.
Unverified, scored as zero: Years operating; Identifiable operator and disclosed ownership.
Holder and label
0 / 100weight 10adds 0.0
Unverified, scored as zero: Sealed, tamper-evident holder; Standard footprint that fits hobby cases; Scannable cert code on the label.
Turnaround and access
0 / 100weight 5adds 0.0
Unverified, scored as zero: Days on the cheapest open tier; Entry tier (open to all, narrowed, or closed); Backlog figure published.
Pricing
50 / 100weight 10adds 5.0
Unverified, scored as zero: Limits on that tier; No price rise over 25% in the last 12 months.
Weighted total 5.0, shown as 5 out of 100.
Scored on 5 Oct 2026. 11 inputs could not be verified and score zero. How we score
On the Wire
Nothing on the Wire about AIC Grading yet. It fills in as stories are reported.
Reader reports
Report yoursNo reader reports for AIC Grading yet.
Sent cards to AIC Grading? Tell us when they arrived and when they shipped back. Reports are checked and anonymous.