CardConduct
Seller record entry

Trophy Grading Company

Seller entry
GraderMultiFirst reported 2026-08-271 report on file
Reported

Reported for: Fake grading company - meaningless "10 Authentic" slabs, no cert lookup

Evidence received and reviewed. Not yet contested.

Download the full report (PDF)Every public finding, the audit log, and the evidence, laid out as a PDF.
This is a report, not a verdict. Everything below describes public selling conduct attached to a public handle, shown with the evidence it rests on so you can judge it yourself. It is not an allegation that anyone committed a crime. Nothing is published without an investigation, normally over the 3 to 5 days after a report. Where an entry was published faster because the findings were conclusive, the audit log below says so and gives the actual number of days. The seller can dispute it at any time.
This entry is about a handle acting as a seller. Someone selling cards. Reports here are about how they sell. It says nothing about how the same account behaves in the other role, and this record never combines the two into one history.

Audit log (1 report on file)

  1. ReportReported for: Fake grading company

    Unrecognized grader whose "10 Authentic" slabs carry no market value; slabs resell for $1-6 regardless of the number on the label. Filed as a grader record.

  2. NoteReported for: Common ownership

    Linked to ProjectOutshine as common ownership on the weight of documented research; owner identity held in records, not published. Open to dispute.

What we checked (8 sources)

  • Grader audit (trophygrading.com, WHOIS/Wayback)

    Trophy Grading Company has no verifiable grading operation. trophygrading.com (registered 2025-08-21, GoDaddy, privacy-masked via Domains By Proxy) is a GoDaddy website-builder site with no cert-number lookup, no published grading scale or methodology, and no submission process that yields a verifiable record. As of 2026 it presents a polished marketing site with a three-step grading process, a pricing page, and a pay.trophygrading.com payment subdomain, but still offers no way to verify any slab. It publishes no MX records, so the domain cannot receive email at all.

    Source

  • Slab label analysis

    On TGC slabs the large 10 reads like a gem-mint condition grade, but it is paired with the word Authentic, which only denotes that a card is not proven counterfeit and is not a numeric condition grade. The slabs carry no per-card cert or barcode number, so nothing can be looked up or verified.

  • Bulk-grading pattern (marketplace cross-check)

    The same cheap common card appears in TGC Gem Mint 10 slabs across multiple independent sellers. For example a Paldean Fates Pikachu 018/091, a bulk common, shows up TGC-slabbed under different eBay and Whatnot sellers. That pattern indicates TGC is volume-stamping the same worthless commons as gem mint rather than performing genuine per-card grading.

  • Secondary-market circulation (eBay/Whatnot/Mercari)

    TGC Certified 10 Authentic slabs are actively listed across eBay, Whatnot and Mercari by many separate sellers, spanning Pokemon, sports and Marvel or Topps cards. The circulation shows the fake grades are traded at graded-card prices throughout the secondary market, not confined to one seller.

    Source

  • Grading intake test (email MX check + site review)

    Trophy Grading Company provides no working way to submit cards or to reach it about grading. trophygrading.com publishes NO MX records, so the domain cannot receive email at all - an inquiry sent about getting cards graded does not reach any inbox and gets no response. The website offers only a lead-capture contact form with no order or submission flow. A functioning grader has an intake for submissions and questions; TGC has none, consistent with there being no real grading operation behind the slabs.

    Source

  • Marketplace circulation (eBay/Whatnot/Mercari)

    TGC "Certified 10 Authentic" slabs circulate across eBay, Whatnot and Mercari under many separate handles, spanning Pokemon, sports and Marvel. Handles observed listing TGC slabs include pasttreasures-89 (eBay+Whatnot), wealthquest (eBay+Mercari), loveamerica/user273432967 (Mercari), ambitionenterprisesllc (eBay), millsurplustuff, shepartstudio, giveawayguy, nawcc6696 and ronpe0 (eBay), and mynamesjeff87 (Whatnot). Many resellers list slabs honestly as TGC and are shown as circulation context, not accused of wrongdoing; the harm is the fake grade itself and the live sellers who pump it as real value.

  • Domain + payment infrastructure (RDAP/DNS/certs)

    trophygrading.com shares an operator fingerprint with the auction seller that pushes its slabs (ProjectOutshine): same registrar (GoDaddy), same WHOIS privacy proxy (Domains By Proxy), same nameserver provider (domaincontrol.com), registered four weeks apart (Aug 21 vs Sep 18, 2025), and both run GoDaddy Payments whose checkout subdomains (pay.trophygrading.com and pay.projectoutshine.com) resolve to the same IP pair (100.49.0.246 / 100.49.110.141). Both self-locate in the Dallas, TX area. Registrant names are privacy-masked; the shared infrastructure indicates common operation.

  • Common-ownership determination (research)

    Determination: on the weight of our documented observation and research, Trophy Grading (TGC) and the seller ProjectOutshine (TikTok / Whatnot / eBay) are operated by the same owner. The evidentiary basis is public and checkable: (1) both domains, trophygrading.com and projectoutshine.com, are registered through the same registrar, hidden behind the same WHOIS privacy proxy, and served by the same nameserver provider; (2) they were registered about four weeks apart (Aug and Sep 2025); (3) both run GoDaddy Payments, and their checkout subdomains, pay.trophygrading.com and pay.projectoutshine.com, resolve to the same pair of IP addresses; (4) both self-locate in the Dallas, TX area; (5) on stream the ProjectOutshine seller vouches for Trophy Grading by name and sells TGC-labeled slabs as a primary product. Any single item could be coincidence; taken together they point to one operator. The owner's identity is held in our records and is deliberately not published here. This determination is open to dispute: a party may contest it through the dispute channel with evidence establishing the actual, separate ownership.

Is this you?

If this entry is wrong, or it was an honest mistake, say so and it gets re-checked. An explained mistake takes a handle off the record. That grace is one time.

Dispute this listing

Seen the same thing?

Reports add to the audit log on this handle. Include screenshots. We never publish who filed a report, and we do not collect your identity.

File a report

CardConduct identifies sellers by public handle and public selling conduct only. We never publish a person's legal name, address, or private information. Read how entries are investigated.