On May 14, we announced a significant infrastructure investment and introduced updated turnaround times to provide a more accurate roadmap for submissions. Collectors responded to these updates with another rapid surge in demand, resulting in a 20% spike in submissions that added another 1.6 million cards to our active backlog that is rapidly approaching 10 million.
While our daily grading output is at an all-time high, with capacity up 5x since 2021, continuing to accept submissions at this breakneck pace would put more pressure on our operations and compromise the turnaround times of existing orders.
To clear this bottleneck and protect the integrity of the PSA standard, we are taking a direct, proactive step. Effective Tuesday, June 2, 2026, we are temporarily pausing new submissions for the four Value service tiers: Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, and Value Max.
What Is Changing on June 2, 2026?
We are aggressively committing our resources to focus on processing the cards currently in our care. This requires a temporary adjustment to our service levels:
Temporarily Paused Tiers: Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, and Value Max will be closed to new submissions. All active submissions will continue to be processed under the submitted turnaround times.
Remaining Open Tiers: Regular, Express, Super Express, and Walk-Through and above will remain fully active.
Regular Service Adjustment: Because we are approaching a 10-million-card backlog that impacts our entire operational pipeline (from receiving to shipping), the estimated turnaround times for Regular service will be temporarily extended to 40 to 50 days, and 50 to 60 days for dual-service authentication.
As these higher tiers represent a smaller fraction of our total volume, keeping them open will not slow down our progress as we authenticate and grade the 10 million cards in our queue.
When Will Value Tiers Be Reinstated?
This temporary pause is tied strictly to operational milestones, not arbitrary dates.
Our target is to bring the backlog down to 5 million units, with our current projections anticipating it will take up to four months to achieve this goal.
To keep ourselves accountable, we will update a PSA Backlog Tracker bi-weekly, so you can see the same numbers our management team sees.
Although this remains a fluid situation, we plan to reopen paused service tiers as backlog conditions improve and we can do so responsibly.
Collectors Club Membership Extensions
As a key feature of Collectors Club membership, we understand how upsetting it is to temporarily lose access to the Value Bulk grading tier.
Every Collectors Club membership that was active on May 14, 2026, and remains active will be extended for free for the full duration of the Value Bulk grading service pause. To confirm your membership is active, head to the Membership section of your account and check that your Status shows as Active.
The $200M Investment Is Moving Forward
This pause is a deliberate, structural defense of the future we are building, not a retreat from it. PSA’s operational health has never been stronger, and our recently announced $200 million capital commitment remains fully funded and in active deployment.
By temporarily halting the influx of our most in-demand service levels, we are giving our newly upgraded facilities, advanced machine-learning logistics tech, and new team members the necessary breathing room to operate at peak efficiency and provide collectors with the service you and your items deserve.
We understand that shutting down these tiers is disappointing. But trust is built on honesty, and we owe you a grading infrastructure built on reality, not optimism. Thank you for your patience, your accountability, and your continued trust as we help build a stronger collecting community.