Starting last month, with the introduction of Standard, we began simplifying our service levels.
Now we are announcing changes to our service levels and estimated turnaround times to refine our offerings and introduce a lower-priced grading option.
“Pausing service levels gave us an opportunity to evaluate and streamline the services we offer, while also steadily moving toward both faster options for those customers who need expedited service and, as of this week, Value service that will open grading to the many customers awaiting lower-priced options," said Ryan Hoge, President of PSA and Grading at Collectors. “We have added an incredible amount of capacity, but we still have work to do, both on existing orders and ensuring our estimated turnaround times are accurate. Feedback from collectors is heard and directly informs how we are reopening our value services.”
Faster Turnaround for Priority and Standard
We are adjusting the estimated turnaround times of the Priority and Standard service levels, reducing the estimate by 20 days for each service to provide faster grading to customers. Standard is now 70-80 and Priority is now 50-60 estimated business days; turnaround times are estimates, not guarantees, and may change based on submission volume.
These estimates apply to orders submitted starting October 28 at 8 a.m. PT. Orders already in progress will be graded under the terms by which they were submitted, but may benefit from increased speed.
Value Launches on October 29, Behind Every Existing Order
Value, our new global service level, opens Thursday, October 29 at 8 a.m. PT in all PSA geographies – U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. Value is priced at $39.99 in the U.S. and $500 maximum insured value ($56.99 CAD, €39.99, ¥5,980), with an estimated turnaround of 90 to 100 business days, and 120 business days in Japan.
New Value orders will be processed following orders currently at PSA; opening Value does not change the delivery estimates for any customer with a submission currently at PSA.
Value is part of our approach to reopening service levels in phases; this approach allows our teams to understand demand and adjust capacity at each stage of the grading process, responding dynamically to submission volume.
A Note on Late Orders
As a customer, you may have questions regarding why we are opening a service level when your order is delayed. Too many orders are past their estimated turnaround time, and we owe an explanation.
Submissions in April and May of this year were 2.5 times the volume of the same two months in 2025. Of the orders past their estimates, over half were submitted during five weeks this spring, when we took in 165% more items than the same period last year; that surge created a traffic jam in our operations. And, like traffic, it takes time to clear orders as they move through the steps a card takes from when we receive it to when you get your item back. To our customers whose orders are delayed, look out for an email from us regarding your order status and updates.
There is good news: graded item output is up nearly 50% in 2026 due in part to our investments in capacity, and it is up 150% from our 2020-2025 average items graded per week.
PSA is operating at a different scale now than at any point in our history. When you combine the items we graded in the past three years (59M), it exceeds all the items we graded in the 23 years prior (57M). We thank the community of collectors and our employees, who have supported this growth through tireless effort.
Our Plan for Lower-Priced Grading
We plan to continue reopening grading at lower prices, including Value Bulk. In May, we set a target of 5 million units before fully reopening; today is a step toward reopening all service levels. The backlog is currently 7.2M, and we are seeing meaningful week-over-week progress, which will allow us to fully reopen with the same diligence and phased approach we have taken with Standard and Value.