PSA card-grading backlog falls to 7.2 million cards
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
PSA's grading backlog dropped by another 1 million cards to 7.2 million units.
Cheaper grading tiers stay paused until the backlog nears 5 million.
Background
PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) is the grading company whose backlog and paused cheaper grading services are the subject here. It halted its Value, Value Bulk, Value Plus and Value Max services in June 2026 to control rapidly rising submission volume. PSA has set a backlog of roughly 5 million cards as a key operational target for restoring those cheaper options, and it has not announced an official reopening date.
How it unfolded
- Jun 2, 2026PSA paused Value, Value Bulk, Value Plus and Value Max grading services, moving to control rapidly increasing submission volume.
- Jul 28, 2026The grading backlog peaked at approximately 12.4 million units.
- Aug 11, 2026The backlog dropped to 11.85 million.
- Aug 25, 2026The backlog dropped to 10.9 million.
- Sep 8, 2026The backlog dropped to 9.9 million.
- Sep 22, 2026The backlog dropped to 9 million.
- Oct 6, 2026The backlog stood at 8.2 million.
- Oct 20, 2026PSA announced its backlog dropped by another 1 million cards, to 7.2 million units.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- PSA has not announced an official reopening date for its Value, Value Bulk, Value Plus or Value Max grading services.