Inside PSA’s Grading Backlog: What Comes Next for Collectors?

If you’ve ever pulled a fresh card and immediately tilted it toward the light to inspect the corners, you’re part of the reason PSA has had such a busy year.

The hobby’s appetite for graded slabs has never been bigger.

The world’s largest card grading company entered 2026 already processing cards at a staggering pace. We’re talking 19 million cards in 2025 alone. That’s 850% higher than 2020, a year when they maxed out at processing just 2 million cards.

Yet even after tripling its staff and dramatically expanding its grading capacity, collectors continued to send cards faster than PSA could process them. By the summer, the company’s backlog had reportedly ballooned to roughly 14 million cards.

Yes, business has been crazy, and PSA had to make some drastic decisions if they wanted to catch up to this tsunami of demand. The company temporarily shut down its least expensive grading tiers, committed millions toward expanding its operations, and announced plans to add hundreds of employees by the end of this year.

And now, after just a few months, the pile is finally getting smaller.

In late September, PSA reported an active global backlog of around 9 million cards, which means millions of cards are still somewhere in the grading pipeline. And eventually, those slabs have to come home.

For collectors, dealers, and anyone buying cards in the secondary market, this raises an interesting question: What happens when they do?

How Did PSA Fall So Far Behind?

To understand how PSA ended up with a backlog of millions of cards waiting to be graded, you have to look at just how quickly the grading business has grown.

As stated earlier, PSA went from grading 2 million cards in 2020 to more than 19 million in 2025. And that pace of growth continued to accelerate into 2026.

Through April of this year, PSA said it had already graded nearly 2.3 million more items than it had during the same period in 2025, a year-over-year increase of 39%. They were able to do this thanks to considerable company growth over the last few years.

PSA had invested more than $100 million since 2021, opened new grading facilities, and tripled its staff. By May of this year, its daily grading output had reached an all-time high, with capacity roughly five times greater than in 2021.

However, collectors still managed to overwhelm it.

By the middle of May, PSA announced longer turnaround times and plans for another $200 million investment in operations. Submissions promptly surged another 20%, adding another 1.6 million cards to a backlog that was approaching 10 million.

This forced PSA’s hand, and the company announced it would have to throw down some sandbags to slow the flood.

They temporarily stopped accepting new Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, and Value Max submissions starting in early June. A final rush to beat this deadline caused the backlog to reach around 14 million when the cutoff took effect.

So if you’re keeping track, PSA was grading cards at a record pace, yet they still couldn’t keep up with collectors. Something had to give, and it wouldn’t be the appetite of hobbyists.

PSA Is Finally Making a Dent

The good news for collectors with cards stuck somewhere within PSA’s system, or those eager to send in some cards hoping for quicker turnarounds? The backlog is no longer growing.

In fact, it’s lower than it’s been since early May. 

After reaching close to 14 million cards in June, PSA’s backlog fell to 12 million by June 30 and 11 million just two weeks later.

The company hit a temporary setback in late July when it climbed back to 12.4 million. PSA attributed this bump to convention season, an increase in higher-tier service submissions, and packages arriving within a 45-day eligibility window following the Value-tier shutdown.

But since then, the trend’s been much more encouraging, as you can see in the following chart.

PSA’s spent a lot of money to make this happen. In May, the company announced‍ a $200 million investment in facilities, technology, and personnel, with plans to add around 1,000 employees.

Its new Plano, Texas, facility opened and was fully operational in July, while PSA Europe has since started grading cards in Frankfurt, Germany. The investments helped increase its global production by 40%, according to PSA.

It’s helped to the point that PSA is starting to crack the door back open to more submissions.

On Sept. 14, it introduced a new Standard service tier, currently priced at $59.99 per card with an estimated turnaround of 90 to 100 business days. PSA won’t let these cards jump the line, though. Value and Bulk orders submitted before the shutdown retain a higher priority.

It’s a careful balancing act they’re trying to achieve: keep millions of cards moving out the door while opening a new door to millions more.

When Will PSA Value Grading Come Back?

Collectors waiting for affordable PSA grading to come back still have some waiting to do.

Value and Value Bulk tiers are still paused, and PSA has yet to announce a reopening date. The company says it’ll restore services in phases as capacity improves and it gets a clearer picture of what it’s facing when it comes to submission demand.

PSA originally set a target to reduce its backlog to around 5 million cards before reopening Value tiers. So as of its latest update, they’re still about 4 million from that mark. That’s progress, no doubt, though PSA emphasizes operational milestones will guide the final decision.

The new Standard tier offers some relief. But collectors accustomed to the previous $24.99 Value Bulk rate are going to have to get used to a higher grading bill.

That raises another practical question: When Value returns, what will “Value” actually look like?

PSA hasn’t yet said, so we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on that. If the fees are set higher, this changes the math on lower-value cards, while a lengthy turnaround can complicate plans to sell.

What 9 Million PSA Cards Could Mean for Collecting

Eventually, all these backlogged cards will be sent back to their owners.

Some will go straight into personal collections, while others will likely turn up at card shows, in dealers’ inventories, and on auction platforms like Pristine Auction.

This is something serious buyers should probably be paying attention to.

As the delayed submissions get graded, some modern cards could see their PSA populations climb quite a bit. A card that looks scarce today may have plenty of company waiting somewhere in the grading pipeline.

Imagine a modern rookie with 50 PSA 10 examples. That low population might help it command a premium. Now imagine another few hundred copies earning the same grade.

Buyers would have more choices, and sellers could face more competition. The price would still depend on demand, but that scarcity argument would likely weaken.

Recent releases may be especially tricky to judge. With Value services paused and Standard costing $59.99 a card, collectors have fewer affordable options for submitting lower-value cards. That could leave some 2026 cards with low PSA populations because owners are waiting for cheaper grading to return.

Vintage is a different conversation because grading more older cards doesn’t increase the number originally produced. Another 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle could surface, of course, but its age and condition create a very different supply picture than a recently released rookie.

We also don’t know exactly what’s in those millions of pending submissions. And it’s just too soon to make any broad predictions about potentially falling prices and values.

Still, the scale of work PSA is doing is pretty remarkable. And as they strive to catch up, collectors are left with two things they’re probably going to be closely monitoring: their mailboxes and the market.

The Bottom Line: A Busy Hobby Is a Healthy Hobby

A 9-million-card backlog is frustrating if some of those cards are yours, but it also shows how much energy is in the hobby right now. PSA is spending heavily, hiring and adding capacity, and the numbers show it’s working. Over the coming months, millions of freshly graded cards will head back to collectors, and many will reach the market. That means more choices for buyers and more chances for sellers to put their cards in front of the right audience. The smart move is to stay informed, check population reports, watch for news on value. tier pricing, and remember that vintage and modern cards play by different supply rules. In the meantime, check out cards in our sports card auction here at Pristine Auction right now. Your next favorite slab might be waiting for you!