Trading card grading giant PSA announced increased turnaround times and a price bump for one of its most popular services Monday following high submission volume to start 2025.
Effective Monday, estimated turnaround times for Value, Value Bulk and TCG Bulk will increase from 45 business days to 65 business days.
Dual service authentication for both Value and Bulk services will increase to 75 business days from 55.
According to PSA, inbound submissions and in-progress orders for the impacted service levels are expected to be completed under original estimated turnaround times at the time of submission.
PSA also announced Monday morning that as of Tuesday, submissions for TCG Bulk will increase from $16.99 per card to $18.99.
“We are actively growing our team and integrating new technology to be able to handle the increased volume, while maintaining our consistent and reliable grading standards,” PSA wrote on X. “We’re committed to reducing turnaround times for our services in the long term, but we’re encountering some bumps in the road with the exceptional current level of demand we’re seeing.”
The delayed turnaround times arrive alongside three consecutive months of increased year-over-year submissions to start 2025.
According to third-party grading tracker GemRate, PSA graded 1.3 million cards in January, 1.44 million in February and 1.47 million in March, marking year-over-year increases of 7%, 17% and 10%, respectively.
The price increase for TCG Bulk lands as PSA continues to churn a massive number of cards for the category, which has largely been driven by increased interest in Pokémon.
PSA graded more TCG cards in February and March than sports cards, according to GemRate, with February showing a 49% growth year-over-year for the category and a 56% bump year-over-year in March.
A significant number of submissions to PSA for the TCG category appear to be arriving from the company’s partnership with GameStop, which is reportedly closing in on 1 million graded cards since launching late last year.
PSA was by far the most popular grader by volume in 2024, with more than 15 million items graded. CGC Cards finished second in terms of volume with more than 2.3 million items graded.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.
