Hobby Fallout from PSA Pausing Value-Tier Card Grading

In a move that is sending shockwaves through the hobby ecosystem, PSA will shut down its bulk and value-tier submissions for card grading. This comes on the heels of a massive $200 million investment announcement on May 14th. This is a shutdown similar to the one that rocked the hobby in 2021, affecting its lowest service tiers.

The shutdown will take immediate effect on Tuesday, June 2nd. The expectation is for four months, but that remains to be seen, as the goal is to reduce the backlog of 10 million cards to 5 million. The news was given to bulk submitters to wrap up bulk submissions and hold off after Friday.

The news came via Mike Gioseffi of Sports Cards Nonsense on his "Talking Nonsense" Livestream on Wednesday night. It was then confirmed via a press release from PSA and Collectors today.

PSA Turnaround Times Before the Shutdown

This news isn't completely unexpected after PSA announced another round of increased turnaround times for the second time this year and the third time in the last 9 months.

As turnaround times jumped from 90 days for the value bulk tier to 140-160 days, to now shut down, collectors are left wondering when they might be able to submit again through PSA.

As Gio broke the news, PSA confirmed they will shut down the Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, and Value Max levels. There will also be an extended regular turnaround time as they are changing from 30-40 days to 50-60 days.

What Does This Mean for BGS and SGC?

Now that BGS and SGC are with PSA under the Collectors umbrella, how much will this impact the turnaround times at BGS and SGC? They are currently backlogged as well, despite having significantly lower volume than PSA.

BGS had announced longer turnaround times earlier in 2026. SGC, meanwhile, extended the grading time from 15-20 days to 40-50 days to meet demand.

Other Grading Options Outside of Collectors

If you were still looking to grade in bulk, but don't find the other Collectors' options realistic, you might be looking elsewhere. For TCG, CGC has been a staple for grading for a long time.

And just like that CGC has updated and extended turn around times. pic.twitter.com/Rh7GtcDOjO
— NEO Cards & Comics (@NEOCards_Comics) May 28, 2026

Unfortunately, they also extended turnaround times recently.

One of the newer kids on the block, TAG Grading, also announced extended turnaround times and a pause in grading for all tiers of service other than limited priority and walkthrough.

Due to incredible demand, Express is now closed, marked at capacity until further notice.

Following Basic and Standard earlier this month, our core tiers are full. Limited Priority and Walkthrough slots remain for those who want to send now.

We're scaling and expanding as…
— TAG (@TAGgrading) May 28, 2026

For those keeping track at home, that's all the major grading companies either pausing service or raising turnaround times.

Is a TCG/Sports Split Coming?

One of the major reasons for the spike in turnaround times is the meteoric rise in TCG cards coming in for grading. Regardless of which company you're submitting to, the influx of TCG cards has been massive.

Between PSA and CGC, they combined for over 2 million graded TCG cards in the month of April. When Ryan Hoge joined Sports Cards Nonsense at the beginning of May, he mentioned that the first week of May was the highest week of grading in PSA's history, so that number is only going up.

Could this lead to an eventual split in TCG and Sports Cards? Could a company like PSA send sports cards to one facility and TCG to another? It seems awfully risky.

What Comes Next?

As Gio points out, the last time this happened, there was a collapse on the singles side, but will that happen again? It's certainly something to be fearful of, but far from a guarantee as it stands currently.

It can be a frustrating time in the hobby, but the demand for grading won't impact the high-end cards as those service tiers are still open.

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