Major Hobby News as PSA Confirms Extended Pause for Grading

PSA has paused Value-tier submissions as it works through a backlog of more than 10 million cards, signaling major changes for collectors and the grading market.

A massive grading backlog has led PSA to temporarily shut down Value-tier submissions. | PSA

Following rumors of sweeping changes to grading and submissions, Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), the leading grading company for sports cards and TCGs, confirmed today that it will pause accepting new submissions for all Value service tiers. 

In what will be a shock to the hobby ecosystem, PSA will shut down its bulk and value-tier submissions for card grading.

(Ed. Note: For more on the fallout and what is the short-term future of grading, head here)

What PSA is Announcing

Changes will go into effect on Tuesday, June 2, at 3:00 p.m. PT and will impact the four Value service tiers: Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, and Value Max. While collectors are still digesting the news and the impact it will have on the hobby, it is certain to create concern for bulk submissions, resellers, and hobbyists looking to grade their cards at more affordable levels.

We've seen a significant surge in submissions following our announcement of an additional $200 million investment in PSA infrastructure and services. That increase has pushed our active queue to nearly 10 million cards.

To help protect the submissions already in our care, PSA is…

— PSAcard (@PSAcard) May 28, 2026

PSA is taking these steps to “clear this bottleneck and protect the integrity of the PSA standard,” with the following key impacts to submission and grading:

• Tiers temporarily Paused: Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, and Value Max will be closed to new submissions. All active submissions will continue to be processed under the submitted turnaround times.

• Tiers Remaining Open: Regular, Express, Super Express, and Walk-Through and above will remain fully active. 
• Regular Service Adjustment: Estimated turnaround times for Regular service will be temporarily extended to 40 to 50 days, and 50 to 60 days for dual-service authentication.

Why This is Happening

The news first came via Mike Gioseffi of Sports Cards Nonsense on his "Talking Nonsense" Livestream on Wednesday night.

All this is in an effort to catch up on the grading queue of more than 10 million cards, which has led to significant grading delays, similar to what collectors experience during the massive COVID-era hobby boom, which led to pricing increases and an eventual pause in new submissions from the major grading companies as they were overwhelmed by customer demand.

Last month, PSA announced a major $200 million infrastructure investment, sending ripples through the hobby as turnaround times for submissions were adjusted to help manage the expectations of frustrated collectors. But instead of dialing back their submissions, collectors, perhaps fearing the worst, doubled down on their submissions to PSA, resulting in a 20% spike and adding another 1.6 million cards to their grading queue.

PSA is hoping to cut the backlog in its grading queue in half and is introducing a monthly “Backlog Tracker” to increase transparency for customers as they work toward its goal of 5 million cards. They are also extending Collectors Club memberships for free during the pause in Value-level membership submissions for memberships active as of May 14th.

The Impact on Collectors

So what does this mean for collectors? As those in the hobby know, there has been massive consolidation by PSA’s parent company, Collectors, who snapped up Beckett Grading Services (BGS) in December 2025 and Sportcard Guarantee Corporation (SGC) in February 2024. Those in the hobby who rely on grading as part of their business and strategy have been closely watching sources like Gemrate, which tracks submission data for sports cards and TCG.

Maybe it will be a moment for other grading companies like CGC and AI-grading companies like TAG to cut into PSA’s dominating market share, over 95% by most recent estimates, when you include PSA, BGS, and SGC.

Only time will tell what collectors will do, depending on this news and any subsequent announcements by PSA and other graders. But rest assured, there will be a lot more reaction and conversation about how this will impact the hobby going forward.