What Kind of Cards You Should Be Grading During the PSA Bulk and Value Pause

There is no shortage of ways to navigate the hobby, even with the news from PSA about value grading being suspended.

Card collectors check out the items for sale duing Cards on the Coast Sports Card and TCG Show Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025 at Sanders Beach Corrine Jones Resource Center. The show had sports cards, collectable trading card games, food trucks and more. | John Blackie/Pensacola News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Everyone in the hobby has heard the news that PSA has suspended its value-tier submissions, effective June 2nd, 2026. This does not mean they are putting a full suspension on all services; they will still be accepting the following services:

1) Regular - $79.99/card with a max declared value of $1,500 and an estimated turnaround time of 30-40 business days.

2) Express - $149.00/card with a max declared value of $2,500 and an estimated turnaround time of 20-30 business days.

3) Super Express - $349.00/card with a max declared value of $5,000 and an estimated turnaround time of 7-10 business days.

4) Walk-Through - $599.00/card with a max declared value of $10,000 and an estimated turnaround time of 5-7 business days.

There are also five premium options for cards worth more than $10,000. Those tiers range from $999.00 to $9,999.00 per card with all the same estimated turnaround time of 5-7 business days.

What Should Be Submitted to PSA Today

There are plenty of cards that should be submitted to PSA. Any card that will be valued at more than $1,500 after being graded should be submitted to maximize the card's value. The biggest question is what level of service should be used if the card is going to be worth over $2,500. The service should be Express for $149.00. If the lower service is used, then an upcharge will happen, and the wait time will be 30-40 days instead of 20-30 days.

The quality of the card should be inspected thoroughly as well; just because the card is pack-fresh does not mean it is worth grading. The hobby has found that the 2025 Topps Chrome Football has flaws; the gem rate for base cards is slightly over 24%.

How Can We Prevent Another PSA Suspension

People have quit their 9-5 jobs and turned their hobby into a living; they have graduated from college and go to card shows every week to make a living. When there is something valuable, there will be bad players, and the number of counterfeit cards needs to be stopped in the hobby. Most of the counterfeit cards being sent to PSA could be intentional, but they could also be an honest mistake. Fake cards sent to PSA are still going through the process of being verified as real or fake. This still takes time and doesn't help the backlog of cards.

This is the second time recently that PSA has had to announce troubles with a backlog of cards to grade. The first time was in 2021 when the hobby picked up over COVID-19. That backlog was around 12 million cards, and PSA suspended its lower-value and entry-level services for roughly a year.

This could be a good time to start picking up the graded cards that are on the market. People can go to card shows or online to try to get graded cards before they spike in price. There are plenty of ways to spend money on this hobby.