PSA Says 11 Million Cards Remain in Grading Backlog

PSA Backlog Drops to 11 Million Cards

PSA’s latest bi-weekly update says the company still has 11 million items sitting in its grading backlog, down from more than 12 million in the previous report. The update arrived on All-Star Game Tuesday as part of PSA’s ongoing pledge to provide regular visibility into its processing volume.

According to PSA, June grading was up 10% compared with May, even with the pause in place, and July is currently tracking to outpace June’s pace. The company framed the update as another sign that output is moving in the right direction while the backlog continues to shrink.

PSA also pointed collectors to its Backlog Tracker for more detail on current processing levels and the status of its open orders.

Quality Assurance Remains a Key Talking Point

Along with the backlog numbers, PSA addressed quality assurance in the update. The company said the increase in submissions has not led to a corresponding rise in grading inaccuracies and stated that grading accuracy and card safety continue to maintain a 99.4% operational success rate.

When asked for more detail on that figure, PSA said the remaining 0.6% mainly covers fewer than 6,000 cards that either received a grade change at the QA stage or were damaged during processing.

For collectors waiting on submissions, that explanation was part of PSA’s effort to show that higher volume has not come at the expense of handling standards.

Value Tiers Still Not Back

Despite the improved backlog figure, PSA did not announce any return of its lower-cost grading options. The Value, Value Plus, and Value Max tiers remain unavailable for collectors looking for a cheaper submission path.

At present, PSA’s Regular level is still the lowest-priced option for basic grading without added services such as autograph authentication or grading, and it costs $80 per card.

PSA previously said in its June 8 update that it could still take 6 to 8 weeks to open the Value and Value Bulk orders currently in process. The company’s Backlog Tracker still shows the Value Tiers Open section at under 5 million submissions waiting to be opened, processed, graded, and returned.

Competitor Grading Volume Shows Mixed Trends

The broader grading market also saw notable movement in early July. According to GemRate, PSA competitors CGC, Beckett, and SGC each posted steep drops in the first week of the month, down 32%, 51%, and 35%, respectively.

TAG, meanwhile, posted a 55% increase over the previous week. The company graded 19.1 thousand items from July 1 through July 6, after grading 54,000 items in all of June.

PSA, with 492.9 thousand total items graded, was down 18% in the first six days of July, even as the company said it is tracking toward surpassing June’s total submissions.

Collectors React to the Latest Update

PSA’s latest numbers did not quiet collector frustration. Responses on X were largely critical, with many users pointing to the delays they say have not been resolved despite repeated updates from the company.

Some collectors focused on quality concerns, sharing photos of PSA slabs that arrived with scuffs and chips in the plastic. Others said their grading had been completed about a month earlier but they were still waiting for tracking information showing the cards had shipped back.

That mix of backlog pressure and fulfillment complaints continues to shape the conversation around PSA’s current turnaround times.

Backlog Transparency Remains in Focus

PSA’s decision to keep publishing bi-weekly updates gives collectors a clearer look at where the company stands, even when the news is not especially encouraging. The latest report shows progress, but it also confirms that the backlog remains substantial and that lower-cost submission tiers are still not available.

TAG has also introduced its own Backlog Tracker, adding more context for collectors by showing details such as the percentage recovered from peak demand, the threshold it is targeting before reopening, and the current backlog load.

With card collecting demand still strong, grading companies continue to balance volume, turnaround times, and customer expectations. PSA’s latest update suggests the company is moving forward, but collectors are still waiting for the backlog to come down further and for more affordable submission options to return.