Current PSA turnaround by tier
Last checked: October 18, 2026, on PSA's trading card grading page.
| Service level | Price per card | Max insured value | Estimated turnaround | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $59.99 | $1,000 | 90 to 100 business days | Open since September 14, 2026 |
| Priority (formerly Regular) | $79.99 | $1,500 | 70 to 80 business days | Open |
| Express | $199 | $2,500 | 20 to 30 business days | Open |
| Super Express | $349 | $5,000 | 10 to 15 business days | Open |
| Premier (formerly Walk-Through) | $599 | $10,000 | 7 to 10 business days | Open |
| Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, Value Max | n/a | n/a | n/a | Paused since June 2, 2026 |
A few things these numbers don't tell you.
- They are business days. 90 to 100 business days is roughly 18 to 20 weeks, or four to five months, before weekends and holidays stretch it further.
- They are estimates. PSA marks every turnaround on its service page with an asterisk, and says Standard is part of a phased reopening guided by turnaround, backlog and demand.
- Standard waits in line. PSA's September 22 update says Value and Bulk orders submitted before the pause keep priority, so new Standard orders are processed behind items already in PSA's care.
- Receiving can lag. In June, PSA warned that it could take 6 to 8 weeks just to open Value and Value Bulk packages because of the volume arriving. It has not posted a similar warning for the open tiers since then.
Turnaround estimates for the higher tiers have also moved during 2026. When PSA paused the Value tiers, it temporarily extended its old Regular tier to 40 to 50 days. That tier is now Priority, at 70 to 80 business days. On September 14 PSA raised Express to $199 and said the change was to protect its 20 to 30 business day estimate.
PSA backlog history from PSA's own updates
PSA launched a public backlog tracker when it paused the Value tiers and says it updates it every two weeks. These are the figures it has posted.
| PSA update | Active backlog | What PSA said |
|---|---|---|
| June 2, 2026 | Approaching 10 million | Value tiers paused after a 20% spike in submissions. Target is 5 million units, projected to take 5 to 6 months. |
| June 30, 2026 | About 12 million | Trending down. |
| July 14, 2026 | 11 million | July output on track to beat June's record. |
| July 28, 2026 | 12.4 million | Up, driven by more higher-tier orders, late shipments in the 45-day window after the pause, and convention season. Plano, Texas hub opened. |
| August 11, 2026 | 11.85 million | July set a new monthly record for graded units. |
| August 25, 2026 | About 10.9 million | Steady output across five hubs. |
| September 8, 2026 | 9.9 million | Said it could evaluate reopening a service tier that month. |
| September 22, 2026 | About 9 million | Standard tier opened September 14. Frankfurt facility opened. |
| October 6, 2026 | 8.2 million | On a path to assess reopening more service tiers in the coming months. |
From the July 28 peak to October 6, the backlog fell by 4.2 million units in about ten weeks, or roughly 420,000 units a week. If that net pace held, the backlog would reach PSA's 5 million target in about eight weeks, around late November or early December. That is our arithmetic, not a PSA forecast, and the July jump shows how quickly new demand can reverse it.
If PSA keeps its two-week schedule, the next update would land around October 20. We update this page when it does.
Value tier status and reopening signals
As of October 18, 2026, Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus and Value Max are still paused, and PSA has not given a reopening date. Here is what PSA has said on the record.
- The pause is "tied strictly to operational milestones, not arbitrary dates," per its May announcement, and its stated target is a backlog of 5 million units.
- Standard is "not a replacement" for the Value tiers, which PSA says it remains committed to reactivating.
- PSA plans to reopen tiers in phases to avoid another submission spike.
- Its October 6 update says sustained progress puts it on path to assess reopening additional tiers "in the coming months."
Collectors Club members are affected most. The club's bulk access, listed from $24.99 per card, is paused, and PSA extended memberships that were active on May 14, 2026 for the full length of the Value Bulk pause. See our PSA grading cost guide for how that changes the per-card math.
How PSA turnaround compares with CGC, TAG, BGS and SGC
Checked October 18, 2026 on each company's own site. Each company counts its own way, so treat this as a rough guide.
| Company | Lowest-price open tier we found | Estimated turnaround | Faster option |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | Standard, $59.99 | 90 to 100 business days | Express, $199, 20 to 30 business days |
| CGC | Bulk, $17 (25-card minimum) | 150 working days | Economy, $20, 90 working days; Standard, $55, 10 working days |
| SGC | Standard, $50 (up to $1,500 declared) | 40+ business days | Expedited 2 to 3 day options at higher prices |
| TAG | Basic (up to $1,000) | 30 estimated business days | Price could not be confirmed on TAG's product page, which shows a limited reopening banner |
| BGS (Beckett) | Could not be confirmed. Beckett's pricing page did not load on October 18 while its site was being restored. | ||
SGC says its clock starts once an order is unboxed and logged. The others don't spell this out on their pricing pages. For price, scale and slab differences, see our grading companies comparison and PSA vs CGC for Pokémon.
What to do while you wait
- Pick the tier by value first, speed second. Paying $139.01 more per card to move from Standard to Express only makes sense if you are selling into a short price window.
- Pre-screen the next batch. With months of lead time, every card that comes back a 7 is money and time you can't get back. Our pre-grading guide covers the checks, and Binder AI returns an AI grade estimate on the PSA, BGS or TAG scale with centering, corners, edges and surface subgrades. Its grades are estimates, not official grades.
- Price the wait into your decision. A card you plan to sell is locked up for months, and prices can move. Run the numbers with the is my card worth grading calculator.
- Pack correctly. PSA's shipping guide says sleeving cards correctly and packing them in form order helps keep your estimate on track. Our step-by-step on how to submit cards to PSA covers it.
Sources, checked October 18, 2026: PSA trading card grading service levels, PSA backlog tracker, PSA: new Standard service level, PSA service level update, May 2026, PSA Collectors Club, PSA shipping guide, CGC services and fees, SGC services and pricing, TAG Basic grading, Beckett pricing page.
