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PSA Raises Grading Prices Immediately

rising prices at psa

Inflation is hitting everyone—even PSA users. We recently examined the rising costs of submitting with CGC, which raised prices across the board.

Now, PSA is following suit. That was nothing if not predictable. Why would PSA incur any loss in lower costs when they dominate the grading world?

That is not how you make money; PSA is very good at doing that. We have the full story on how PSA raises prices on grading. How much, why, and what does it mean? We have all the angles.

Why is PSA raising grading prices?

There is a feeling that we are back in the pandemic era. There is a backlog at PSA, the grading companies are raising prices, and people are killing each other to get Pokémon.

As Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

The changes on PSA rates came into effect on January 17, 2024. That means that they will already have changed by the time you read this. CGC at least gave us a fighting chance to submit with the old prices.

They provided a two-week notice for their (admittedly sharp and all across the board) price range. PSA had no intention of allowing us to do that. What Are The New Higher PSA Prices?

Luckily, however, not all PSA services are affected. According to an official statement from the grading company: “Pricing increased for member-exclusive Bulk services and higher-end levels starting with Express, which feature Grader Notes and 5-day estimated turnaround times.

Most changes reflect a return to pricing before our last update in February of 2024. Many of PSA’s most utilized service levels are unchanged by the update: Value, Value Plus, and Regular.”

Service LevelPrice Per CardMaximum Insured ValueTurnaround Time
TCG Bulk$16.99$20045 Days
Value Bulk$19.99$50045 Days
Value$24.99$50045 Days
Value Plus$39.99$50020 Days
Regular$74.99$1,50010 Days
Express$149$2,5005 Days
Super-Express$299$5,0005 Days
Walk-Through$599$10,0005 Days
Premium$999+$25,000+5 Days

Notable changes to PSA prices

As you can see, there are some unpleasant changes. The TCG Bulk and Value Bulk prices used to be $14.99 and $16.99 per card, respectively. Now, they are up to $18.99 and $19.99 per card.

Nothing too dramatic, but it’s notable. Value bulk is one of the most popular submission methods, so this will hurt many people. Meanwhile, the steeper increase in TCG card prices is notable. That sector is totally exploding right now, so it makes much sense.

For sports card submissions, the most notable changes are those to the high-end service levels at Express and above. Express will rise from $129 to $149 (a 15% increase), Super Express from $249 to $299 (a 20% increase), and Walk-Through will go up from $499 per card to $599 (a 20% increase as well.

These higher-end services are returning to pricing before changes made in February 2024, when some of these services were made cheaper. We saw something similar from CGC, which increased its most extreme price on the most premium services.

That may be a good idea since these will usually be used by people interested in selling a costly card quickly and for whom this sort of increase will likely not matter much.

The damage could have been much worse, especially considering that the most popular services are unaffected. That will relieve many of us alarmed at the prospect of new and higher prices. But we would not be surprised if prices for the most common services also rise shortly.

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Higher prices for PSA ticket authentication and grading

According to the PSA announcement: “Two turnaround times improved, and one service level departed. Value service is now $39.99, carries double the Max Insured Value, and finishes an estimated 15 business days sooner.

At no additional cost, Regular service is faster by 10 business days estimated. Economy service is no longer offered.”

Service LevelPrice Per CardMaximum Insured ValueTurnaround Time
Value$34.99$50075 Days
Regular$74.99$1,50055 Days
Express$149$2,50030 Days
Super-Express$299$5,00020 Days
Walk-Through$599$10,00014 Days
Premium$999+$25,000+10 Days

The changes here are going to hit consumers harder than with cards. Removing the cheapest version for grading tickets, the economy service means a significant price rise. The economy service level was $25 per card, now at $35, signifying a 40% increase overall.

However, the good news is that PSA emphasizes these items and promises to return them quickly. If the turnaround time for the value level was previously a full 90 days, now it has been cut significantly to a mere 75.

Higher prices for PSA reholder services

According to the PSA announcement, “Estimated turnaround times have improved across the board. The scope of services offered, including card type eligibility, has been simplified. While pricing increased for most service levels, Standard Reholder submissions stayed at $12.99 per card.”

Service LevelPrice Per CardMaximum Insured ValueTurnaround Time
Standard$12.99$2,00045 days
Standard, Tallboy, Jumbo$29.99$5,00030 days
Expedited$74.99$20,00015 days
Expedited$129$50,0005 days
Expedited$249$100,0005 days
Expedited$599$250,0005 days
Expedited$1,299$500,0005 days

The good news for reholder submissions is that you still have the most basic submission level at an unchanged and affordable price.

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How is this related to the PSA backlog?

The price rise is not the first time PSA has been in the headlines recently. The mega grading company recently announced that it was highly backlogged.

Nat Turner Tweeted, “The PSA Card Vault in the past week received the highest number of cards in a single week since we launched the platform.”

The company is experiencing issues with “the unboxing and system entry of delivered packages,” they wrote in an email to customers. They added, “Bulk and Value service level orders are primarily being impacted right now.”

PSA has promised to solve this problem by bringing new technology to the company, which will help it deliver in a more timely fashion shortly.

However, the company denied that delays would be a long-term problem. According to a statement, “We are currently increasing staffing in our receiving department to help alleviate the issue while also bringing new technology online in the first quarter of 2025 that will help keep receiving times consistent going forward.”

The backlog is minor in comparison to the nightmare it became in 2021. However, it is starting to become a problem again.

An indirect connection

While the interaction between that statement and the price rise is likely not direct, there is definitely a connection.

PSA is not only utterly dominant in the grading business; its volume is increasing this month. That is welcome news for them after a few weaker months in late 2024.

With such industry dominance, PSA can confidently raise prices without expecting a significant decrease in volume, especially since most price rises are not that steep and are more concerned with peripheral services.

There is no reason not to raise prices as long as there is much demand for grading services. In addition, compared with the steep price rises we have seen from CGC, PSA looks benign.

A genuine monopoly

A monopoly is defined as an entity so powerful that it can determine the price and value of the commodity in question without considering the other actors.

Reality doesn’t quite work that way. However, generally, economists believe a company controlling more than 50% of the market is a monopoly. According to the grading figures for December 2024, 75% of all cards graded were submitted to PSA. In addition, PSA owns SGC. If you add submissions to them to the tally, PSA accounts for well over 80% of all submissions.

That has profound implications for prices. Monopolies do not compete with other actors for submission prices. Instead, they attempt to find the most advantageous pricing point to leverage their market dominance to achieve the most significant profit.

Adding staff to deal with the backlog

While price rises often aim to increase revenue and profit, another element is at play here. People are against complaining that their orders take too long to arrive, and the announcement about the record backlog is a reaction to that issue.

The best way to address that problem is by hiring more staff and increasing grading facilities. That takes, you guessed it, lots of money. PSA passes on those expenses to the consumer in a classic capitalist style.

PSA is likely trying to find the optimal balance between the number of cards it grades and the infrastructure upkeep. That would militate against having prices that are too cheap.

After all, there would be far more submissions if the prices were lower. That would require more maintenance for hiring people and providing them with space while making about the same or less due to lower prices.

With inflation to contend with, this becomes an even less appealing prospect. Add to this that PSA has a monopoly on the business, and you have a perfect recipe for raising prices.

A factor with a significant amount of influence on all this is GameStop. Since they made a deal with PSA and have functioned as a grading hub, PSA has been surprised at just how much business they have been getting from that source.

It has been a remarkable success. But the extra volume of submissions has also clogged up the arteries of PSA.

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How collectors are reacting to PSA raising grading prices

No one is happy when the prices of services they use regularly increase, and the increase in PSA prices is no exception.

But of course, keep in mind that PSA is trying to reduce submissions somewhat. Therefore, they will not be too upset at the backlash they are experiencing.

Many collectors are well aware of this dynamic. One Blowout Forum user wrote, “Just sold a very condition sensitive low pop PSA 9 (none graded 10) Kobe/LeBron 2010 card for $42 when raw it goes between $20-$30 … so I lost money grading. Safe to say I’m done with grading all sub $50 cards at these prices.”

To which another replied, “Well, by the looks of the comments here, they got what they’re gonna get what they want: fewer subs so they can catch up.”

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Not everyone is concerned a bout PSA raising grading prices

Others are fine with a slower process if the grading quality does not suffer.

One user wrote, “Would hiring more people improve customer satisfaction? Getting these people trained takes time. Also, following the pandemic, there was nothing but screaming about inconsistent grading following the new hiring boom. It’s still going on. Every day on this forum and in YouTube videos. I believe they are hiring, but slowly—probably too slowly. I’m okay with them raising the cost of grading, as it will only be temporary.”

Really? Temporary? Once a monopoly raises prices, it is unlikely they will ever come down again. Indeed, expect another increase in a year or so.

The price increase coincides with many complaints over slow service and even very bad service from PSA. That is one of the reasons the company likely wants to cut the volume of submissions.

But it will also frustrate customers, who will not want to pay higher prices just as they feel the service is getting worse. Still, PSA can afford to lose customers and volume. Right now, they may even welcome it.

The end goal for PSA raising prices

PSA has been actively trying to grow its submissions base since it managed to catch up with its backlog during the COVID era. That seems to have changed. They are now trying to reduce submissions somewhat and catch up. That may be a temporary step as the company hires new people.

Therefore, we will be closely monitoring PSA’s submission level. Will it go down over the next few months, and how will PSA respond if it does? Will SGC and BGS also respond by raising prices, or will they try to increase their share by lowering prices?

Either way, the long-term trend will be for prices for grading to go up. However, that most likely will not translate into higher prices for the graded cards. The habitual and casual grading will become less common as the focus moves only to cards that can net a profit, just like everything else in this hobby.

The final word on PSA raising prices

The cost of doing business is getting higher, and everyone is increasing prices. That is certainly a factor here. However, PSA also seems to be trying to cool down an overheating market and use the kind of language that the Federal Reserve likes to utilize.

They want fewer submissions as they increase capacity. Finally, they are a monopoly, and raising prices is just what monopolies do.

However, many customers are complaining that their turnaround is too long and that they have lost cards. The combination of worse service and higher prices is never popular. But since PSA is a monopoly, they don’t have to worry much about losing popularity.

We are all forced to do business with them anyway to increase the value of our cards.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim is the emeritus editor of Cardlines. He continues to write for several hobby outlets, including this one and Cardbase. He collects primarily vintage baseball and soccer and has a weird obsession with 1971 Topps.

In his spare time, Shaiel is sobbing into his bourbon when the Mets lose and playing Dungeons and Dragons. In a past life, Dr. Ben-Ephraim was a political science professor, journalist, and diplomat. But cards are more fun.

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