Field notes · Grading · 16 October 2026
The grading queue is a custody window
In brief
PSA's active grading backlog peaked at 12.4 million cards on 28 July 2026 and stood at 8.2 million on 6 October. Its four Value tiers have been paused since 2 June. The cheapest tier open, Standard, costs $59.99 a card with an estimated 90 to 100 business days and a $1,000 value cap.
A card in the queue is still somebody's property, somewhere, for months. The record has to say where it is, who holds it, and that what comes back is what went out.
What it turns on
- Time away. At 90 to 100 business days, a card can be out of its owner's hands for four to five months.
- Value caps. Each service level carries a maximum declared value; Standard's is $1,000.
- The return must match. The slab that comes back has to be the card that left, with its new cert on the record.
What we do about it
- 01Record it before it leaves. Photographs, condition and the submission line, kept together.
- 02Record the handoff. Who shipped it, how, and when it was received.
- 03Keep the status current. Submitted, at the grader, returned, with dates.
- 04Match on return. The new cert matched to the card that left, photographed and reconciled before it moves again.
Sources
- Heavy, PSA Standard service, 9 Sep 2026.
- Heavy, PSA grading update: backlog and Value return, 6 Oct 2026.
Market facts from public reporting; backlog figures change weekly. Brich House publishes methods; it never publishes clients, cases or verdicts, and claims no relationship with any company named here.