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For many Pokemon fans, buying a specific card they’ve been chasing rather than relying on luck can actually make more sense. Between product being hard to find on shelves and brutal pull rates for rarer full-art cards, getting the card of your dreams sometimes means buying it as a single. And for some Pokemon TCG collectors, getting a slabbed, graded version is the best way to ensure quality for the long term. However, graded cards tend to be pricier than ungraded ones, and odds are, they’re about to get even more expensive.
There are quite a few companies out there that grade trading cards. But when it comes to the Pokemon TCG, PSA is far and away the most commonly used service. So, changes to PSA tend to ripple out to the broader Pokemon card collecting ecosystem. And yesterday, PSA announced a pretty big shift to its services due to ongoing high demand. Starting on June 2nd, PSA is putting a temporary pause on its Value-tier grading services. That means anyone trying to get cards graded for resale is going to pay more to do it, and chances are, that extra cost will go into pricing those PSA 10 chase cards.
PSA is Struggling to Keep Pace With Pokemon TCG Grading Demands, and Their Solution Is Going Probaly Going to Cost You
It’s no secret that The Pokemon Company is struggling to print enough Pokemon cards to keep pace with demand. But they’re not the only ones. PSA is also under pressure to keep up with increased submissions of trading cards for grading. Though they didn’t specifically call out Pokemon cards as the primary problem, it’s notable that they chose a trio of Mega Hyper Rares for the featured image in the announcement. Recent statistics about Pokemon TCG grading also suggest that PSA is grading far more Pokemon cards than other services. According to PSA, submissions spiked by over 10% earlier this month, resulting in a backlog “that is rapidly approaching 10 million.”
In order to help PSA clear its backlog, the company is temporarily pausing its Value tiers for trading card grading. The pause goes into effect on June 2nd and will impact the most affordable options for getting trading cards graded by PSA. The impacted tiers are:
- Value Bulk
- Value
- Value Plus
- Value Max
Collectors will still be able to submit cards for grading, but will need to use the pricier service options. Presumably, PSA hopes that many collectors and resellers will opt to wait for value tiers to open back up instead of submitting at these higher prices. Value grading will return when PSA reduces its backlog to 5 million units, which the company estimates will take about 5 months. They’ve even shared a backlog tracker to show the timeline for when value grading might return.
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Even if this measure might be necessary, it is likely to impact Pokemon card prices, along with other PSA-graded trading cards. Graded cards are already pricier than ungraded ones, both because of the guaranteed quality and the fact that resellers had to pay to get those cards graded and slabbed. With value services paused, graded versions of newer Pokemon cards are likely to become even more scarce. Not only that, but those who do get newer cards graded in order to sell them will have paid more for the service if they use PSA. And that means they’ll be wanting a higher return.
Another wrinkle here is that PSA likely isn’t the only grading company that’s struggling. Shortly after PSA announced its value tier pause, another prominent trading card grading company, CGC, also reportedly extended estimated turnaround times on its grading services. This may be because of existing strain or fear that PSA’s announcement will bring more cards to their doorstep. Either way, it seems like getting a Pokemon card graded in 2026 is going to take longer and cost more for the foreseeable future.
What do you think about PSA’s move to catch up on its trading card backlog? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the Forum!
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