PSA's Mountain Is Shrinking — 7.2 Million Cards and Falling

The most important number in the hobby right now might be a subtraction problem. PSA's active grading backlog fell to 7.2 million cards in its October 20 update — down a full million cards in two weeks, and down 5.2 million, nearly 42 percent, from the July 28 peak of 12.4 million.

PSA's stated target is five million outstanding cards, set back when it paused Value submissions on June 2 and started publishing a public backlog tracker. At the current pace, the company could reach that target sometime in the latter part of November. PSA credits increased scale and efficiency, says existing orders keep priority over new submissions, and plans to reopen services in phases built around shorter turnaround times. Its Standard tier reopened September 14; no new reopening dates were announced this week.

Why it matters at this counter: we have cards in that pipeline right now, and so do half our customers. Turnaround time is half the math on every grade-or-sell-raw decision we make — a backlog draining this fast changes that math for the better, and a healthier PSA is good for everyone holding a slab.

Read the full story at Sports Collectors Daily: https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/psa-backlog-drops-again-as-target-comes-into-view/