It has been over three months since PSA decided to halt almost all of its services to deal with a massive backlog. After the long wait, the grading company is set to partially open its doors once again to hobbyists, with just one caveat waiting for them.

 

In an interview, Nat Turner, the executive chairman of Collector’s Universe, the parent company of PSA, confirmed that submissions for their Express level are now open to the public. The thing is, the industry leader is increasing its rate for this particular service from $150 to $200.

When PSA decided to stop accepting submissions in March, they kept their Super Express and Walkthrough services open. The former goes for $300 per card, while the latter will cost customers $600. Both of these service levels’ prices remain unchanged.

Turner said that this move is meant to limit the overwhelming demand for card grading and prevent another shutdown in the process. He added that they want to prioritize the cards that are already with PSA, rather than those that aren’t with them.

Before the decision to stop accepting submissions was enacted, PSA was handling a massive backlog of cards. Turner said that the company did not even have the capacity to open the packages submitted and process them accordingly.

To ensure that they get back up to speed, PSA used the shutdown to upgrade their grading capabilities by using new technologies and hiring more people. In turn, this will increase their capacity to reduce the submission backlog they are facing.

While this piece of news won’t be welcome to some collectors, the end effect is one that will benefit the whole hobby. With a full reopening looming in the near future, card fans will expect a better overall service from the grading giant down the line.