PSA Card Backlog Falls to 10.9 Million, Down Nearly 1 Million in Two Weeks

PSA’s card backlog continues to move in the right direction. The grading company reported Tuesday that its active global backlog has fallen to approximately 10.9 million units, a decline of roughly 950,000 cards since its previous update two weeks ago. The new figure represents another sizable drop after PSA reported 11.85 million units on August 11. As CollectiblesNews.com reported earlier this month, that was already down 550,000 cards from the 12.4 million-unit backlog recorded on July 28.

Put together, PSA has now reduced the backlog by approximately 1.5 million cards, or about 12 percent, since reaching 12.4 million at the end of July. The latest two-week decline alone works out to roughly 8 percent.

PSA credited the continued progress to steady daily output across all five of its grading hubs, including its newly operational facility in Plano, Texas. The company said it remains focused on processing the cards currently in its possession as it works toward its goals for reopening paused services.

The Plano facility became PSA’s fifth full grading operation in July and was opened as part of the company’s effort to increase capacity. PSA has previously said it is making a $200 million investment in upgraded facilities, technology and additional employees as it deals with the surge in card submissions.

The backlog has moved sharply in both directions throughout the summer. PSA reported approximately 12 million units on June 30 before dropping to 11 million on July 14. It then jumped to 12.4 million on July 28 as higher-tier submissions, convention-season volume and packages arriving during the eligibility window following PSA’s service-tier shutdown flowed into the company. By August 11, the total was back down to 11.85 million, and the latest August 25 update puts it at 10.9 million.

That means PSA has now worked through more cards than are arriving for two consecutive biweekly reporting periods, a notable reversal from the 1.4 million-card increase seen between July 14 and July 28.

The backlog became a major issue earlier this year after a 20 percent increase in submissions pushed the total toward 10 million units. PSA responded by temporarily pausing its Value tiers on June 2 and launching its public Backlog Tracker so collectors could follow the company’s progress.

PSA has said reopening the paused Value submission tiers will be based on operational milestones rather than a predetermined date. When the tracker was introduced, the company said its goal was to bring the backlog down to approximately 5 million units and initially projected that reaching that level could take five to six months.