Sports Trading Card Boom Forces PSA to Suspend Card Grading Services
Sports Trading Card Boom Top Grading Company Suspends Services ... Too Many Submissions!
This is wild ... so many collectors are sending in their sports cards to be officially graded by PSA, the company has been forced to temporarily suspend services!
In other words, the hobby has exploded over the past several months -- and PSA can't handle the sheer volume of submissions.
FYI, PSA -- aka Professional Sports Authenticator -- is one of the most trusted names in sports memorabilia.
Collectors will often send cards to be "graded" -- which includes a thorough examination of everything from the physical condition of the item to the quality of an autograph.
PSA is widely respected in the industry -- so most people with a potentially valuable card, will submit the item to PSA for grading.
The problem ... there has been a well-documented surge in the card collecting industry over the past year, with sports collectibles in particular selling at never-before-seen prices.
In fact, PSA says the surge is still in full swing -- and in a statement Tuesday, the company explained, "We recently received more cards in three days than we did during the previous three months."
"Submissions continue at never-before-seen levels."
PSA president Steve Sloan says the company is unable to process submissions for the foreseeable future, so it is suspending submission services on 3 of its most popular levels until they can get caught up.
"Effective immediately, PSA is temporarily suspending our Value, Regular and Express service levels. This will allow us to fully unbox and receive the recent surge of orders and focus on our most impacted service lines."
Sloan adds, "Given our growing backlog, it would be disingenuous for us to continue to accept submissions for cards that we will be unable to process in the foreseeable future ... it is necessary to properly serve the customers who have already submitted to PSA."
PSA is hoping to bring all services back by July 1.
Bottom line -- the sports card market is blowing up with no signs of stopping any time soon.
As we previously reported, high-profile collectors are spending MILLIONS on rare cards ... featuring athletes from Babe Ruth to Honus Wagner to Lebron James.
