PSA changes: suspended Economy service / "sold out" memberships

[scooter729]

For anyone who didn't see the full email but would like to, here it is.....
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Hello PSA Customers,

2020 has been an unprecedented year in so many ways. And amidst all the challenges the world is experiencing, the hobby we all love is thriving unlike any other time in history. We stand here at PSA on October 1, 2020 with operational improvements that have nearly doubled our capacity since January. In this same time period, the volume of submissions to PSA has more than doubled. Said differently, despite doubling capacity, turnaround times are growing.

We are continuing to expand capacity through aggressive hiring, Lean Manufacturing principles, and investments in automation efficiencies. We’ve built a new Customer Communication Center on our website to keep you informed on our growth and capacity expansion efforts.

But simply put, all our efforts and investments will not grow our capacity fast enough in the short term.

We must look at other areas, like pricing and service levels, to better align the demand for PSA services with our capacity to deliver those services.

With that in mind, we are announcing several new policies and procedures, all aimed at delivering a better experience to our customers. Here’s what changing:

Collectors Club vouchers are currently sold out. With massive growth in Gold and Platinum Collectors Club memberships, we have oversold our anticipated supply of vouchers. Therefore, we are temporarily suspending the issuance of any new vouchers. There is no restriction on the usage of existing unused vouchers.
The Economy service level is the most impacted of our services. To best serve the customers who are currently waiting for their Economy orders to be processed, we are temporarily suspending the acceptance of new trading card and dual service Economy submissions. We will continue to monitor progress on Economy orders with an intention to resume this service level soon.
PSA Value Service is changing in the following ways:
Minimum order size has been lowered to 20 cards for all categories;
Prices has been updated to $15 for Ultra-Modern (2017 – present), $12 for Modern (1972 – 2016) and $10 for Vintage (Pre-1972) and TCG;
Later this quarter, estimated Turnaround Times will be retired in favor of Complete-Through Dates.
Checks and money orders require additional steps in order processing. As a result, PSA will only accept credit card payments for orders placed through our Online Submission Center.
PSA is introducing a ‘PSA Dealer’ directory for group submissions (www.PSAcard.com/Dealers/Groupsubmissions). These dealers have signed a formal code of conduct agreement with PSA and are approved to manage and submit group submissions. We will be working directly with these dealers to ensure our shared customers are in good hands. We strongly encourage collectors to utilize Dealers found within this directory for group submissions.
Later this quarter, PSA will begin to publicly post "Complete-Through Dates" for every major service level. Customers will be able to see day-to-day progress as we advance through the backlog.

A lot of updates, with the best interest of our customers at the center of it all. These changes create three paths for PSA customers to take:

If a predictable turnaround time is most important, submit at the Regular service level or higher and you will get the cards back within the shortest possible time period. And once we roll out Complete-Through Dates later this quarter, you’ll be able to follow the progress to see how many days are left until your order is at the front of the line.
If cost is most important, submit using Value service. We’ve lowered the minimum number of cards in a Value order to make our lowest price points more accessible. We also will be phasing out any estimates of turnaround time for Value orders. Instead, later this quarter we will begin to share Complete-Through dates so you can see true data on the progress with Value orders. Although the turnaround time is longer, you will have greater visibility into the process and progress than ever before.
Our PSA Dealer directory offers a third path. Through the efficiencies of aggregating orders, professional hobby dealers may be able to offer you lower rates for the named service levels. Since your items will be sent to a dealer, your door-to-door time may be longer than using a named service directly with PSA, but likely with less effort on your part, and at a lower cost. PSA dealers are available throughout the United States and in Canada.

The hobby is stronger than ever and demand for grading services has never been higher. We appreciate the trust collectors have placed in PSA and we are working hard to usher in continued advancements to get your cards back faster.

Enjoy collecting,


Steve Sloan
President