PSA Pricing Changes and other:

A Message from the PSA President
Hello PSA Customers,

We entered 2021 with incredible momentum as graded trading cards were pushed further and further into the mainstream. PSA has been center stage, and as industry leaders, we are committed to the growth and advancement of the hobby. It’s only been two months, but there are many new developments to share to start the year, so let’s get started.
GROUP LED BY NAT TURNER ACQUIRES CU, PSA
The Big One. PSA’s parent company, Collectors Universe, Inc., has been acquired by an investor group led by entrepreneur, technologist, and collector Nat Turner. We are already working with Nat and his team on major technology and process investments and will eagerly share these developments in the near future. One thing is certain – PSA is primed to go faster, achieve greater capacity, continually improve, and put transparency and customer communication first.

Here’s how Nat describes the vision for the new PSA in the press release announcing the closing of the transaction:

"The collectibles markets require scalable, modern infrastructure to support the maturation of the industry, increasing value of collectibles, and substantial demand for grading and authentication services. As a private company, we will have the flexibility to further invest in infrastructure, technology and R&D to reduce turnaround times and increase operational capacity, while protecting and enhancing the integrity and consistency of Collectors Universe’s best-in-class services."
– Nat Turner

It’s a new day at PSA and for your collection. The leading brand just leveled up.
PSA ANNOUNCES COMPLETE THROUGH DATES
Services defined by turnaround times are a thing of the past. Look, there’s no way around it. We are busy. And we want you to know just how busy we are before you make your submission decisions. This is partly to manage your expectations, but also to give you the transparency you need to make the most of the opportunities in today’s marketplace. Complete Through Dates ("CTD") are everything turnaround times are not. They are data driven, transparent, dynamic, and easy to understand.

A service level’s Complete Through Date is the day before the date of the oldest open order in the PSA system for that service level. In other words, it represents the date by which PSA has completed orders through. The CTD is based on order entry date, which means the day the order was formally entered into the PSA system for authentication and grading.

You can use CTDs to check the progress on your order by comparing the "Entered" date on your My Orders page to the service level’s Complete Through Date to get an idea as to the remaining time before your order will be completed. Posted CTDs update daily and you can follow along as the CTD advances closer to your order’s Entered date. Read more about PSA Complete Through Dates on our website.
THE PSA NETWORK EFFECT
PSA has long been the standard for third-party authentication and grading services. Validation of this fact can be seen in today’s market with PSA being synonymous with market valuations. Phrases like "what’s that in a PSA 10?" and "what does it go for in a PSA 9?" are common shorthand to quickly determine market values. Listen to any popular podcast and YouTube channel to hear it yourself. There are more buyers buying PSA cards and there are more sellers selling PSA cards. We all benefit from the PSA network effect.

This is great news for your collection. The wider the PSA network of collectors grows, the greater the opportunity for liquidity and commerce for your trading cards and collectibles. The hobby can flourish online, specifically in sight-unseen marketplaces, when there is a universal grading standard. The noticeable trend towards PSA as the lone value marker has only strengthened the overall marketplace. This happened largely because of you. We thank you for putting your trust in PSA, enabling the market to centralize around one standard for trading cards.
VIRTUAL CAREER FAIR – JOIN PSA ON MARCH 16
Hiring has gone into overdrive at PSA. We are adding new and exciting positions as we expand the capabilities of our operations and products. As a follow-up to our August 2020 Virtual Career Fair, PSA will host a second Virtual Career Fair on March 16 at 11 AM Pacific. Visit PSAcard.com/careers for a growing list of positions and be prepared to discuss your professional skillset with our hiring managers. Here are a few positional highlights: Card Graders, Software Engineers, Product Managers and many more.
OPERATIONAL FOOTPRINT EXPANDS
PSA announced in October that we had acquired an additional 62,870 square feet of office space in the building adjacent to ours that doubled our operational footprint. We are happy to announce that space is fully utilized and houses most of our growing operations staff. We have added 167 new employees since my last message on December 16, 2020. As you can see, with our new and expanded recruitment and training departments, we are hiring and on-boarding like never before. This has allowed us to increase our capacity and maximize output as we try to keep pace with the heightened market activity.
PSA PRICING UPDATE
As much as these efforts have grown PSA’s capacity, demand is still at an all-time high. Like any business in a high-demand state, regular analysis of pricing is necessary, and adjustments are required. I invite you to review today’s changes on the PSA Pricing page. Please keep in mind that any orders that were either submitted and printed using the Online Submission Center prior to today, are in transit to PSA, or are already at PSA will not be affected by these changes. Changes do apply to all incomplete and new orders, effective today.

The Economy Service remains suspended and Collectors Club vouchers remain sold out. Our popular Value Service continues to be available to Collectors Club members. To make the service line more inclusive, we raised the declared value threshold from $199 to $499 and lowered the submission minimum from 20 cards to 10 cards.

Lastly, to put a greater focus of our resources onto our card backlog, we are temporarily suspending our Crossover and Custom Encapsulation services.
PRODUCT ENHANCEMENTS
PSA will soon begin placing all submissions at the Regular service level and above in resealable plastic card sleeves to protect PSA holders from scuffs to the hard plastic. Additionally, PSA will release a new presentation box that will accompany the return of all encapsulated cards submitted at the Super Express level and higher. We are also exploring new inner-sleeve configurations to improve the presentation and minimize movement of the collectible within the PSA holder. The feedback from our community on this topic has made its way into our planning and will be delivered soon.

We have seen an influx of overall interest in trading cards and advancements that bring collectors virtually together while we remain physically distanced. We are in a whole new hobby in these ways. Throughout all the change, one thing that has remained constant is our community’s support for PSA. As such, PSA-graded cards continue to lead the marketplace in activity and price.

I know that our community is behind us 100% on our growth efforts. We are embracing this opportunity and will make the most of it for our collectors.

Let’s go.

Enjoy collecting,


Steve Sloan
President