PSA reopens a Value tier at $39.99 with 90 to 100 day wait

PSA announced on October 28, 2026 that a Value grading tier returns on October 29 at $39.99 per card. Baseball America reported the price and a turnaround estimate of 90 to 100 business days. For rip buyers who grade their pulls, the cheap lane is open again. The wait is long.

What PSA announced

Baseball America reported on October 28, 2026 that submissions open at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, October 29. The tier is called Value. Bleacher Nation Collectibles covered the same announcement the same day.

The price is higher than before the pause. Baseball America said the comparable Value service cost $32.99 per card before the June shutdown. The new price is $7.00 higher, a rise of about 21%.

Baseball America also reported that PSA will queue new Value orders behind all submissions already in line. PSA said its other value lane, Bulk Grading, will return later with no date given.

PSA had said it would reopen the cheap tiers once the backlog fell under 5 million cards. PSA’s backlog tracker put the queue at 9.9 million units on September 8, 2026. A tracker update from late August showed 10.9 million. The announced reopening arrives well before that 5 million target.

Only Baseball America’s account of the price and date was found. PSA’s own announcement page was unavailable for this report.

What it changes for your next rip

Most graded cards in rip apps are already slabbed, so the app handles grading risk. The change matters to buyers who ship a raw pull. It also matters to those who grade their best hits.

The $39.99 fee reported by Baseball America on October 28, 2026 changes the math on mid-value cards. A card must sell for more than the grading fee plus sale costs. Under a 90 to 100 business day wait, cash is tied up for roughly four to five months.

MyCardRips tracks pack economics for comparison. Courtyard’s pack feed, fetched October 28, 2026, lists 12 Pokémon packs. Their average expected value is 96.3% of pack price. The same feed lists a buy-back ratio of 84.6% of market estimate on the 100 dollar ancient coins pack.

A buy-back pays out at once. A grading route pays later and carries grade risk. At the $39.99 fee reported on October 28, 2026, a cheap raw card leaves little room for profit.

The Value tier also shapes slab supply. New graded copies from this lane will not reach the market until early 2027.

Ask three things before sending a pull to PSA. Is the raw card worth at least three to four times the fee? Can you wait until roughly March 2027? Does the app’s buy-back price beat the expected graded sale?

For the buy-back and shipping terms of the largest app, read the Courtyard review. Every live Pokémon pack and its odds sit in the Pokémon catalog. For a side-by-side with a graded-slab rival, see Courtyard vs Arena Club.