How to Submit Pokémon Cards to PSA: Step-by-Step Guide

Submitting to PSA is not complicated, but small mistakes cost time: the wrong holder, cards out of order, an understated value. This walkthrough covers the whole process for Pokémon cards as it works in October 2026. PSA changed its service levels several times this year, so check psacard.com for current details before you start.

Step 1: Decide which cards are worth sending

Go through your cards before you go near the form. Check centering, look for whitening on the back edges and corners, and tilt each card under a bright light to look for print lines, scratches and dents. Grading fees are per card. A card that can't realistically grade well rarely pays for itself. (Our guide to whether a card is worth grading walks through the math.)

Step 2: Create an account and decide on membership

You need a free PSA account to submit. Membership is a separate, paid option:

• Collectors Club is $149 a year (Standard) or $199 a year (Premium, which adds a paid market-data subscription). Both include PSA Magazine.
• Its main grading benefit, access to the Bulk tier and member-only specials, is paused while PSA's Value tiers are closed.

So for a submission today, you don't need a membership to use any of the open tiers. If you were thinking of joining just for bulk pricing, wait until PSA reopens those tiers.

Step 3: Pick your service level

Your service level depends on two things: how fast you want the cards back, and the Max Insured Value of each card. PSA defines that as your realistic estimate of what the card will be worth after it's graded.

Open tiers as of October 9, 2026:

Service level	Price per card	Max insured value	Estimated turnaround
Standard	$59.99	$1,000	90–100 business days
Priority	$79.99	$1,500	70–80 business days
Express	$199	$2,500	20–30 business days
Super Express	$349	$5,000	10–15 business days
Premier	$599	$10,000	7–10 business days

Premium tiers for cards worth more than $10,000 start at $999. PSA's four Value tiers (Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus and Value Max) have been paused since June 2, 2026. PSA says it will reopen them in phases once its backlog falls to around 5 million cards. Its tracker showed 8.2 million on October 6.

A few rules worth knowing:

• You can pay for a faster tier than your values require, but not a slower one than they require.
• Don't lowball the value to get a cheaper tier. If PSA decides a value was understated, it can require you to pay for the correct tier before it finishes the card. If you refuse, the card comes back ungraded at your cost.
• The declared value also caps insurance. If a card is lost or damaged, the value you declared is the most you can claim.
• Turnaround estimates are estimates, and the clock starts once your order is entered into PSA's system, not when you ship.

Step 4: Build the submission online

Start the order on psacard.com ("Start Submission") or in the PSA app. You'll:

1. Choose the item type (trading cards) and the service level.
2. Add each card. Search PSA's database for the exact card: set, number, language and variant. Getting this right helps the label come out right.
3. Enter the declared value for each card.
4. Choose return shipping and review the total. PSA bases return shipping on the number of cards and the total declared value.
5. Pay, then print the submission form and the shipping (tracking) label ID from the confirmation page.

Note the order of the cards on your form. You'll pack them in exactly that order.

Step 5: Prep the cards

PSA's shipping guide is specific, and following it avoids delays.

• Penny sleeve every card. Use clear, soft sleeves. Avoid coloured or opaque ones.
• Put each sleeved card in a semi-rigid holder (often sold as "card savers"). For standard-size cards PSA specifies holders measuring 3 5/16" x 4 7/8". Both sides of the card should be fully visible.
• No toploaders, tape, pull tabs or sticky notes. These slow down unpacking and risk damaging cards as they come out.
• Handle cards by the edges with clean, dry hands, and slide them into sleeves carefully. Sleeving is where a lot of fresh corner and edge damage happens.

Step 6: Pack the box

1. Stack the cards in the exact order on your submission form, with item #1 on top.
2. Put the stack between two pieces of cardboard and hold it together with two or three rubber bands, firm enough that nothing shifts but not tight enough to bend anything.
3. Wrap the bundle in bubble wrap and put it in a new box. Fill any empty space so nothing moves.
4. Put the printed submission form inside the box. If you're sending more than one submission in the same box, keep each one bundled separately with its own form.
5. Seal every seam with real packing tape, not painter's tape or clear office tape.
6. Stick the tracking label from your confirmation page on the outside so the barcode is fully visible. Don't use a label pouch.
7. Address it to the PSA facility listed on PSA's shipping guide. The address differs by carrier (USPS goes to a P.O. box, private carriers to a street address), so check before you ship.

Ship with tracking and insurance that covers the declared value. If there's a PSA event or show drop-off near you, you can hand the order in there instead.

Step 7: Track the order

Once PSA logs the package in, your order appears in your account with its status. Expect it to move through stages such as order prep, research and identification, grading, assembly (when cards go into their slabs) and quality checks before it ships. Stage names can change, but the sequence stays roughly the same.

Be patient at the start. In 2026, at peak volume, PSA warned it could take weeks just to open and log incoming packages at some tiers. Nothing is wrong if your order sits as "received" for a while.

Step 8: When your cards come back

When grades are posted you can see them online or in the app. From there you can have the cards shipped home, stored in the PSA Vault, or consigned for sale. When the box arrives, expect:

• Each card in a sonically sealed PSA holder with the current LightHouse label: grade, card description, cert number, and a QR code on the back that links to the record.
• Imaging. Standard and Priority include front and back images; Super Express and above include high-resolution images. They appear on the card's Cert Verification page.
• A fitted sleeve around the slab at Priority and above.
• Grader Notes at Express and above, explaining the defects that set the grade.

Check every slab against your form, look each cert up at psacard.com/cert, and photograph anything that arrived damaged before contacting PSA.

If a card doesn't get a number

Some cards come back ungraded with an "N" code. N1 to N5 and N7 cover trimming, restoration, recolouring, questionable authenticity, altered stock and cleaning. In those cases you still pay the grading fee. N6 (undersized), N8 (factory miscut) and N9 (items PSA doesn't grade) are not charged. Cards can also get a qualifier, such as OC for off-centre, when they meet a grade except for one significant flaw.

If you disagree with a grade, PSA offers a review service. Keep in mind that at least two graders have already agreed on the grade.

A note from Cofre

Once your slabs are back, if you'd like to sell or trade any of them, Cofre buys and trades PSA, BGS and CGC Pokémon cards. Details are on our sell page.