Submitting cards to PSA is a paperwork job with a shipping job attached. You create an account, build the submission online, print the order form, pack the cards to their specification, mail the package to the address they give you at the end of the process, and then wait while the order moves through their stages. The part that confuses most first-timers is that the online form and the shipping are two separate steps, and the shipping step comes last.
Below is the whole sequence in order, with the details that cause the most support tickets called out where they happen.
Step 1: Choose which cards are actually going
Before touching the website, decide what is worth the fee. For each card, pull eBay sold listings twice — once raw, once in the grades it plausibly earns — and compare the gap against your all-in cost per card including shipping both ways. Search the exact card, not the player. The population report shows how often that card has actually come back a 10 rather than a 9, which is the figure people guess wrong. Inspect centering, corners, edges and surface under a bright light first — a soft corner takes a top grade off the table, and the break-even math changes with it.
Then group the cards by value. Every card in a submission has to fit the same service level, so a mixed pile of cheap and expensive cards becomes two submissions. Older cards are judged against the standards of their era, so if the pile includes vintage, read how vintage grading differs before deciding what makes the cut.
Step 2: Set up an account and, if needed, membership
You submit through a PSA account on their website. Some service levels require an active membership, and memberships often include submission vouchers. PSA’s membership page lists the current levels, the annual cost and the vouchers included — read it before assuming you can submit at the price you saw quoted, because a membership is part of that submission’s cost.
Step 3: Pick the service level
Service levels are gated by declared value per card and differ in turnaround and price. Two rules matter:
- Declare the card’s honest market value as a raw card. Not what you hope it grades into, and not a low number to save money. PSA can move an order to the correct tier and bill the difference.
- The declared value is also your protection. It sets the ceiling on what PSA would pay if the card is lost or damaged in their care. The declared value rules and the limit of liability are both in the submission terms you accept at checkout; read that section once rather than assuming.
Tier prices, the caps that gate them and the posted turnaround all change through the year, so pull them fresh from PSA’s services and pricing page — how that tier structure works is worth understanding before you choose.
Step 4: Build the submission online
In the submission tool you enter each card individually. Expect to provide:
- Sport or category
- Year
- Brand and set
- Card number
- Player name
- Any variation, parallel or insert designation
- Declared value for that card
Enter the variation exactly. A refractor entered as a base card can come back labelled as a base card, and fixing a label afterwards is its own process. Use the manufacturer’s checklist wording. It matters most on the scarcest parallels — a one-of-one entered as a base card loses the one thing a buyer pays for.
Add-on services such as autograph authentication are selected here too and priced separately. If you got the card signed in person, authentication turns your word into something a buyer can check — decide up front whether the card justifies the extra fee.
Step 5: Pay, and then find the shipping step
This is where people get stuck. Grading fees are paid when you submit the order online. Shipping the cards to PSA is a separate action that you take afterwards, and depending on what PSA currently offers you will either:
- Buy an inbound shipping option offered inside the submission flow, if one is available for your location and order value, or
- Ship the package yourself with the carrier of your choice, using the address shown on the confirmation page and order form
If you have paid and cannot find a shipping option, check your submission confirmation and the order detail page first, then contact PSA support with your order number rather than mailing to an address from an old forum post. Addresses and shipping options change; the only one to trust is the one printed on your own order form.
Step 6: Print the order form and pack the cards
Print the submission form generated at the end of the online process. It carries the order number that ties your package to your paid order. A package without it is a problem.
Packing, in order:
- Penny sleeve each card, sliding it in carefully so no corner catches.
- Semi-rigid card holder over the sleeved card. Not top loaders, not screw-down or magnetic holders. Semi-rigid holders are what graders can remove safely at speed. PSA publishes its packaging requirements with the submission instructions — check them the week you ship.
- Stack the cards in the same order as they appear on the form. This genuinely speeds up order entry.
- Band or bag the stack so cards cannot shift, without putting pressure on the cards.
- Place the order form on top inside the package.
- Sandwich the stack between rigid cardboard and place it in a sturdy box with padding filling every gap. Nothing should move when you shake it.
- Seal all seams and keep the outside plain, with no logos or wording that identifies the contents.
Step 7: Ship it, insured, with tracking
- Insure the package for the total declared value of the order.
- Use a service with tracking, and require a signature on valuable orders.
- Photograph every card, front and back, next to the order form before packing, and photograph the packed box before sealing.
- Save the receipt showing the service and insurance you bought. Without it, a later claim is very hard.
- For very high value orders, look at registered mail or a collectibles policy rather than standard parcel insurance. Carriers cap what they insure and often limit or exclude collectibles outright — read the terms for the exact service first.
Step 8: Track the order through its stages
Once PSA receives and enters the order, its status updates in your account as it moves from arrival through order entry, grading, assembly and shipping back. The published turnaround covers grading only — not transit at either end, not the entry queue — which is why elapsed time runs longer than the price list suggests. PSA posts current estimates by service level and flags tiers running behind; check that page rather than what a friend experienced last year. PSA revises those estimates periodically, so the most recent set of PSA changes is a better reference than a timeline from last year.
Grades typically appear in your account before the cards arrive back. Do not sell a card based on a grade until the slab is physically in your hands and you have confirmed the label matches the card.
Step 9: When the cards come back
- Check every slab against your order form and photographs.
- Check the label for typos in year, set, variation or player. Errors are correctable, but the process and the reporting window are PSA’s, listed in their customer service pages — find them before you need them.
- Inspect the slabs for cracks from shipping.
- Store them out of direct sunlight, ideally in slab boxes or sleeves that keep the plastic from scratching.
Your next step
Pick the cards, group them by declared value, and price out one full submission including membership, fees, shipping both ways and supplies before you enter a single card in the form. If the total divided by the card count still leaves a healthy spread against sold comps, build the order. If not, you have saved yourself several months and a shipping trip.
Common questions
I paid for my submission but cannot find where to purchase shipping. What now?
Grading fees and inbound shipping are separate steps, and the shipping step comes after the order is created. Look at the order detail page in your account and the submission confirmation for the shipping option or the address to mail to. If neither shows one, contact PSA support with your order number rather than guessing an address.
What holders should I use to send cards in?
Penny sleeve inside a semi-rigid card holder. Not top loaders, not screw-downs, not magnetic one-touch holders. Semi-rigid holders let graders remove cards safely and are what the submission instructions call for. Confirm against PSA’s current packaging guidance before shipping.
Can I put cards of different values in one submission?
Only within the declared value limit of the service level you chose. If one card exceeds that cap, it needs to go on a separate submission at the appropriate tier. Mixing a high-value card into a cheap tier is the most common reason orders get repriced.
Do I have to insure the package?
Nobody forces you to, but sending uninsured cards is taking on the entire loss yourself. Insure for the total declared value, keep the receipt, and require a signature on anything valuable. The cost of insurance is small next to the cost of a lost order.
