Yes of course, I don’t actually disagree with what’s said here. I believe that the rest of us who also use bulk services understand that as well. It’s simply that we wish that the way these orders are handled are more systematic (orders processed in order of arrival), which is a change I believe wouldn’t be hard for PSA to implement and also would improve customer satisfaction.
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Yeah, the expectation of 50 days isn’t the killer as I am more than happy with the service I pay for.
What is frustrating (and I’ve been on the winning end more times than the losing) is the lack of first in first out.
I think it happened to @gottaketchumall (?) in December where he waited the full 50 days where as my order was processed in 8 days total including the weekend.
Just doesn’t seem logical in the first instance and fair in the overall.
I understand that potentially different cards and size of order could contribute to this issue, but that seems like a processing issue, not a grading issue.
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Still don’t get the issue here but hope this helps.
There are numerous reasons orders hit the different queue’s in different places and even at different times. Those reasons are systematic and not based on who submitted.
Just one example is, if the graders complete their fast grade allotment but still have time on the clock theyll grab from the slower grade ‘piled up’ queue and work on those. Then tons of quick grade orders could come in which would keep the graders busy for weeks and they’d return to the slower grades later. This happens ALL the time and should explain why one of your orders could get grabbed today then the other get grabbed next month.
The only way to change this would be to go the BGS route and don’t record or ship until the guaranteed day. This can cause a major storage problem though so PSA just ships when completed.
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Other things that could affect turn around time.
- day’s quantity of priority orders (some days will be busier than others)
- size of bulk order (bigger the order, the more likely for it to sit)
This isn’t where I parked my car!
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Understandable.
The issue we are raising is the grader seemingly spinning a wheel to determine who the lucky person is who gets their order processed quicker, instead of the person with the lowest order number (which should technically be the first in order).
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The concern I had last year was when I sent out a bulk order of 170 cards they received 10/14/15.
Then I sent another 51 card order that they received on 11/3/15 same bulk service level postmarked same month so same monthly special.
My 51 card order shipped back to me on 11/6 which was great a 3 day turnaround on a 50 day service, but as time pushed on to mid December and I hadn’t seen my 170 card order ship back I was concerned as I would have assumed FIFO (first in first out) by priority level. With mine both being the same monthly special same service level it was odd that one skipped by so many weeks. It did happen to be a larger one.
The best I can assume is that the 170 card order would have taken XX minutes. The 51 card order clearly would have taken less time. So on 11/6 maybe somebody grabbed the 51 card order as they could get it done before they had to clock out for the day, whereas maybe the 170 card one would have required OT so they skipped it. Now the question still looms as to how/why it would take all the way til the 50th day (12/28/2015) to get it done is beyond me. Oh well still in 50 business days as they say I guess. I don’t understand it but it technically isn’t wrong on their end. Just strange from the outside looking in.
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Simple…there’s more than one grader and more than one queue.
exactly. I understand PSA is backed up from monthly specials but it’s unsatisfactory that Pokemon orders that arrived after mine and at tbe same level are done faster. I have 3 orders in right now, all on tbe same bulk special as Pokemonmaster556. My oldest one is 3/12 which tool 2 weeks to process. He sent in 3 orders which arrived after mine and got done last week. It’s very inconsistent and its really troublesome around the holidays and specials.
The other issue with the inconsistency is that you send orders in, spreading them out so you don’t have to pay the fees all at once. It gives you time to sell and do other things. I’m dreading gsttig all 3 orders in the same week even though they were sent a month apart.
This will really make you angry. I sent in 29 orders two weeks ago all at 50 days and half are sitting next to me right now lol.
You complained about not having the money for all your orders. I’d recommend sending them in as you can afford them. It must be stressful hoping they don’t grade something.
Something you may not know…for many years they deducted the money immediately at processing then you waited months for the orders to be complete 
One thing I noticed recently is a change in their specials from what I saw last year. If 50 days is too much it seems that this month special #1 is $6 per card (plus shipping each way) and 50 business day estimate and special #3 is $7 per card and 30 business days.
Kind of stinks to think you may spend the extra $1 per card and get the order back in 30 days when theoretically someone may get their 50 in only a week or so, but if the extra 20 days is something you can’t handle it is another option at least at only a buck a card. Also #1 has a 25 card min and #3 has no minimum size as well as a higher limit of $150 value per card.
At $18 per card for 10 days the regular is tough to ever use unless you are talking $200-$500 cards of which I don’t grade too many. Double the cost it hard to swallow unless you are really grading those more valuable cards. Almost would be nice if they had a 15-20 day service level as well for $10-12 or so per card. Sometimes the guarantee could be worth it, though they say they aren’t guarantees just estimates. I may be a buyer of that at times, but that only adds complexity of another service level and more complexity to their system. My biggest concern with them is seemingly handling the front end whenever they feel like it. Sometimes it is two days after USPS shows delivery to their P.O. box and sometimes it is almost twenty days.
I should but I look at it like pre ordering for a business. Rusty and edmerler have to make a deposit or put in an order number before they have the funds. Set won’t be released for 2-3+ months. I prefer to to do it this way so the ball keeps rolling on grading my collection and selling a few of tbe extras before the market gets flooded.
That is good that it’s different. I like it the way it now. My complaints, like many others, are because we like PSaa but they could stand to improve a little.
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Price point is definitely a concern. They do have specials that are $10 for a 20 day turnaround, or something along those lines.
I actually just did a non-bulk order today for 15 cards. I understand that the price point for a lot of pokemon cards does not warrant the upper level services.
Yes, accidents happen in any business. It’s the beauty of human error and why we haven’t allowed robots to take over our lives (yet).
But.
makes you wonder why he paid to have that card graded in the first place… 
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Small thing, but with today passing and me not getting my grades back, PSA has missed the turnaround time window for the first time with me.
I’m not annoyed, I know they’re probably swamped right now. I just think its interesting that this is the first time it’s happened to me. Hopefully they come in tomorrow!
I’m on business day 42.
Not sure what happened but it’s not overly busy right now.
Hope you’ll get a great result to make up for the little extra time 
I hope so! I sent off some near-impossible to find cards which I would love 10s on…
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