PSA Limits Grading of Pokemon Cards and More Due to Tariffs

Lately, the Pokemon TCG resale market has exploded with high-value sets like the Scarlet & Violet – Prismatic Evolutions cards. Naturally, that means that many collectors and resellers alike have been sending chase cards to companies like PSA to get graded. The PSA rating for a Pokemon card highly impacts its value, which means that selling an Umbreon for a high price pretty much requires sending it off to get graded. And that’s going to get more difficult with upcoming changes to the PSA grading process in response to newly announced U.S. Tariffs.

PSA grades a variety of trading cards, including the Pokemon TCG. While there are other grading services out there, PSA is one of the most well-recognized. When browsing places like GameStop and eBay that include Pokemon card resales, you’ll often see the PSA grade noted right in the listing title or description. After all, a PSA 10 is going to fetch the highest price compared to a lower rating, so resellers want you to know they’ve got the best quality goods.

Getting a card graded typically involves mailing the card off to PSA or another similar company like CGC. And therein lies the issue, as the tariffs announced on April 2nd will impact goods shipped to and from the United States. In response, PSA is making some changes to how it handles card grading, including for Pokemon cards.

How Tariffs Are Impacting Pokemon Card Grading

Shortly after the tariffs were announced, PSA issued a statement indicating that they “will be temporarily pausing the acceptance of PSA grading submissions directly to U.S. facilities… from customers located in all countries outside of the United States.” Because of the high price the tariffs can create for customers, PSA notes that it is “reluctantly taking these measures to protect [its] international customers from significant tariff expenses.” According to PSA, the tariffs will be against the value of specific items being graded, not on the PSA service fee itself. As such, sending particularly valuable cards to get graded could incur some staggering additional fees.

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For instance, the Umbreon EX card from Prismatic Evolutions is currently going for over $3,000 if it receives a PSA grade. Even ungraded, the card can go for well over $1000. With proposed tariffs in the range of 10-20%, that could mean paying anywhere from $100-300 or more in tariff fees. So, while PSA is looking into potential ways to support customers outside the U.S. through other PSA authorized dealers, they are pausing submissions outside of the U.S. to avoid customers getting saddled with hefty tariffs on their cards.

In their statement regarding the grading pause on trading cards, PSA provides guidance for customers in Canada and Japan to utilize PSA services located in those countries. For other countries outside the United States, fans may need to wait for additional announcements as PSA looks for solutions to help customers get their cards graded. PSA has taken down the Online Submission Center direct submissions for countries outside the United States. The statement also notes that, should customers wind up sending in cards anyway, the customer will be responsible for the tariffs and any other taxes on the card. So, it’s best to wait for official confirmation of other ways to get that PSA rating on your Pokemon Cards.

As of now, customers located in the United States should still be able to get cards graded as usual. Any orders that arrived in the U.S. before the tariffs went into effect should not be impacted, so long as they arrived in the US before the tariff start dates of March 4th for Canada or April 5th for other countries. For full details about how your country may be impacted, check out the full FAQ from PSA here.