September 2021 Recap

  • Grading activity reaches an all-time high with over 830,000 cards graded (+24% vs August)
  • Gem rates have seen meaningful improvement following hobby wide complaints at the start of the summer
  • Baseball and TCG saw the largest increase in activity during the month, while hockey also surged off a smaller base
  • 2019 Prizm basketball is closing in on half a million grades all time
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    Published October 1st, 2021

    PSA output increased by 24% in September compared to August - with 830,883 items graded during the month

  • The September output marks an all-time high for PSA and is the highest period since June ‘21.
  • Average output per day was 27,696 items.

    • Gem rates continue to improve across the board*

  • Gem rates (across all items tracked by GemRate) improved for the second straight month - up to 43% from 40% in August and 36% in July.
  • While the mix of cards certainly can play a factor in these aggregate numbers, the profile of cards graded in September looked largely similar to those graded in August. GemRate will be releasing a deeper look into these trends the week of October 4th, 2021.
  • Of the top 100 cards graded, 62% saw an improvement in their gem rate during September compared to August.
  • 2019 Prizm basketball has seen a steady climb in gem rates reaching 58% in September. 2019 Prizm gem rates were as low as 45% in May and June ‘21 before starting to move back up at 48% in July and 53% in August.

    • *Note: GemRate tracked over 97% of all items graded during September. Items from packs, non sport, and tickets make up the missing 3% and were added to GemRate in September to be tracked going forward.

    The mix of eras graded in September was very similar to August; more than two-thirds of all cards graded continue to be from 2010 and later.

    Category Summary

    Baseball and TCG had the largest incremental growth in activity during September; hockey also surged

  • Basketball activity increased 12% during September - a healthy increase, yet slower growth than overall activity.
  • Baseball and TCG activity were the largest drivers of incremental activity during the month, up 45% and 31% respectively.
  • Hockey activity surged and increased 235% thanks in large part to a spike in ultra-modern activity.

    • Set Summary

    2019 Prizm basketball continues to set the pace as it quickly approaches half a million cards graded

  • Despite approaching nearly HALF A MILLION CARDS graded all time, 2019 Prizm continues to see a steady increase in activity each month -> 34k in Sep, 30k in Aug, 21k in July, and 19k in June.

    • Player Summary

    The top 3 players shift again as Jordan reclaims the top spot

  • Michael Jordan, Luis Robert, Mike Trout, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Tyler Herro all saw increases in September that outpaced overall growth.

    • Card Summary

    2020 baseball dominates the leaderboard

  • It's worth noting how baseball gets dominated by basketball at the set level but dominates basketball at the top of the card leaderboard. This phenomenon highlights the more concentrated activity in baseball relative to the breadth of cards submitted for basketball.

    • What's Next?

    Keep an eye out for a deep dive on the improving gem rates due to release next week.