diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/README.md b/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/README.md
index d0a6ffb90f0..473f7b62611 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/README.md
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/README.md
@@ -19,18 +19,24 @@ npm install --save @opentelemetry/exporter-collector
 The CollectorTraceExporter in Web expects the endpoint to end in `/v1/trace`.
 
 ```js
-import { SimpleSpanProcessor } from '@opentelemetry/tracing';
+import { BatchSpanProcessor } from '@opentelemetry/tracing';
 import { WebTracerProvider } from '@opentelemetry/web';
 import { CollectorTraceExporter } from '@opentelemetry/exporter-collector';
 
 const collectorOptions = {
   url: '<opentelemetry-collector-url>', // url is optional and can be omitted - default is http://localhost:55681/v1/trace
-  headers: {}, //an optional object containing custom headers to be sent with each request
+  headers: {}, // an optional object containing custom headers to be sent with each request
+  concurrencyLimit: 10, // an optional limit on pending requests
 };
 
 const provider = new WebTracerProvider();
 const exporter = new CollectorTraceExporter(collectorOptions);
-provider.addSpanProcessor(new SimpleSpanProcessor(exporter));
+provider.addSpanProcessor(new BatchSpanProcessor(exporter, {
+  // send spans as soon as we have this many
+  bufferSize: 10,
+  // send spans if we have buffered spans older than this
+  bufferTimeout: 500,
+}));
 
 provider.register();
 
@@ -45,7 +51,8 @@ import { MetricProvider } from '@opentelemetry/metrics';
 import { CollectorMetricExporter } from '@opentelemetry/exporter-collector';
 const collectorOptions = {
   url: '<opentelemetry-collector-url>', // url is optional and can be omitted - default is http://localhost:55681/v1/metrics
-  headers: {}, //an optional object containing custom headers to be sent with each request
+  headers: {}, // an optional object containing custom headers to be sent with each request
+  concurrencyLimit: 1, // an optional limit on pending requests
 };
 const exporter = new CollectorMetricExporter(collectorOptions);
 
@@ -64,7 +71,7 @@ counter.add(10, { 'key': 'value' });
 ## Traces in Node - JSON over http
 
 ```js
-const { BasicTracerProvider, SimpleSpanProcessor } = require('@opentelemetry/tracing');
+const { BasicTracerProvider, BatchSpanProcessor } = require('@opentelemetry/tracing');
 const { CollectorTraceExporter } =  require('@opentelemetry/exporter-collector');
 
 const collectorOptions = {
@@ -72,12 +79,18 @@ const collectorOptions = {
   url: '<opentelemetry-collector-url>', // url is optional and can be omitted - default is http://localhost:55681/v1/trace
   headers: {
     foo: 'bar'
-  }, //an optional object containing custom headers to be sent with each request will only work with http
+  }, // an optional object containing custom headers to be sent with each request will only work with http
+  concurrencyLimit: 10, // an optional limit on pending requests
 };
 
 const provider = new BasicTracerProvider();
 const exporter = new CollectorTraceExporter(collectorOptions);
-provider.addSpanProcessor(new SimpleSpanProcessor(exporter));
+provider.addSpanProcessor(new BatchSpanProcessor(exporter, {
+  // send spans as soon as we have this many
+  bufferSize: 1000,
+  // send spans if we have buffered spans older than this
+  bufferTimeout: 30000,
+}));
 
 provider.register();
 
@@ -91,6 +104,7 @@ const { CollectorMetricExporter } =  require('@opentelemetry/exporter-collector'
 const collectorOptions = {
   serviceName: 'basic-service',
   url: '<opentelemetry-collector-url>', // url is optional and can be omitted - default is http://localhost:55681/v1/metrics
+  concurrencyLimit: 1, // an optional limit on pending requests
 };
 const exporter = new CollectorMetricExporter(collectorOptions);
 
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/src/CollectorExporterBase.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/src/CollectorExporterBase.ts
index 4b2775abb7c..cb4d535d941 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/src/CollectorExporterBase.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/src/CollectorExporterBase.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ export abstract class CollectorExporterBase<
   public readonly logger: Logger;
   public readonly hostname: string | undefined;
   public readonly attributes?: Attributes;
+  protected _concurrencyLimit: number;
   protected _isShutdown: boolean = false;
   private _shuttingDownPromise: Promise<void> = Promise.resolve();
   protected _sendingPromises: Promise<unknown>[] = [];
@@ -59,6 +60,11 @@ export abstract class CollectorExporterBase<
 
     this.shutdown = this.shutdown.bind(this);
 
+    this._concurrencyLimit =
+      typeof config.concurrencyLimit === 'number'
+        ? config.concurrencyLimit
+        : Infinity;
+
     // platform dependent
     this.onInit(config);
   }
@@ -77,6 +83,14 @@ export abstract class CollectorExporterBase<
       return;
     }
 
+    if (this._sendingPromises.length >= this._concurrencyLimit) {
+      resultCallback({
+        code: ExportResultCode.FAILED,
+        error: new Error('Concurrent export limit reached'),
+      });
+      return;
+    }
+
     this._export(items)
       .then(() => {
         resultCallback({ code: ExportResultCode.SUCCESS });
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/src/types.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/src/types.ts
index 694c60d8d9a..ab6423b8f94 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/src/types.ts
@@ -341,6 +341,7 @@ export interface CollectorExporterConfigBase {
   serviceName?: string;
   attributes?: Attributes;
   url?: string;
+  concurrencyLimit?: number;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/test/common/CollectorTraceExporter.test.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/test/common/CollectorTraceExporter.test.ts
index 03aedf7ca4d..f3cee3a8cd7 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/test/common/CollectorTraceExporter.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-exporter-collector/test/common/CollectorTraceExporter.test.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,18 @@ class CollectorTraceExporter extends CollectorExporterBase<
 > {
   onInit() {}
   onShutdown() {}
-  send() {}
+  send(
+    items: any[],
+    onSuccess: () => void,
+    onError: (error: collectorTypes.CollectorExporterError) => void
+  ) {
+    const promise = Promise.resolve(null);
+    this._sendingPromises.push(
+      promise.then(() =>
+        this._sendingPromises.splice(this._sendingPromises.indexOf(promise), 1)
+      )
+    );
+  }
   getDefaultUrl(config: CollectorExporterConfig): string {
     return config.url || '';
   }
@@ -187,7 +198,34 @@ describe('CollectorTraceExporter - common', () => {
       });
     });
   });
+  describe('export - concurrency limit', () => {
+    it('should error if too many concurrent exports are queued', done => {
+      const collectorExporterWithConcurrencyLimit = new CollectorTraceExporter({
+        ...collectorExporterConfig,
+        concurrencyLimit: 3,
+      });
+      const spans: ReadableSpan[] = [{ ...mockedReadableSpan }];
+      const callbackSpy = sinon.spy();
+      for (let i = 0; i < 7; i++) {
+        collectorExporterWithConcurrencyLimit.export(spans, callbackSpy);
+      }
 
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        // Expect 3 writes
+        // assert.strictEqual(spySend.args.length, 3);
+        // Expect 4 failures
+        assert.strictEqual(callbackSpy.args.length, 4);
+        callbackSpy.args.forEach(([result]) => {
+          assert.strictEqual(result.code, ExportResultCode.FAILED);
+          assert.strictEqual(
+            result.error!.message,
+            'Concurrent export limit reached'
+          );
+        });
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
   describe('shutdown', () => {
     let onShutdownSpy: any;
     beforeEach(() => {