eBay Fees for Selling Trading Cards: PSA Graded Cards, Authenticity Guarantee, and Fee Calculation
eBay charges casual sellers 13.25% Final Value Fee on trading card sales up to $7,500, then 2.35% above $7,500.
Trading cards on eBay include Pokémon cards, Magic: The Gathering cards, sports cards (baseball, basketball, football, soccer), gaming cards, and entertainment cards. The Trading Cards category applies to individually sold cards, sealed booster packs, sealed boxes, and complete sets. Graded cards submitted to Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), Beckett Grading Services (BGS), or Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) are also listed in the Trading Cards category.
What Is the eBay Final Value Fee for Trading Cards?
The eBay Final Value Fee for trading cards is 13.25% for casual sellers on sales up to $7,500, then 2.35% above $7,500. Store subscribers pay 12.35% up to $2,500, then 2.35% above $2,500. The trading card rate is 0.35 percentage points below the standard casual seller rate of 13.6% and 0.35 points below the standard store subscriber rate of 12.7%.
The 13.25% trading card rate applies to listings in the Trading Cards subcategory under Collectibles. Sellers who list cards in the wrong category pay the rate of the category used. A Pokémon card listed in the Toys and Hobbies category rather than the Trading Cards category pays the standard 13.6% rate.
A casual seller listing a Charizard Pokémon card at $300 pays 13.25% of $300, equaling $39.75 in Final Value Fees plus $0.40 per-order fee. A store subscriber selling the same card pays 12.35% of $300, equaling $37.05 plus $0.40. The store subscriber saves $2.70 on this single transaction.
High-value graded cards generate large Final Value Fees due to the tier structure. A PSA 10 Charizard card selling for $10,000 incurs $7,500 times 13.25% ($993.75) plus $2,500 times 2.35% ($58.75), totaling $1,052.50 in Final Value Fees for a casual seller.
What Is eBay Vault and How Does It Affect Trading Card Fees?
eBay Vault is a storage and authentication program for high-value trading cards where eBay stores authenticated cards in a secure facility and facilitates sales without physical shipping. Vault-stored cards sell with a reduced Final Value Fee of 2.5% for all seller types, compared to the standard 13.25% for casual sellers and 12.35% for store subscribers. eBay Vault reduces the effective fee rate by more than 10 percentage points for vault-eligible cards.
eBay Vault is defined as eBay's secure physical storage facility for authenticated trading cards where buyers and sellers transact ownership of cards without cards leaving the vault. Cards stored in the vault are graded and authenticated. Vault card transactions transfer digital ownership records without physical shipping.
The 2.5% eBay Vault Final Value Fee applies to all vault-to-vault transactions and to vault items being sent to the buyer from the vault for the first time. Vault eligibility requires that the card be graded by PSA, BGS, or CGC and meet eBay's minimum value threshold. The minimum value threshold for Vault eligibility is $250 per card.
eBay charges a monthly storage fee for cards held in the vault for more than the free storage period. The free storage period is defined as 6 months from the date of vault deposit. After 6 months, eBay charges a monthly storage fee per card based on the card's assessed value.
The 2.5% Vault fee versus the 13.25% standard fee produces significant savings on high-value cards. A $5,000 graded card sold vault-to-vault pays 2.5% of $5,000 ($125) in Final Value Fees. The same card sold through standard listing and shipping pays 13.25% of $5,000 ($662.50), a difference of $537.50 per transaction.
What Are eBay Fees for Sealed Trading Card Products?
Sealed trading card products including booster packs, booster boxes, and complete sets listed in the Trading Cards category pay the same 13.25% Final Value Fee as individual cards for casual sellers and 12.35% for store subscribers. Sealed products are not eligible for the eBay Vault program because Vault requires graded, authenticated individual cards.
Sealed trading card products are defined as factory-sealed packaging containing randomized card assortments. Booster packs, booster boxes, Elite Trainer Boxes, collector's bundles, and theme decks are all sealed products. Their sealed condition cannot be verified by eBay Authenticity Guarantee for trading cards, which requires the card to be removed from packaging and graded.
A casual seller listing a sealed Pokémon booster box at $150 pays 13.25% of $150, equaling $19.88 in Final Value Fees plus $0.40 per-order fee. The Managed Payments processing fee on $150 is 2.7% of $150 plus $0.30, equaling $4.35. Total fees on the $150 sealed box are $24.63, leaving the seller $125.37.
Sealed product prices on eBay vary significantly from retail price depending on set popularity and supply. Sealed booster boxes from recently discontinued sets typically sell at multiples of the original retail price. A sealed box that retailed at $143 may sell at $300 on eBay if the set is out of print, generating $39.75 in Final Value Fees at the 13.25% casual seller rate.
How Do eBay Trading Card Fees Compare to TCGPlayer and PWCC?
TCGPlayer charges sellers a 10.25% to 15.25% commission depending on seller tier and card type, plus 2.5% in payment processing fees. eBay charges casual sellers 13.25% plus the Managed Payments fee of 2.7% plus $0.30. For a $100 card, TCGPlayer Silver tier charges approximately 12.75% in total fees, while eBay charges 15.95% in total fees (13.25% plus 2.7%). TCGPlayer is less expensive for low-value card sales.
TCGPlayer is a trading card marketplace that specializes in Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and other card game singles. TCGPlayer uses a tiered commission structure where sellers who reach higher monthly sales volumes pay lower commission rates. TCGPlayer Gold tier (above $1,000 in monthly sales) charges 10.25% commission. TCGPlayer Bronze tier (under $250 in monthly sales) charges 15.25%.
PWCC Marketplace is a trading card auction platform that specializes in sports cards and high-value Pokémon cards. PWCC charges sellers a 10% buyer's premium that it collects from buyers, plus a seller fee that varies by listing type. PWCC's seller fee structure differs from eBay's in that PWCC collects fees from both buyer and seller.
eBay's advantage over TCGPlayer and PWCC for trading card sellers is buyer pool size. eBay has significantly more active buyers than either specialized marketplace. Cards that receive few bids on PWCC or have thin demand on TCGPlayer may achieve higher final sale prices on eBay due to broader buyer exposure.
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*Source: eBay Seller Fees Help Page, effective February 14, 2025. eBay Vault Help Page. TCGPlayer Seller Fees Page. PWCC Marketplace Seller Fees.*
