How to sell Pokémon cards

There is no single best place to sell Pokémon cards: each route takes a different cut, accepts different cards and works differently. This page compares the main routes for US sellers using only each platform's own fee and policy pages, read on November 3, 2026, works out what the published fees take from the same sale, and lists what to prepare before you list. Platforms are named to describe them, not to recommend them; this site sells nothing and earns nothing from any of them.

The selling routes at a glance

Local card shops and card shows set their own buying and consignment terms, so there is no published schedule to put in this table. Compare any offer you get with dated sold prices for the same card and condition.

What the fees take from one sale

The table below applies each published fee schedule to one card sold on its own, with no shipping charged and no sales tax. Both raise the fee in practice: eBay's final value fee is charged on the total including shipping and sales tax, and the TCGplayer and Whatnot processing fees are charged on the order total including shipping and tax. GameStop and auction houses are left out because what they keep is not a published rate.

• How each figure is built. eBay: 13.25% plus the $0.40 per-order fee. TCGplayer: 10.75% commission (capped at $75) plus 2.5% and $0.30. Whatnot: 8% plus 2.9% and $0.30.
• The TCGplayer cap. The 10.75% commission reaches its $75 cap at a sale of about $698, so above that TCGplayer's share falls as the price rises.
• The upper tiers. Whatnot's 0% applies only to the part of a sale above $1,500 and is marked limited time on its fee page; eBay's rate drops to 2.35% only above $7,500.
• Not included: postage and packing, which you pay on every route that ships.

1. $20 sale: eBay 15.25%, TCGplayer 14.75%, Whatnot 12.40%. The fixed $0.30 and $0.40 charges weigh most on cheap cards.
2. $100 sale: eBay 13.65%, TCGplayer 13.55%, Whatnot 11.20%.
3. $1,000 sale: eBay 13.29%, TCGplayer 10.03% (its $75 commission cap applies), Whatnot 10.93%.

Route by route

eBay

eBay's fee page puts Collectible Card Games with the other trading card categories at 13.25% of the total sale up to $7,500 per item, and each month includes up to 250 listings without an insertion fee. eBay's trading-card seller guide asks for the grader, the numerical grade and the certification number on a graded card, and photos of the front, the back, any significant blemish and the grading label. Ungraded cards are described with a four-step condition table: Near Mint or Better, Excellent, Very Good and Poor. For cheap cards, the eBay standard envelope costs $0.63 for 1 oz, $0.87 for 2 oz and $1.11 for 3 oz, with protection for a single card valued up to $20 or several cards up to $50.

Higher-value singles take a detour through Authenticity Guarantee: the seller ships the card to PSA, which inspects it and sends it to the buyer with tracking, with a signature required from $750. eBay pays for the authentication and the shipping from PSA; postage to PSA is the seller's. Graded cards must come from PSA, SGC, CGC Trading Cards, CSG or BGS, and PSA checks the holder and label without regrading. eBay's own pages disagree on where the program starts: its Authenticity Guarantee seller page says single raw and graded cards of $200 and up, while its trading-card seller guide says over $250.

TCGplayer

TCGplayer Marketplace sellers pay a 10.75% commission on the order subtotal, capped at $75 per product sold, and a transaction fee of 2.5% of the order total (items, shipping and tax) plus $0.30; on international orders it is 3.5% plus $0.30. Cards are listed by condition on TCGplayer's own scale: Near Mint (minimal wear from shuffling, play or handling), Lightly Played (minor edge wear, scuffs or scratches), Moderately Played, Heavily Played and Damaged. There is no Mint or Gem Mint condition. Cards with crimping, significant miscuts, stamps, signatures or marker count as Damaged, or can be sold as a Listing with Photo at the condition they would otherwise have.

Whatnot

Whatnot sells in live shows, with auctions and Buy It Now listings. Its commission is a share of the final sale price excluding shipping and tax: 8% up to $1,500 in its comics, TCG, sports singles and toys category, and 0% on the portion above $1,500 for a limited time. A processing fee of 2.9% of the order total plus $0.30 comes on top. Fees follow the price actually reached: an auction that starts at $1 and sells for $20 is charged on $20. Earnings are typically available for payout after delivery is confirmed.

GameStop

GameStop takes PSA-graded trading cards as trade-ins at participating stores. Its page says cards must be graded by PSA with a grade of 8, 9 or 10, that each card is priced one at a time by a pricing model that uses Card Ladder data in part, that the offer is final, and that GameStop will pay a maximum of $1,500 in cash or in-store credit; Pro members get 5% extra trade credit. The page does not say whether the $1,500 applies per card or per visit, and it names no game. The limit has moved: when GameStop announced the program in May 2024, cllct reported a cap of $500.

Auction houses

An auction house sells the card for you as consignor. Seller commissions are rarely published: Heritage's terms refer to a seller's commission “as determined for each auction venue and by the terms of the seller's agreement”, while the buyer's premium for each auction is published in the catalog and online. Reserves, premiums and record results are explained in how card auctions work.

Before you list: checklist

• ☐ The exact card is identified: set, number and variant.
• ☐ You have dated sold prices for that card in that condition or grade, not asking prices (where to check sold prices).
• ☐ A raw card is described on the platform's own condition scale; the terms are in the card condition glossary.
• ☐ A graded card's cert number checks out on the grader's site (verify a cert number) and is in the listing.
• ☐ Photos show the front, the back, any flaw and the label.
• ☐ Fees, postage and packing are worked out on the total the buyer pays.
• ☐ On eBay, a card near the $200 to $250 line is priced with Authenticity Guarantee in mind.
• ☐ Each sale is recorded for your taxes.

Taxes

The IRS page on Form 1099-K says third party settlement organizations must report a seller's payments when they exceed $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, and that income from goods you sell, including personal items sold at a gain, must be reported. This page is not tax advice; check the IRS page or a tax professional for your own case.

Questions collectors ask

Where is the best place to sell Pokémon cards?

It depends on the card. On the published fees in the example, a $20 or $100 card loses the smallest share on Whatnot, a $1,000 card the smallest share on TCGplayer, and eBay takes the largest share at all three prices. Fees are only part of the answer: the price buyers pay, postage and how quickly you are paid differ by route too, and none of that is a published rate.

Does GameStop buy Pokémon cards?

Graded ones, if PSA graded them 8, 9 or 10. GameStop's page speaks of PSA-graded trading cards without naming games and gives no route for raw cards. Offers are capped at $1,500 and are final.

How much does eBay take when you sell a Pokémon card?

13.25% of the total the buyer pays, up to $7,500 per item, plus $0.30 per order of $10 or less or $0.40 above. On a $100 card with free shipping and no tax that is $13.65.

Can I sell Pokémon cards that are not graded?

Yes: eBay and TCGplayer both describe raw cards by condition, while GameStop's trade-in takes only PSA-graded cards. Whether grading first pays off is a separate calculation, set out in is it worth grading Pokémon cards.