eBay is the largest and most active auction platform in the world. It has over 1.5 Billion listings and thousands of auctions ending every minute. When it comes to selling Pokémon cards though, how does it stack up?
With Pokémon’s popularity over the past 25 years and especially recently, there are a large number of ways to sell your Pokémon cards. But while other apps and websites have come and gone, eBay has remained a major player in the market.
It brings up some questions though. Despite eBay being large, is eBay easy to sell Pokémon cards through? Should I still use eBay if I have a large Pokémon collection I’m looking to sell? What other considerations should I have before selling Pokémon cards through eBay?
We will cover all of these questions and more below. Let’s get to it!
Is eBay Easy to Sell Pokémon Cards Through?
The answer is undoubtably yes. eBay is incredibly easy to sell Pokémon cards through. Their app is very user friendly and lets you upload a number of pictures and even a video to make sure your cards are represented properly.
Simply go to the “Selling” tab, click “List an item”, and add pictures and a description to it! The more information you can fill in, the more ways buyers can find your item!
A few pro tips when selling Pokémon cards through eBay.
- If selling one or just a few cards, make sure to post pictures of the front and back under good lighting. The more angles the better!
- If you are selling a large number of cards, make sure to give extra attention to the more expensive cards. Use the description to tag names, rarity, and specialty features also as those keywords will help buyers find your page!
- Make the Title is as accurate as possible. eBay will usually recommend similar items with their Title. Those are usually the best way to go.
- Include the card number, set, what its holographic pattern and detail is (holo, reverse holo, pokeball holo, swirl, etc), and all other information that may be useful for a buyer!
- If you want a minimum on the amount you make for your Pokémon cards, you are better off listing them as a “Buy It Now” rather than an “Auction”
So eBay is easy to sell Pokémon cards through. How does it stack up against some of their competitors though? Let’s find out!
Should I Sell My Pokémon Cards on eBay?
eBay absolutely checks the boxes on being both an incredibly large and active marketplace for all items, Pokémon cards included. At this point in time though, there are a lot of platforms that have similar and sometimes better policies and ways it helps you as the seller.
Among all of these other options, how does eBay stack up then?
I’ve got a more in depth article on selling Pokémon cards based on your goals. If you want to do a deeper dive of all the selling options, check that one out!
Let’s jump into what eBay particularly has to offer.
eBay Auctions Option
eBay is one of the only bulk auction websites to sell Pokémon cards. There are other auction websites such as PWCC and Heritage, but those are limited in the cards you can sell. PWCC will only sell graded Pokémon cards and Heritage is only good for higher value Pokémon cards. Both of those also take a much longer time to get your item listed and sold.
If you are trying to get a reasonable price for your binder or Pokémon card collection and would like to offload it in one fell swoop, the eBay auction is a great way to go. No haggling, no back and forth, and usually at a fair market price.
Simply select “Auction” at the end of your pictures and description and set it for the recommended 7 day auction. Once it sells, you can buy the shipping label directly through eBay and get it sent out!
The eBay auction is quick and effective in getting reasonable dollars for your cards. That said, it will not usually be best to get max dollars for your collection. Again though, almost no haggling, a strong marketplace with tons of buyers, and easy setup.
If you need help packaging and shipping your cards, check out the article here!
eBay Buy It Now Option
The eBay “Buy It Now” function is more in line with most other platforms. If you have used Mercari, Offerup, or even Facebook groups or Facebook Marketplace, then you will have a similar idea of how the eBay offering works.
All of these websites simply require you to post your card(s) with pictures, set a price, and leave it for people to either buy, negotiate, or follow the posting! Each of these other websites and apps have their own positives and negatives.
eBay particularly still has a massive buyer base, much larger than the others mentioned above. It does have a way to chat potential buyers as well and a way to negotiate and receive offers, similar to what the others have also.
Outside of the buyer base though, it doesn’t stand out much particularly vs the others. So eBay has a good and functional buy-it-now way to sell cards, but it isn’t anything special vs other apps and websites.
Other Considerations
So we’ve covered that eBay is very large and that it has multiple offerings when trying to sell your Pokémon card collection. Both of which are great for sellers. Because it is the largest and has the most market share though, they have one bigger downside than the other options.
The main downside of selling Pokémon cards through eBay is the relatively large commission that eBay takes when using their platform, which is 13.25% as of writing this article. That means that your $100 item you sell will earn you about $86.
As a comparison, Mercari charges about 10%, and Facebook allows you to list items for free. Depending on your goal though, eBay still might be best platform to use. Let’s recap.
Selling Pokémon Cards Through eBay: The Pros and Cons
To TLDR this article, let’s recap what we’ve covered so far.
Pros of Selling Pokémon Cards Through eBay
- eBay has an incredibly large and active buyer base which ultimately means you will have more buyers look at your items than any other platform
- eBay has options to sell your collection via auction or buy-it-now options
- eBay is incredibly easy to use as a seller
- eBay allows you to sell one item or an entire collection all together
- If you’re looking to get fair market value for your Pokémon cards with minimal to no haggling or negotiation, eBay auctions are one of the best ways to go
Cons of Selling Pokémon Cards Through eBay
- While the auction function of eBay should give you fair market price for your card(s), it won’t always give you top dollar for your collection
- eBay has one of the largest selling fees at 13.25%
Summary
is eBay a good place to sell Pokémon cards? Absolutely. Between the ease of use, the buyer base, and the selling options, eBay is absolutely one of the best places to sell Pokémon cards. While it does have a large selling fee and may not always get you top dollar, it still remains one of the best places to sell Pokémon cards.
Did you know that eBay also has a way to help you manage and track the value of your Pokémon card collection? Read all about it and other platforms here!
Looking to add some unique art or custom cards to your collection? Check out these artists!
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Thanks for reading!