You have a slab worth a few hundred dollars and you want the most money for it this week. The card consignment vs eBay decision comes down to two numbers: the fee rate and the sale price you actually get. You can look up the first one today. You can't know the second until the card sells. This piece works through the fees we could verify, shows the math on a $500 example, and explains what to check before you ship anything.
How much does eBay charge to sell a graded card?
For trading cards, eBay's final value fee is 13.25% of the total sale up to $7,500, plus a $0.40 per-order fee on orders over $10. The 13.25% is charged on the total, which includes shipping and sales tax, so the effective rate on the card price is higher than 13.25%.
According to eBay's selling fees help page, the rate for Sports Trading Cards, Non-Sport Trading Cards and Collectible Card Games is "13.25% on total amount of the sale up to $7,500 calculated per item, 2.35% on the portion of the sale over $7,500." The per-order fee is $0.30 for orders of $10.00 or less and $0.40 above that. eBay defines the total amount of the sale as "the item price, any handling charges, any shipping costs collected from the buyer (some exceptions apply), sales tax, and any other applicable fees."
The same page lists other costs:
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Up to 250 zero-insertion-fee listings per month (more with an eBay Store). After that, insertion fees are $0.35 per listing in most categories.
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Store subscribers have a separate fee schedule.
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An international fee of 1.65% of the total sale, unless a US seller uses eBay International Shipping on eligible items.
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Promoted listings, if you use them, cost extra on top of all of the above.
The $500 example on eBay
This example is illustrative. The 8% sales tax and the $6 shipping charge are assumptions, not quotes.
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Card price $500, plus $6 shipping charged to the buyer, plus 8% tax ($40.48), comes to a $546.48 total sale.
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13.25% of $546.48 is $72.41. Adding the $0.40 per-order fee gives $72.81 in fees.
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You keep $506 minus $72.81, which is $433.19. That is before you pay for insured postage, a team bag, a box and padding.
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The fee works out to about 14.6% of the $500 card price. With no sales tax on the order, the fee is $67.45 (about 13.5%) and you keep $438.55.
So "13.25%" understates the real cost. Plan on roughly 13.5% to 14.6% of the card price before your own shipping costs.
What does Fanatics Collect charge to consign a card?
Fanatics Collect advertises seller fees "as low as 6%," and its standard range is 6% to 12%. It also waives the fee entirely if you take your payout in FanCash. Vault and fulfillment fees still apply in every case.
The Fanatics Collect consignment page says: "Seller fees as low as 6%. 0% fees with FanCash payouts." It also says there are no minimums, that it accepts slabs, raw cards, wax and memorabilia, and that Fanatics prices, lists and manages the sale. On payment, it says "Sellers are typically paid within 48 hours after the sale closes and payment is received."
Yahoo Sports reported on July 31, 2026 that Fanatics Collect is "waiving its standard 6% to 12% seller transaction fee on Buy Now and Auction sales for users who agree to receive their payout in FanCash," and that "Standard vault storage and fulfillment fees still apply." We could not find a published amount for those vault and fulfillment fees, so ask for them before you send a card in.
The $500 example at Fanatics Collect
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At 6%, you net $470, minus vault and fulfillment fees.
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At 12%, you net $440, minus vault and fulfillment fees.
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With a FanCash payout, you receive $500 in FanCash, minus vault and fulfillment fees. FanCash is store credit, not cash.
Assuming the same $500 sale price on both platforms, the 6% rate beats eBay by roughly $31 to $37, depending on whether sales tax is charged. At 12% the two come out roughly even. That comparison doesn't yet include your eBay postage costs or the cost of shipping the card to the consignor.
Is a FanCash payout worth it?
Only if you were going to spend that money with Fanatics anyway. A 0% fee paid in store credit is worth less than a 6% fee paid in cash if you would rather have the cash.
Sports Illustrated reported that FanCash payouts let sellers "keep 100% of their sale proceeds" on Buy Now and Auction sales, that the program is U.S.-only, and that FanCash can be spent across Fanatics Collect, Fanatics.com, Topps.com, Fanatics Live, tickets and memorabilia. SI also noted that "standard vault fees remain unchanged."
If you are selling one slab to buy another slab on Fanatics Collect, or you buy Topps product on a regular schedule, the credit works about the same as cash for you and the fee savings are real. If you are selling to pay rent, to buy on another platform, or to shop at your local card store, value FanCash at whatever discount you would accept to turn it into something you actually want.
What about PSA consignment and Goldin?
Both charge seller fees that we could not confirm against a current published schedule. Get the rate that applies to your card in writing before you ship.
The only Goldin fee figures we can source come from 2023. Cardlines reported in January 2023 that when Goldin Marketplace launched, items listed under $2,500 carried 16.7% seller fees, with a launch-month promotion of 8.3%, and Marketplace and Weekly Auctions required an estimated value of $100 and up. Treat that as history, not as today's rate. Whatever consignor you use, ask for the fee on your specific card at your expected price, along with any storage, withdrawal or shipping charges.
Card consignment vs eBay: side-by-side on a $500 slab
This table uses only verified fee rates and the illustrative $500 example above. None of the rows subtract your shipping costs or the consignor's vault and fulfillment fees.
| Route | Fee on $500 sale | Approximate net | Payout form | Payout timing | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | eBay self-sale (8% tax, $6 shipping charged) | $72.81 (about 14.6%) | $433.19 before your postage and supplies | Cash | See your eBay payout settings | | eBay self-sale (no tax, $6 shipping charged) | $67.45 (about 13.5%) | $438.55 before your postage and supplies | Cash | See your eBay payout settings | | Fanatics Collect at 6% | $30 | $470 before vault and fulfillment fees | Cash | Typically within 48 hours of sale close and payment | | Fanatics Collect at 12% | $60 | $440 before vault and fulfillment fees | Cash | Typically within 48 hours of sale close and payment | | Fanatics Collect with FanCash | $0 | $500 before vault and fulfillment fees | Store credit (U.S. only) | Not specified separately |
Does consignment get a lower sale price than eBay?
Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. That is the variable no fee table can capture. A lower fee only helps you if the consignor's buyers pay close to what the same card sells for on eBay.
Here is the break-even test. Consigning beats selling it yourself only when:
(consignment sale price × (1 minus consignment fee)) minus vault and shipping-in costs is greater than eBay sale price minus eBay fees on the total (including shipping and tax) minus your postage and supplies.
Some quick arithmetic on the $500 example with tax shows how narrow the margin can be. At a 6% fee, the consigned card could sell for about $461 and still match eBay's $433.19 net. That is about 8% below the eBay price, before vault fees. At 12%, the break-even consignment price is about $492, less than 2% below eBay. A few percent difference in the sale price can wipe out the fee advantage. It can also go the other way: if the consignor's audience pays more than eBay comps, the consignor wins by even more.
You can't know that sale-price gap ahead of time. The best estimate is recent sold prices for the same card in the same grade on each platform. Use actual sales, not asking prices, and look at the last few weeks rather than the last few months.
Which is safer: selling on eBay or consigning?
For graded cards at $200 and up, eBay's Authenticity Guarantee removes much of the risk of selling yourself. Consignment removes the work, but you give up control over the listing price and timing.
The eBay Authenticity Guarantee applies to "Raw card or graded cards listed or sold at auction for $200 or more, exclusive of tax and shipping." Accepted graders are PSA, SGC, CGC Trading Cards / CSG and BGS, and the service is "provided at no cost to sellers and buyers." According to the seller-side page, you ship the card "with appropriate insurance coverage, to a facility located within the United States, as directed by eBay." If authenticity can't be verified, or the item is significantly not as described, it comes back to you and the buyer is refunded. If you ship within your stated handling time, you are protected from negative or neutral feedback once the item passes inspection.
Consignment takes photography, listing, buyer questions, disputes and outbound shipping off your hands. In return you pay to ship the card to the consignor, you pay vault or fulfillment fees, and you have less say over the asking price and when the card sells.
Do you get a 1099-K for selling cards?
Under the current threshold, platforms are not required to file one unless your payments exceed $20,000 and you have more than 200 transactions. The IRS announced on October 23, 2025 that third-party settlement organizations are not required to file Form 1099-K "unless the gross amount of reportable payment transactions to a payee exceeds $20,000 and the number of transactions exceeds 200." That rule only covers when the form is filed. It doesn't decide whether you owe tax, so talk to a tax professional about your own situation.
Decision checklist before you list or ship
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Pull 3 to 5 recent sold comps for the same card and grade, from eBay and from the consignor if you can find them. Use sold prices, not active listings.
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Calculate both nets with your own numbers in the card grading break-even calculator. Enter your fee rate, postage, supplies and vault costs. The tool compares net proceeds based on the costs you enter. It does not predict sale prices or grades.
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Decide whether you need cash or can use credit. If you need cash, ignore the FanCash 0% figure.
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Get the consignor's fee schedule in writing, including vault, fulfillment, withdrawal and shipping-in costs, for your card at your expected price.
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Count your time. Photographing, listing, packing and handling buyer messages for one slab takes real time. Decide what that time is worth to you.
On a mid-value slab, a low-fee consignor usually wins on paper. eBay wins when your card is one whose eBay sold prices run high, because a higher sale price can make up for a fee gap of several points.
Related reading
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What eBay, Fanatics Collect and COMC Keep From a $100 Card Sale
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Your Grading Bill Is Not Your Biggest Cost: The True Cost of Grading Cards
Sources
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Yahoo Sports: Fanatics Collect Waives Seller Fees for FanCash Payouts (July 31, 2026)
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eBay: Authenticity Guarantee for Trading Cards (seller page)
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IRS: Form 1099-K threshold FAQs, dollar limit reverts to $20,000 (Oct 23, 2025)
This article contains AI-assisted content and has been reviewed in our editorial workflow.
DISCLAIMER: PureGrail articles are for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing on this site constitutes financial, investment, or legal advice. Collectibles are speculative assets and values can decrease significantly. Always conduct your own research before buying or selling. Past price performance does not indicate future results.
