Where to sell Pokemon cards

Fees change. Whatnot's figures are from its seller fees page, read on the date above. The eBay and TCGplayer figures are approximate, taken from what sellers commonly report, and we have not confirmed them at source; check eBay's selling fees and TCGplayer's fees for the exact rate in your category before you price anything.

Sort your cards before you choose where to sell. Most collections are mostly bulk (commons and uncommons worth pennies each) with a handful of cards that carry nearly all the value. Those two piles belong in different places.

• Identify each card by its name, set symbol and collector number, and note whether it is holo, reverse holo or a special print.
• Be honest about condition. Whitening on the edges, scratches on the holo and bends all lower the price.
• Check recent sold prices, not asking prices. A listing at $200 means nothing if the card keeps selling for $60.

The fastest option. You walk in with a box and walk out with cash or store credit. There is no photography, no shipping and no risk of a buyer claiming the card never arrived.

The trade-off is price. A shop has to resell your cards at a profit, so offers are usually around half of market value and less for bulk, which is often bought by the thousand. Store credit offers tend to be higher than cash.

Fits when: you have bulk, you want the money today, or the collection is not worth the hours it would take to list card by card.

eBay has a very large pool of buyers for Pokemon cards and it is where many graded cards and expensive singles change hands. Auctions work well for cards with strong demand, and its sold listings are the price reference most of the hobby uses.

You pay for that reach. Sellers commonly report fees of around 13% of the total sale including shipping (an approximate figure; see eBay's fee page), and you do the photos, the listing, the packing and the customer service yourself. Low-priced cards rarely make sense one at a time once postage and the per-order fee are counted.

Fits when: you have graded cards, sealed product or singles worth about $20 and up, and you can wait for the right buyer.

TCGplayer is a marketplace built only for trading cards. Every card already has a catalog page, so listing is quick: pick the card, the condition and your price. Buyers there are players and collectors filling specific gaps, which makes it good for a deep inventory of mid-priced raw singles.

New sellers start with limits and compete on price against established stores, and many small orders mean many envelopes. It is a steady trickle of sales, not a single payday.

Fits when: you have hundreds of singles in the $1 to $50 range and are happy to ship a few orders a week.

Whatnot is one of the best-known live selling apps for cards. You go live, show each card on camera and run short auctions, or open packs for buyers in a break. A good show can move in two hours what would take weeks of fixed-price listings, and bidding sometimes pushes popular cards past market price.

It is also real work. You need to set up as a seller under Whatnot's own requirements, build an audience, and be comfortable on camera, and auctions that start at $1 can end below market when the room is quiet. Standard commission is 8% of the item price, lower for high-volume sellers, plus 2.9% + $0.30 processing. We break that down in Whatnot fees explained.

Fits when: you have steady inventory, you like being on camera, and you want to sell to an audience that is there for cards.

Teasr is a live shopping marketplace for adults. The format will feel familiar if you have sold live before: auctions, Buy Now, flash deals and giveaways with checkout inside the stream. The difference is the audience. Teasr is for adults only (accounts are for people 18 and older), and the marketplace welcomes items other apps restrict, such as adult-themed anime art, waifu cards and mature collectibles.

Be realistic about the fit. Teasr is much smaller than eBay or Whatnot, so you will mostly be selling to the audience you bring and build, and it is the wrong place to reach kids or family collectors. It works best for adult sellers whose shows mix Pokemon cards with other card lines and collectibles aimed at grown-up fans.

Fees are 8% commission plus 2.9% + $0.30 processing. New accounts that sign up through the Whatnot switch offer page pay no Teasr commission for 60 days; it does not apply to other signups and can end at any time.

Fits when: you are an adult seller, your buyers are adult collectors, and part of what you sell is not welcome on mainstream apps.

• Need cash this week: local card shop.
• A few valuable or graded cards: eBay.
• A binder of mid-priced singles: TCGplayer.
• Regular inventory and a camera: a live app. Whatnot for a large, card-focused audience, Teasr if you and your buyers are adults and your shows include mature items.
• A mixed collection: split it. Send the valuable cards to eBay, list the singles, and take the bulk to a shop.

• Photograph the front and back of anything valuable before it leaves your hands.
• Ship singles in a sleeve and a rigid top loader, and use tracking on anything you could not afford to lose.
• Keep payment on the platform. Requests to pay by gift card or to move the deal to a private chat are the most common scam.
• Describe flaws plainly. It costs less than a return.