{ "dataset": "selling-routes", "title": "Routes to cash for a trading card, and what each one costs", "description": "Seven selling routes with the structure of each one’s cut and how long it takes to be paid, five shipping methods with their tracking and insurance status, and the auction structure that makes a hammer price neither what the buyer pays nor what the seller banks.", "source": "https://sportscardradar.com", "documentation": "https://sportscardradar.com/api/", "publisher": "Vast Flow, LLP", "licence": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "Sports Card Radar (https://sportscardradar.com)", "note": "Reuse any of this, including commercially, with a link back to the page or endpoint it came from." }, "as_of": "2026-09-11", "caveats": [ "Every percentage in here is a STARTING VALUE for a calculator, read on the date above, not a current published rate. Marketplace fee schedules are revised without notice and vary by category, subscription and country; the tools take all of them as editable inputs.", "`gross_pct_of_comp` and `days_to_cash` are ranges collectors report, not published figures. They are here because the comparison is useless without them and useless with false precision.", "`price_from` values are numbers where a number exists and null where none is published. Null means \"not published\", never \"free\".", "There is no published loss rate for hobby mail. The two loss rates are the figures high-volume sellers most often report, and both are editable; the useful output is the crossover value, which moves far less than the rate does." ], "fee_snapshot": { "as_of": "2026-09-11", "marketplace_fvf_pct": 13.25, "marketplace_fixed_fee_usd": 0.4, "source_url": "https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/selling/seller-fees", "note": "The starting value in the fee fields, read from the publisher on the date above. Marketplace fee schedules are revised without notice and vary by category, by store subscription and by country — the calculators therefore treat every fee as an editable input and show the one you entered in the result, so a stale default can never become a wrong answer you did not see." }, "venues": [ { "id": "ebay", "name": "eBay (Buy It Now)", "kind": "marketplace", "fee_pct": 13.25, "fixed_fee_usd": 0.4, "ad_rate_pct": 2, "fee_charged_on_shipping": true, "typical_gross_pct_of_comp": 100, "typical_days_to_cash": 21, "fee_source_url": "https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/selling/seller-fees", "how_it_works": "A percentage of the total the buyer pays — item, shipping and in most states the sales tax — plus a per-order fixed fee, plus whatever ad rate was set to get the listing seen. Payouts land days after delivery.", "best_for": "Cards with a deep comp history, where the price is already known and the job is simply to reach the buyer.", "worst_for": "Low-value cards, where the fixed fee and the postage are most of the sale price." }, { "id": "ebay-auction", "name": "eBay (auction format)", "kind": "auction", "fee_pct": 13.25, "fixed_fee_usd": 0.4, "ad_rate_pct": 0, "fee_charged_on_shipping": true, "typical_gross_pct_of_comp": 95, "typical_days_to_cash": 14, "fee_source_url": "https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/selling/seller-fees", "how_it_works": "The same fee structure as a fixed-price listing, on whatever the auction closes at. Ending time and day change the result more than any other variable a seller controls.", "best_for": "Cards where the price is genuinely uncertain, and for moving stock quickly.", "worst_for": "Thin markets. A card with two interested buyers in the world does not need an auction; it needs the right buyer to see it." }, { "id": "auctionhouse", "name": "Auction house", "kind": "auction", "fee_pct": 0, "fixed_fee_usd": 0, "ad_rate_pct": 0, "fee_charged_on_shipping": false, "typical_gross_pct_of_comp": 110, "typical_days_to_cash": 75, "fee_source_url": null, "how_it_works": "The buyer pays a premium on top of the hammer price and the consignor pays a commission out of it, so the house is paid twice on the same lot. On strong material the commission is often waived or negative, because the premium alone pays the house.", "best_for": "Cards over roughly four figures, where the bidder pool is the thing that sets the price.", "worst_for": "Anything ordinary. A common card in a major auction sits in a bulk lot and realises less than a direct sale would." }, { "id": "consignment", "name": "Consignment seller", "kind": "consignment", "fee_pct": 15, "fixed_fee_usd": 0, "ad_rate_pct": 0, "fee_charged_on_shipping": false, "typical_gross_pct_of_comp": 100, "typical_days_to_cash": 45, "fee_source_url": null, "how_it_works": "Someone else lists, photographs, ships and handles returns, for a share of the sale. The share usually falls as the value of the card rises.", "best_for": "A large collection you do not want to photograph one card at a time.", "worst_for": "A single card you could list yourself in ten minutes." }, { "id": "shop", "name": "Card shop, cash offer", "kind": "direct", "fee_pct": 0, "fixed_fee_usd": 0, "ad_rate_pct": 0, "fee_charged_on_shipping": false, "typical_gross_pct_of_comp": 55, "typical_days_to_cash": 0, "fee_source_url": null, "how_it_works": "A dealer buys the card outright at a discount to what they expect to sell it for. There is no fee: the discount is the fee, and it has to cover their capital, their time and the risk that the market moves before they sell.", "best_for": "Bulk, low-value cards, and any time certainty today is worth more than the last 30% in three weeks.", "worst_for": "A single high-value card with a liquid comp history, where the discount is the largest number in the transaction." }, { "id": "show", "name": "Card show table", "kind": "direct", "fee_pct": 0, "fixed_fee_usd": 0, "ad_rate_pct": 0, "fee_charged_on_shipping": false, "typical_gross_pct_of_comp": 80, "typical_days_to_cash": 0, "fee_source_url": null, "how_it_works": "Sell face to face, with no platform fee and no postage, against a table cost and a day of your time.", "best_for": "Mid-value cards and volume, where the postage and the fees on fifty separate listings would have eaten the margin.", "worst_for": "A card whose buyer is not in the room. The pool at a show is the pool that walked in." }, { "id": "groups", "name": "Collector groups and forums", "kind": "direct", "fee_pct": 3, "fixed_fee_usd": 0.49, "ad_rate_pct": 0, "fee_charged_on_shipping": false, "typical_gross_pct_of_comp": 90, "typical_days_to_cash": 3, "fee_source_url": null, "how_it_works": "Sell directly to another collector, paying only the payment processor. Cheap, fast, and with none of the buyer protection either side has on a marketplace.", "best_for": "Known counterparties and niche material whose buyers all read the same thread.", "worst_for": "Anyone who cannot afford to be defrauded once." } ], "shipping": { "loss_rates": { "uninsured_default": 0.01, "tracked_default": 0.002, "note": "There is no published loss rate for hobby mail, and anyone who quotes one to three decimal places is guessing. The tool starts at 1% for untracked and 0.2% for tracked because those are the numbers high-volume sellers most often report, and both are editable — the point of the calculation is the crossover value, which moves much less than the rate does." }, "options": [ { "id": "pwe", "name": "Plain white envelope (PWE)", "tracked": false, "insured": false, "typical_cost_usd": 1, "sensible_max_card_value_usd": 20, "note": "A card in a penny sleeve inside a team bag, taped between two pieces of card in a normal envelope with a stamp. No tracking, no insurance, and no recourse whatsoever if it does not arrive." }, { "id": "pwe-tracked", "name": "PWE with tracking", "tracked": true, "insured": false, "typical_cost_usd": 2, "sensible_max_card_value_usd": 50, "note": "The same envelope with a scannable label. Tracking does not make the card safe; it makes the dispute winnable." }, { "id": "bmwt", "name": "Bubble mailer with tracking", "tracked": true, "insured": false, "typical_cost_usd": 5, "sensible_max_card_value_usd": 200, "note": "The default for anything above pocket change. Tracked, padded, and the parcel a marketplace will accept as proof of delivery." }, { "id": "insured", "name": "Tracked and insured parcel", "tracked": true, "insured": true, "typical_cost_usd": 12, "sensible_max_card_value_usd": 5000, "note": "Declared value, signature on delivery, and a claim that pays if the parcel is lost. The point at which this becomes cheaper than the alternative is arithmetic, not caution." }, { "id": "registered", "name": "Registered / high-value service", "tracked": true, "insured": true, "typical_cost_usd": 35, "sensible_max_card_value_usd": 50000, "note": "Chain-of-custody handling for cards worth more than a car payment. Slow by design, because every hand that touches it signs for it." } ] }, "auction": { "typical_buyer_premium_pct": 20, "typical_seller_commission_pct": 0, "note": "A buyer’s premium of about a fifth of the hammer price is the common shape across the major card auction houses, and the consignor commission on good material is frequently zero because the premium already pays the house. Both are editable, and both are stated in the terms of the sale you are bidding in — read them rather than trusting a default.", "bid_increments": [ { "up_to_usd": 25, "step_usd": 1 }, { "up_to_usd": 100, "step_usd": 2.5 }, { "up_to_usd": 250, "step_usd": 5 }, { "up_to_usd": 500, "step_usd": 10 }, { "up_to_usd": 1000, "step_usd": 25 }, { "up_to_usd": 2500, "step_usd": 50 }, { "up_to_usd": 5000, "step_usd": 100 }, { "up_to_usd": 10000, "step_usd": 250 }, { "up_to_usd": 25000, "step_usd": 500 }, { "up_to_usd": null, "step_usd": 1000 } ] }, "storage": { "defaults_as_of": "2026-09-11", "note": "Starting values for a US buyer at retail, editable. Bulk pricing changes all four by a factor of two or more, which is why the tool reports the per-card figure.", "prices": { "sleeves_per_100_usd": 1.5, "toploaders_per_25_usd": 5, "magnetic_holder_each_usd": 1.75, "storage_box_usd": 3, "cards_per_box": 800 }, "rules": [ { "id": "sleeve-first", "rule": "Every card that matters goes in a soft sleeve before anything else touches it.", "why": "A toploader without a sleeve scuffs the surface every time the card slides, and surface is a grading subgrade." }, { "id": "upright", "rule": "Store boxes upright, filled, and away from outside walls.", "why": "A half-empty box lets cards lean, and a leaning card develops a bend that no amount of pressing removes honestly." }, { "id": "humidity", "rule": "Stable temperature and moderate humidity beat cold and dry.", "why": "Cardboard moves with humidity. It is the swing that warps a card, not the level, which is why an interior cupboard outperforms a garage or a loft." }, { "id": "light", "rule": "Keep them out of direct light.", "why": "Fading is the one form of damage that cannot be reversed and cannot be argued with, and it happens to displayed cards over years, not decades." }, { "id": "no-rubber", "rule": "Never a rubber band, never a paperclip.", "why": "A rubber band leaves a permanent indentation within weeks and a paperclip creases the corner the moment it is removed." } ] }, "insurance": { "sub_limit": "Homeowners and renters policies almost always cap collectibles far below the contents limit, and the cap is usually per loss rather than per item. The number to find is the collectibles sub-limit in your own policy, not the contents figure on the front page.", "rider": "A scheduled-items rider or a specialist collectibles policy covers the gap, is priced per hundred dollars of value per year, and normally has no deductible. Rates vary with location and storage, which is why the tool takes the rate as an input.", "documentation": "Whatever the policy, a claim is paid on evidence. Photographs of every card above a threshold, the certification numbers of every slab, and a dated valuation are what turn a loss into a payment." } }