TanXTanXSyndicate
Where to Buy Graded Pokémon Cards: Fees Compared (eBay, TCGplayer, Whatnot, Fanatics Collect, TanXSyndicate)
Every platform in this hobby has a house, and the house always wins — until it doesn't. eBay's cut runs about 13% before a card even ships. TCGplayer's standard tier runs about the same. This page lays out, platform by platform, what sellers actually pay to sell a graded Pokémon card online right now — and what that means for the price you see as a buyer. Every number below is pulled from each platform's own current help page, linked at the source. No estimates, no third-party fee calculators.
Last verified: September 26, 2026. Fees change — always confirm current rates on the platform's own site before relying on this for a business decision.
The short version
| Platform | Seller fee | Payment processing | On a $100 sale, seller keeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBay | 13.25% final value fee | Included in the 13.25% + $0.30–$0.40 per order | ~$86.35–$86.45 |
| TCGplayer (Marketplace tier) | 10.75% commission | 2.5% + $0.30 transaction fee | ~$86.45 |
| TCGplayer (Direct tier) | 8.95% commission + $1.12 Direct fee (items over $2.49) | 2.5% | ~$87.43 |
| Whatnot (standard tier, TCG) | 8% commission (drops to 6.5%–3% at high volume) | 2.9% + $0.30 (US) | ~$88.80 (standard) — higher at volume tiers |
| Fanatics Collect (Buy Now, under 120% of market value) | 6% seller fee, all-in | No separate charge stated | ~$94.00 |
| Fanatics Collect (Weekly / Premier Auction) | Seller commission not published — buyer pays a 20% buyer's premium on top of the hammer price | — | Contact Fanatics Collect for consignment terms |
| Local card shop (consignment) | Varies by shop, commonly 20–40% of sale price | Varies | Ask your shop — rates aren't standardized |
| TanXSyndicate | 0% — sold direct from the collector | — | $100.00 |
Figures assume a $100 sale, USD, standard/lowest published tier where a platform has multiple tiers. TCGplayer, Whatnot, and Fanatics Collect fee math is TanXSyndicate's own calculation applying each platform's published rate to a $100 example — the rates themselves are quoted directly from the sources below.
Platform by platform
eBay
eBay charges a 13.25% final value fee on most trading card categories, plus a per-order fee of $0.30–$0.40. That fee is charged on the total the buyer pays, including shipping. There's no separate payment-processing line item — it's bundled into the 13.25%.
What you get: the largest buyer pool in the hobby, eBay Money Back Guarantee buyer protection, and a huge amount of price-comparison data from sold listings. Trade-off: the fee is the highest of any platform on this list, and it's baked into the price you see as a buyer.
TCGplayer
TCGplayer runs two seller tracks. Marketplace sellers pay a 10.75% commission (capped at $75 per item) plus a 2.5% + $0.30 transaction fee — about 13.25% combined, similar to eBay. Direct sellers (TCGplayer holds and ships the inventory) pay a lower 8.95% commission plus a 2.5% transaction fee, but add a separate Direct fee: 50% of card value for items $2.49 and under, or a flat $1.12 per card above that.
Source: TCGplayer Fees — official help center.
What you get: a buyer base built specifically for trading cards, with pricing history by exact card/set/condition. Trade-off: similar fee load to eBay on the standard tier; Direct listings add per-card fees that add up on cheaper cards.
Whatnot
Whatnot's commission for TCG sales starts at 8% and drops as a seller's trailing four-week sales volume grows — down to 6.5% in the mid tiers and as low as 3% for the highest-volume sellers on custom terms. On top of commission, Whatnot charges a payment-processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per order in the US (2.42% + €/£0.25 + VAT in the EU/UK), calculated on the full order total including shipping and tax.
Source: Whatnot Seller Fees — official help center.
What you get: live-auction-style selling with real-time bidding and a built-in audience. Trade-off: the lowest published tier (3%) requires very high sales volume and a dedicated account manager — most sellers are paying 6.5–8% plus processing.
Fanatics Collect
Fanatics Collect's Buy Now marketplace uses a flat, simplified fee: 6% of the sale price for listings under 120% of the card's Card Ladder market value, or 12% for listings priced at or above that threshold. No buyer's premium, no separate processing fee stated, and buyers pay no fee at all — the listed price is the price. Fanatics Collect also runs Weekly and Premier Auctions (Premier requires an estimated value of $15,000+), where buyers pay a 20% buyer's premium on top of the hammer price; Fanatics Collect doesn't publish a seller-side commission for consigned auction items on their public FAQ, so sellers should confirm those terms directly before consigning.
Source: Fanatics Collect Buy Now Fees and Fanatics Collect FAQ.
What you get: the lowest published all-in seller fee of any major marketplace on this list, plus a vault/authentication system. Trade-off: a smaller, newer buyer pool than eBay or TCGplayer, and the 12% tier kicks in fast on cards priced above market value.
Local card shops (consignment)
Rates vary shop to shop and aren't published in any standard way — commonly somewhere in the 20–40% range of the final sale price, sometimes with a sliding scale by item value. The advantage is a local, in-person relationship and no shipping risk; the trade-off is a much smaller buyer pool than any online marketplace and a fee that's usually higher than every option above.
TanXSyndicate
Every card here is sold direct from the collector — me — with no marketplace cut. That's not a discount code or a promotional rate; it's the whole model. Every graded card's certification number links straight to PSA's or CGC's own public lookup so you can verify the grade yourself before you buy, shipping is free and insured within the US, and there's a published refund policy.
No platform on this page can charge 0% forever — eBay, TCGplayer, Whatnot, and Fanatics Collect are businesses that need marketplace revenue to operate. TanXSyndicate isn't trying to be all of them at once. It's one collector's inventory, sold honestly, without a fee structure sitting between the price and the card.
A note on buyer protection
Marketplace buyer protection (eBay Money Back Guarantee, Whatnot's buyer protection, card-issuer chargeback rights) is real and worth knowing about — it's one honest reason some buyers prefer to shop on a large marketplace over an independent seller's site, regardless of fees. Buying direct from TanXSyndicate, your protection is the store's own refund policy plus your card issuer's standard purchase protection (chargeback rights apply the same way they would on any online store). If that trade-off matters to you, factor it in alongside the price.