When you're deciding where to sell sports cards online in the US, four sites cover almost every sale: eBay, Whatnot, Mercari and Facebook Marketplace. Their fees sit within a few percent of each other on most cards. What really changes your result is who's buying, and whether the card is worth the time it takes to list and ship it.
Put a price into the calculator above. It applies each site's standard fees to the same sale and sorts them by what you'd receive.
What each site pays you on a $10 card
Lots of cards people want to sell are mid-range: a numbered parallel, a rookie of a decent player, an insert from a recent set. At $10, fixed fees still matter:
| Platform | Fees | You keep | Share kept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercari | $1.00 | $9.00 | 90% |
| Facebook Marketplace | $1.00 | $9.00 | 90% |
| Whatnot | $1.39 | $8.61 | 86% |
| eBay | $1.63 | $8.38 | 84% |
A $10.00 sale, standard settings, free shipping to the buyer, no sales tax, no ads.
Mercari's 10% with no fixed fee costs $1.00 on a $10 card. eBay's card rate plus its $0.30 per-order fee comes to $1.63. Under about $5, most single cards lose a big share to fees and postage on any site, which is why cheap cards usually sell better in team lots or player lots.
What each site pays you on a $250 card
For a graded rookie or a key vintage card, the percentage is what counts:
| Platform | Fees | You keep | Share kept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercari | $25.00 | $225.00 | 90% |
| Facebook Marketplace | $25.00 | $225.00 | 90% |
| Whatnot | $27.55 | $222.45 | 89% |
| eBay | $33.53 | $216.48 | 87% |
A $250.00 sale, standard settings, free shipping to the buyer, no sales tax, no ads.
At $250, eBay keeps $33.53 and Whatnot keeps $27.55 at its Standard tier. Facebook takes nothing if you sell locally and get paid in person. For cards at this level, though, the number of serious buyers usually matters more than a few dollars of fees. A card that gets one more bid on a busier site can make up the difference.
eBay: the main market for sports cards
eBay is where most collectors look up what a card is worth, because its sold listings are the biggest public record of card prices. That makes it the default for graded cards, rookies, autographs and vintage. Sports trading cards pay 13.25% of the total sale, including shipping and sales tax, up to $7,500, then 2.35% above that. The per-order fee is $0.30 on orders of $10 or less and $0.40 above.
The eBay trading card fee calculator shows the full breakdown, including Promoted Listings and how the per-order fee affects cheap cards.
Whatnot: live breaks and auctions
Whatnot is a live shopping app with a big sports card community. Sellers run auctions and breaks on stream, and buyers bid in real time. It works best if you have steady inventory and can show up regularly; a single card from a seller with no followers won't get much attention.
At the Standard tier, Whatnot charges 8% commission on the item price, plus 2.9% and $0.30 processing on the full order. On a $100 card that's $11.20. Commission drops as your monthly sales grow, and the Whatnot fee calculator shows each tier. The Whatnot vs eBay comparison puts the two side by side, including how eBay's fee on shipping and tax changes the gap.
Mercari and Facebook Marketplace
Mercari takes 10% of the item price plus any shipping the buyer pays, with no fixed fee. Its buyers are more casual than eBay's, so it's better for lots, team bundles and mid-range cards than for high-end singles.
Facebook Marketplace and local card groups are free when you sell in person. They're handy for big collections, boxes of commons and cards you'd rather not ship. Shipped sales pay 10% of the order total with a $0.80 minimum, so a $40 card shipped through Facebook costs $4.00. Meet in a public place and confirm payment before handing cards over.
Where to sell baseball cards
Baseball cards follow the same rules, with one twist: a lot of old collections are mostly common cards from the late 1980s and early 1990s, when far more cards were printed. Those sets rarely sell for much card by card. Before listing everything, pull out the cards that matter: stars, rookies, Hall of Famers, older vintage and anything graded.
Those valuable cards go to eBay, where collectors search by player and year. The rest usually sell faster as complete sets, team lots or a single bulk lot, on eBay, Facebook or Mercari, or to a local card shop.
Where to sell sports cards in person: shops, shows and consignment
A local card shop or a card show dealer will pay you straight away, but they need margin to resell, so expect less than the price a collector would pay you online. Card shows also let you trade, and dealers can tell you quickly which cards are worth grading or listing.
Consignment services sell your cards for you and take a commission. Their terms vary a lot, so compare what they charge with the fees on the sites above before you send anything in.
The best place to sell trading cards, by type
- Graded cards, rookies, autos and vintage: eBay, for the largest pool of collectors.
- Steady inventory you can sell live: Whatnot.
- Lots, team bundles and mid-range cards: Mercari or eBay.
- Big collections and bulk: Facebook Marketplace locally, a card shop, or a bulk lot.
- Pokémon and other card games: see where to sell Pokémon cards, which adds TCGplayer.
Common questions
What is the best place to sell sports cards?
For valuable cards, eBay has the most buyers and the clearest price history. Whatnot is strong if you sell regularly on live streams. Facebook Marketplace is free for local, in-person sales.
Which site charges the least to sell sports cards?
Facebook is free for local sales. For shipped sales, Mercari often costs the least on cheaper cards because it has no fixed fee: a $25 card costs $2.50 there, against $3.71 on eBay. On expensive cards, Whatnot's Standard rate is lower than eBay's.
Should I get my cards graded before selling?
Only when the grade is likely to add more than the grading costs. That's usually true for high-value cards in excellent condition, not for common base cards. Check sold prices for raw and graded copies of the same card first.
Are old baseball cards worth selling?
Some are. Older vintage cards, stars and rookies can be valuable, but many cards from the late 1980s and early 1990s were printed in huge numbers and sell for little. Check sold listings before you decide how to sell them.
Sources
Fees last checked against these official pages: eBay trading cards (US) on 2026-10-14; Whatnot (US) on 2026-10-12; Mercari (US) on 2026-10-14; Facebook Marketplace (US) on 2026-10-15. We re-check every source daily and update the calculators when a platform changes its fees.
- eBay Help: Selling fees
- Whatnot Help: Seller fees
- Whatnot Help: Reduced commission on high-value orders
- Whatnot Help: Reduced commission on Coins & Money
- Whatnot Help: Taxes on commissions and fees
- Mercari Help: Fees on Mercari
- Facebook Help: When you'll get paid for selling with shipping