Sell a $100 card online and about $85 of it is yours — before you've bought a mailer, printed a label or paid for tracking. Every EV figure you've ever admired was quoted in market prices, and market prices are gross. You get paid in net.
The fee stack, itemized
Marketplace fees aren't one number, they're a stack. Approximate current rates, which vary a little by seller tier and category:
| Cost | TCGPlayer | eBay |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace commission | ~10.25% | ~13.25% |
| Payment processing | ~2.5% + $0.30 | included, + $0.30 per order |
| Shipping (tracked bubble mailer) | $4–5 | $4–5 |
| Shipping (plain envelope, low value) | ~$1 | ~$1 |
| Supplies per card (sleeve, toploader, mailer share) | $0.30–0.50 | $0.30–0.50 |
Call the platform take roughly 13% either way. Add shipping and supplies and the total haircut lands between 15% and, for cheap cards, over 40%.
Worked examples: $5, $50, $500
| Sale price | Platform fees | Shipping + supplies | You keep | Net % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | ~$0.95 | ~$1.40 | ~$2.65 | ~53% |
| $50 | ~$6.70 | ~$1.50 | ~$41.80 | ~84% |
| $500 | ~$64 | ~$6 | ~$430 | ~86% |
Two lessons hide in that table. First, the percentage improves as price rises — fixed costs stop mattering. Second, cheap singles are fee food: on a $5 card you're splitting the money roughly down the middle with the platform and the postal service. That's why bulk goes to buylists and lots, not single listings — the platform-by-platform selling comparison runs that math in full.
Why the calculator haircuts EV by 15%
The Pack Value Calculator ships with a fee toggle, on by default, that trims every EV and every Monte Carlo outcome by 15%. That's not pessimism — it's the difference between "worth" and "wired to your bank account."
It changes verdicts. As of our July 2026 snapshot, a Destined Rivals booster box carries about $279 of gross EV against a $640 price; after the haircut you're staring at roughly $237, and a bad margin becomes an awful one. Thin edges die entirely: a Digimon Versus Royal Knights box sits around -6% gross, which sounds like almost-breakeven until fees turn it into roughly -20%. Even the fat Yu-Gi-Oh reprint-box edges compress — a Rarity Collection 5 box showing about $754 of singles EV nets closer to $640 after fees, still positive, at which point liquidity becomes the real boss fight.
If a product only looks good with the fee toggle off, it isn't good.
Keeping more of your money
You can't dodge the stack, but you can stop feeding it:
- Batch your sales. Ten cards in one order means one shipping charge and one fixed fee, not ten.
- Respect the $5 floor. Below it, single listings barely pay you. Buylists quote less on paper but often net the same after fees and time — see the TCGPlayer fee breakdown for where the crossover sits.
- Sell locally when the price is close. A card show or LGS trade-in at 85% of market equals an online sale at 100%, minus the wait, the mailer and the return risk.
- Use plain-envelope shipping where the platform allows it on sub-$20 cards, and eat the occasional loss — it's cheaper than tracking everything.
- Price to sell once. Relisting and discounting an undercut listing for months is a cost too; it just shows up as time instead of a line item.
FAQ
What percentage does TCGPlayer take?
Roughly 10.25% commission plus about 2.5% and $0.30 for payment processing — call it 13% before shipping. Higher-volume seller tiers and Direct change the details but not the ballpark.
Is eBay or TCGPlayer cheaper for selling cards?
Fees land within a couple of points of each other. The real difference is audience: TCGPlayer buyers price-shop singles, eBay reaches collectors who pay up for graded and high-end. Pick the venue by card, not by fee schedule.
Do fees really matter on a big hit?
Less as a percentage, a lot in dollars. A $559 Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex nets you roughly $480 after the stack. If your box-ripping math needed the full $559, the math was wrong before you opened the box.