eBay Is Cutting Its Fees In Half – What Does It Mean To Card Collectors?

If you’ve been sitting on some heavy hitters in your collection, eBay just gave you a reason to list them. The platform announced a massive 50% cut to Final Value Fees on cards selling for $1,000 or more, running from March 3 through May 4, 2025.

Why are they doing that and what does it mean? Find out in our overview why eBay is cutting its fees in half.

The details on how eBay is cutting its fees in half

This isn’t just another routine promotion. The timing is particularly interesting, as the trading card market is projected to hit $13 billion in 2024, with steady growth expected through 2025.

eBay’s move seems calculated to capture a bigger slice of the high-end market during what’s shaping up to be a busy spring season.

Breaking the new eBay fees

• The standard 13.25% fee on sales up to $7,500 gets cut in half
• The 2.35% fee on amounts over $7,500 also drops by 50%
• Applies to all trading cards: sports, non-sports, and TCG
• Both auction and Buy It Now listings are eligible

Here’s the catch: you need to opt in. This isn’t automatic, so activate the promotion through eBay’s dedicated page. Miss that step, and you’ll still pay full fees. And of course, this only applies to relatively high-end cards.

However, there are many sales at these price points, and that is exactly where these percentages can be so important. 13% of a card in that range can be hundreds of dollars. Therefore, it makes sellers more likely to budge off their price and buyers more likely to get that card they have been watching for weeks.

This is likely the idea. To get some of these significant items sitting in a specific fee bottleneck, and clear them during this period.

How this compares to regular fees

Let’s get into what this fee cut means for your wallet. Here’s how the math works out:

Regular Fees:

• 13.25% on sales up to $7,500
• 2.35% on anything above $7,500
• Plus a $0.30 per-order fee on sales under $10
• Plus a $0.40 per-order fee on sales over $10

Promotional Fees (March 3 – May 4):

• 6.625% on sales up to $7,500 (50% off)
• 1.175% on anything above $7,500 (50% off)
• Standard per-order fees still apply

With the trading card market expected to hit $13 billion in 2024, this move looks like a strategic play to cement their dominance in the high-end market.

They’re not just being generous – they’re likely trying to keep big sellers from migrating to competing platforms like PWCC and Goldin, especially as Fanatics continues its aggressive expansion into the card market.

Let’s break down what this means in real dollars:

On a PSA 10 Luka Doncic Prizm rookie at $3,000:

• Regular fees: $397.50 + $0.40 = $397.90
• Promotional fees: $198.75 + $0.40 = $199.15
• Your savings: $198.75

On a monster card at $10,000:

• First $7,500: $993.75 (regular) vs. $496.88 (promo)
• Remaining $2,500: $58.75 (regular) vs. $29.38 (promo)
• Total fees: $1,052.90 vs. $526.66
• Your savings: $526.24

The bigger picture

This promotion isn’t just about savings – it’s about market dynamics. With over 600,000 sports cards changing hands weekly on eBay, this fee cut could unleash a flood of high-end inventory that sellers have been sitting on.

Think about it: if you’ve been holding a five-figure card, waiting for the right moment to sell, eBay just gave you half-off your selling costs during one of the hottest periods in the collecting calendar.

Indeed, eBay’s timing here is masterful. This isn’t just about the projected 22.1% growth in the sports memorabilia market – it’s about capturing the perfect storm of sporting events that drive card values.

MLB Opening Day creates buzz around prospect cards and vintage baseball, the NBA playoffs historically spike values of players making deep runs, and The Masters always drives interest in golf cards. Add in eBay’s two Marquee Auctions (March 13 and April 21), and you have a two-month window where smart sellers can maximize exposure and profits.

For sellers sitting on high-end inventory, this is your moment. That PSA 10 Luka rookie you’ve been nervous about listing? That vintage Mantle that’s been sitting in your safe?

The fee reduction essentially puts thousands back in your pocket – but only if you’re strategic. The key is timing your listings with these major sporting events, when buyer interest peaks and prices typically surge.

Remember the crucial step of opting into the promotion. Missing that checkbox on a five-figure sale isn’t just a rookie mistake—it’s enough lost profit to fund your next big card purchase.

The eBay Fee problem

eBay has become a minefield of financial challenges for sports card collectors looking to offset their hobby expenses. The platform’s fee structure creates a brutal math problem for low-end card sellers, where even a $1.50 card can result in mere pennies of profit.

The breakdown is stark: a $1.49 card typically nets the seller just $0.09 after accounting for eBay’s $0.30 per-transaction fee and 13.25% final value fee, plus shipping and packaging costs.

Unlike early criticisms that paint eBay as ruthless, the platform’s evolution tells a more nuanced story. As one forum user eloquently argued, eBay’s overhead has dramatically increased over the past decade.

The company isn’t simply extracting fees, but maintaining a complex infrastructure that connects millions of buyers and sellers globally. Much like a mall leasing storefront space, eBay provides a marketplace where sellers can reach an unprecedented audience – and that access comes with a cost.

The packaging paradox

Sellers find themselves in a delicate balance between protecting cards and maintaining profitability. Many meticulously package cards with penny sleeves, top loaders, team bags, and cardstock, adding costs that further erode slim margins.

Some sellers have resorted to creative solutions like using semi-rigid card savers and splitting cardstock to reduce expenses.

The irony is palpable: collectors are essentially paying to keep their hobby alive, with many viewing eBay sales as a way to offset the cost of box breaks and pack purchases rather than generate meaningful income.

Systemic challenges

The problems extend beyond simple mathematics. Large sellers flood the market with low-end cards, forcing individual sellers to lower prices continually. Buyers frequently attempt to negotiate on cards already priced at minimal margins, seemingly unaware of the complex cost structure behind each sale.

The situation is compounded by eBay’s fee calculations, including sales tax when determining final value fees, a practice that some sellers find particularly egregious.

What emerges is not a story of villainy. Still, regarding marketplace evolution, as one of their executives described, eBay’s strategy focuses on creating a buyer-friendly environment that sustains the entire ecosystem.

By prioritizing buyer trust and protection, they ensure a continuous flow of transactions. For sellers, it’s a pragmatic trade-off: accept the fees and reach millions, or attempt to build an independent platform with significantly higher individual marketing and infrastructure costs.

Competition is heating up in sports card marketplace

eBay is facing serious challenges in the sports card marketplace, and competitors are increasingly threatening its dominance:

Fanatics is actively recruiting major sellers away from eBay, with some mega-sellers defecting to their new platform. This direct poaching of top sellers significantly threatens eBay’s market position.

The platform is also struggling with internal issues that are driving sellers away. eBay recently changed how they report views to sellers, now only showing the previous 30 days instead of the entire listing length.

Even more critically, sellers complain that eBay’s new search result changes are “KILLING the Sports Card Market” for buyers and sellers.

Emerging competitors are offering compelling alternatives. MySlabs, for instance, is gaining traction with a dramatically lower fee structure of just 1%, compared to eBay’s hefty 13.25% + $0.30 per sale. High-end auction sites like Goldin and PWCC attract serious collectors with specialized platforms.

While eBay still leads as the top selling channel, these mounting challenges suggest its grip on the market is loosening.

The platform needs to address seller concerns and platform functionality to maintain its competitive edge.

The importance of sports cards to eBay

Market commitment and strategic investments

Through a series of strategic moves, eBay has demonstrated an unprecedented level of commitment to the trading card market. In the first half of 2021 alone, card sales on eBay amounted to $2 billion, highlighting the platform’s dominant position in the collectibles marketplace.

Key strategic developments

COMC partnership

eBay has struck a significant commercial agreement with COMC (Check Out My Collectibles), a leading sports trading card technology company.

Gene Cook, VP of Global Collectibles at eBay, emphasized their shared commitment to innovation: “We’re excited to work with a company that shares our commitment to innovating for collectors and sellers.

Authentication services

eBay launched a comprehensive Trading Card Authenticity Guarantee, partnering with Certified Collectibles Group to authenticate high-value cards. The service covers:

• Ungraded cards valued at $750+
• Graded cards valued at $2,000+
• Professional multi-point inspection
• Tamper-proof authentication

eBay vault

The company introduced a 31,000 square foot, climate-controlled storage facility for trading cards. This secure vault allows collectors to:

• Safely store high-value cards
• Sell cards seamlessly
• Benefit from eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee

Marketplace refinement

In October, eBay instituted a new policy requiring sellers to specify whether trading cards are graded or ungraded, demonstrating their commitment to marketplace transparency.

Investment rationale

Tim Getsch, CEO of COMC, articulated the strategic vision: “We are excited to utilize eBay’s investment to accelerate our pace of innovation, improving the experience for our customers, employees, and partners.”

These investments solidify eBay’s position as the premier platform for trading card enthusiasts. With $2 billion in card sales in just the first half of 2021, the company is leveraging its market dominance to provide unprecedented services to collectors.

Industry experts anticipate continued innovation, with eBay potentially expanding authentication services to more card categories and lowering price thresholds for verification.

For many, what began as a way to recoup hobby expenses has become a complex exercise in micro-economics, with eBay emerging as both facilitator and financial gatekeeper of the sports card resale market.

Final word on how eBay is cutting its fees in half

With the sports memorabilia market showing strong growth trends, this promotion could spark serious movement in the high-end card market. If you’ve got premium cards you’re considering selling, the next two months might be your sweet spot.

Just remember: May 4 isn’t just a listing deadline—items need to sell by then for the discount to apply. And don’t forget to opt in. There’s nothing worse than making a five-figure sale and realizing you’re paying full fees because you skipped that one crucial step.

As for the bigger picture: eBay’s 50% fee cut isn’t just a promotion – it’s a calculated chess move in a rapidly evolving collectibles marketplace. By strategically targeting high-end cards during peak trading season, they’re sending a clear message: we’re not just competing but fighting.

This isn’t about generosity. It’s about survival.

With Fanatics and specialized platforms nibbling at their market share, eBay is throwing sellers a lifeline – a challenge. List now, sell big, and remember who made it possible. The message is clear: eBay remains the king of card trading and is not giving up the throne without a fight.