Guide · Last updated 2026-07-17
Cheapest Way to Sell Trading Cards UK
What it really costs to sell your Pokemon, Magic and other TCG cards in 2026, with seller fees on eBay, Vinted, Cardmarket, Whatnot and the Packrat marketplace compared side by side.
Quick Answer
Selling a few cards should not need a spreadsheet, but the fee models across the big platforms changed a lot in 2024 and 2025, and they are not comparable at a glance. Some charge the seller, some moved the cost onto the buyer, and the headline rate rarely tells the whole story. This guide lays out what you actually keep on a sale, and where the Packrat marketplace lands against the rest.
How Selling Fees Work in 2026
The UK resale market split into two camps. The big generalist platforms, eBay and Vinted, dropped seller fees for private sellers and moved the cost onto the buyer as a "buyer protection" fee. The card-specialist venues, Cardmarket, Whatnot and TCGplayer, still charge the seller a commission, anywhere from 5% to about 15%.
That matters because a fee on your buyer is not free money. It makes your card more expensive to buy, which is exactly what slows a sale down. The fairest way to compare is to look at two things together: what you keep, and what your buyer pays on top.
The number that actually matters
The Seller Fee Ladder
Here is what it costs the seller to move a £20 single card on each platform, cheapest first, with the buyer-side fee noted because it shapes how fast you sell.
Free to sell and card processing covered. Your buyer pays just £0.70, the lowest protection fee going, so your card is cheaper to buy.
Free to list, but your buyer pays about £1.50 (7% + 10p), and it is a generalist marketplace, not built for cards.
Free to list, buyer pays roughly £1.70. Fashion-first, so trading-card liquidity is thin.
No platform fee, but no escrow and no protection. Fraud risk sits entirely with you, cash in person only.
You pay 2.9% + 30p processing, and the buyer pays up to 5% + £1 on top. Fashion-first audience.
A clean flat 5% and nothing else. Card processing is still on Packrat, and your buyer keeps the low £0.70 fee.
5% commission, but euro-denominated with currency conversion and post-Brexit customs friction on parcels to EU buyers.
8% commission plus 2.9% + 30p processing (inc VAT), and the buyer pays a fee too. Live-auction format only.
10.75% commission plus processing. US-based sellers only, so a UK seller cannot list here.
Basis: a £20 single card, private seller, item price only (postage settled separately). Percentages are the cost to the seller. Competitor figures are current at the time of writing and can change, so check each platform for live rates.
The Packrat marketplace sits in the cheapest group either way. As a Founder or within your monthly free sales you keep the full £20 like you would on eBay or Vinted, and past that you pay a clean flat 5% that still beats the card specialists. The difference is on the other side of the sale: your buyer pays the lowest protection fee of any protected marketplace, so your listing is the cheapest one they see.
Platform by Platform
| Platform | You pay | Your buyer pays | Built for cards? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packrat | 0% (Founders / free tier), then flat 5%, processing covered | £0.30 + 2% protection | Yes, TCG-specific with escrow |
| eBay UK | 0% for private sellers | ~7% + 10p protection | No, generalist |
| Vinted | 0% | ~5% + ~70p protection | No, fashion-first |
| 0% (local cash) | Nothing, and no protection | No, informal | |
| Depop | 2.9% + 30p processing | Up to 5% + £1 | No, fashion-first |
| Cardmarket | 5% commission + FX | Nothing | Yes, but EU-based |
| Whatnot UK | ~12.4% (8% + processing) | A buyer fee too | Yes, live-auction only |
| TCGplayer | ~14.5% | Baked into price | Yes, US sellers only |
eBay and Vinted are genuinely free to list on and have huge audiences, so for a quick clear-out they are reasonable. The trade-offs are the higher fee your buyer carries, no card-specific condition tiers or verification, and, on Vinted, a thin card-buying audience. Cardmarket is excellent for European sellers but carries currency and customs overhead for a UK one. Whatnot suits live sellers who enjoy the auction format but takes a much bigger cut, and TCGplayer is simply not open to UK sellers.
Facebook and cash sales
What Packrat Charges
What you pay
- 0% on your first sales each month (unlimited for Founders, up to a monthly cap)
- 5% flat after that, and nothing else
- Card processing covered by Packrat, not deducted from your payout
- No listing fees and no mandatory subscription
- Payout to your bank, or as store credit
What your buyer pays
- The item price plus postage
- A small £0.30 + 2% buyer-protection fee
- Far below eBay's 7% + 10p or Vinted's ~5% + 70p
- Their payment is held in escrow until delivery is confirmed
- A 14-day dispute window if something goes wrong
Because Packrat is a TCG-specific marketplace, listings use standardised condition tiers (NM, LP, MP, HP, DMG), sellers are verified UK traders, and the audience is there to buy cards, not browsing a general marketplace. That combination, a low cost to you and the lowest cost to your buyer, is what makes it the cheapest genuinely protected way to sell.
Worked Example: Selling a £20 Card
Say you sell a single card for £20. Here is what you take home, and what your buyer hands over, on each protected option.
| Platform | You keep | Buyer pays | Total cost of the sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packrat (Founders / free tier) | £20.00 | £20.70 | ~3.5% |
| Packrat (standard 5%) | £19.00 | £20.70 | ~8.5% |
| eBay UK | £20.00 | £21.50 | ~7.5% |
| Vinted | £20.00 | ~£21.70 | ~8.5% |
| Cardmarket | ~£19.00 | £20.00 | ~5% + FX |
| Whatnot UK | £17.52 | £20 + a buyer fee | ~12%+ |
You keep as much on Packrat as on eBay or Vinted, and often more, while your buyer pays the least. On the specialist venues that charge the seller, you simply keep less. Facebook local is the only genuinely cheaper option, and only if you are happy to meet in person with no protection.
Which Should You Use?
Sell on Packrat if you want
- The lowest all-in cost on a protected sale, 0% to 5% with processing covered
- Your buyer to pay the least, so your card sells faster
- A card-specific marketplace with verified sellers and condition tiers
- Escrow protection and a proper dispute process, not just cash and hope
The others still have a place
- eBay for graded slabs and one-off legacy items where its scale wins
- Facebook local for a trusted, in-person cash sale with someone you know
- Cardmarket if you are based in the EU rather than the UK
- Whatnot if you enjoy selling live in an auction format
Frequently Asked Questions
For a protected sale, the Packrat marketplace is the cheapest. Packrat Founders members and every seller's first sales each month pay 0%, then a flat 5% platform fee, and Packrat covers the card processing fee rather than deducting it from your payout. eBay and Vinted are also free to list on, but they charge your buyer a 7% to 8.5% protection fee that makes your card dearer to buy, and neither is built for trading cards. Facebook Marketplace is free for local cash sales but offers no protection at all.
Since late 2024 private sellers on eBay UK pay no final value fee on most items, so listing is effectively free. The cost moved to the buyer: eBay's Buyer Protection fee is about 7% on the item value up to £20 plus a small fixed fee, tapering on higher amounts. Trading cards over £350 also get free authentication. So while eBay costs you little to sell, your buyer pays more than they would on Packrat, which can slow your sell-through.
For a UK seller, usually yes. Cardmarket charges a 5% commission, similar to Packrat's standard rate, but it is a euro-denominated European marketplace, so a UK seller also carries currency conversion costs and post-Brexit customs and import-VAT friction on parcels sent to EU buyers. Packrat is UK-domestic with no cross-border overhead, and Founders pay 0%.
No. Packrat absorbs the Stripe card processing fee, funded by the small buyer-protection fee, so your payout is the sale price minus only the platform fee (5%, or 0% for Founders and within your monthly free allowance). Most other seller-fee platforms deduct card processing from what you receive.
Facebook Marketplace and buy/sell groups are free for local, cash-in-person sales, but there is no escrow, no dispute process and no protection, so the fraud risk sits entirely with you. On Packrat, your first sales each month are free of platform fees (unlimited fee-free within the allowance for Founders), and every sale is held in escrow until delivery is confirmed, so free does not mean unprotected.
On a protected, TCG-specific marketplace, Packrat has the lowest all-in cost: 0% to 5% to the seller with card processing covered, and the lowest buyer-protection fee of any protected marketplace, so your cards are cheaper to buy and sell faster. Dedicated card venues like Whatnot (around 12%) and TCGplayer (around 14.5%, US sellers only) cost far more.
List your cards where they cost the least to sell
0% for Founders and your first sales each month, a flat 5% after that, card processing covered, and the lowest buyer fee going. Verified sellers, escrow protection, and an audience that is there to buy cards.
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