Guide · Last updated 2026-07-17
Packrat vs eBay: Selling Fees Compared
Both are effectively free to list on, so the real question is what your buyer pays and how that shapes your sell-through. A clear seller-side comparison for 2026.
Quick Answer
Since eBay UK dropped final value fees for private sellers, the old "eBay takes 13%" line no longer tells the story. Both eBay and Packrat cost a private seller almost nothing to list. What actually separates them is where the fee lands, and whether the marketplace is built for trading cards at all.
The Headline Difference
| Packrat | eBay UK | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay to sell | 0% (Founders / free tier), then flat 5% | 0% for private sellers |
| Card processing | Covered by Packrat | Covered by eBay |
| Your buyer pays | £0.30 + 2% protection | ~7% + 10p protection |
| Built for cards | Yes, TCG-specific | No, generalist |
| Condition tiers | Enforced NM / LP / MP / HP / DMG | Free-text, unstandardised |
| Protection | Escrow until delivery confirmed | Money Back Guarantee (general) |
The one line that matters: you keep about the same on either platform, but on Packrat your buyer pays far less, and you are selling in a marketplace built for cards rather than a general one.
Where They Sit in the Field
For context, here is what it costs the seller to move a £20 card across the main UK options, with Packrat and eBay in their places.
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.
What You Keep
On a £20 card, a private eBay seller keeps the full £20 because listing is free. On Packrat you also keep £20 as a Founder or within your monthly free sales, or £19 once you are on the flat 5%. Card processing comes out of neither, both platforms absorb it for you.
| £20 card | You keep | Fee to you |
|---|---|---|
| Packrat (Founders / free tier) | £20.00 | 0% |
| Packrat (standard) | £19.00 | flat 5% |
| eBay UK (private) | £20.00 | 0% |
So on the seller side it is close to a tie, with Packrat Founders and eBay both at zero. The tie-breaker is entirely on the other side of the sale.
What Your Buyer Pays
This is where the two diverge, and why it matters to you as the seller. The buyer fee is added at checkout, so it makes your card more expensive to buy.
| £20 card | Buyer fee | Buyer pays |
|---|---|---|
| Packrat | £0.30 + 2% = £0.70 | £20.70 |
| eBay UK | ~7% + 10p = £1.50 | £21.50 |
A high buyer fee competes with your own listing
Beyond Fees
Fees aside, the two are structurally different places to sell a card:
Packrat
- Built for TCG: set, number, language, condition
- Enforced condition tiers reduce disputes
- Verified UK sellers
- Escrow holds the payment until delivery is confirmed
- An audience that is there to buy cards
eBay UK
- Generalist listings, free-text condition
- Huge audience across every category
- Any registered seller, no TCG vetting
- General Money Back Guarantee process
- Strong for graded slabs and vintage
When eBay Still Wins
This is not a case that eBay is bad. For some sales it is the right tool:
- Graded slabs: a PSA, CGC or BGS grade authenticates the card, so eBay's audience matters more than seller reputation.
- Scarce vintage: out-of-print cards and sealed often have more buyers actively searching on eBay.
- Auction discovery: if you genuinely do not know a card's value, an auction lets the market set it.
For current singles and sealed product, though, Packrat nets you the same or more, costs your buyer less, and gives both sides card-specific protection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both are effectively free to list for private sellers, so on paper they look similar. The real difference is the buyer fee. On eBay your buyer pays about 7% plus a small fixed fee, which makes your card dearer and can slow the sale. On Packrat your buyer pays only £0.30 + 2%, the lowest of any protected marketplace, so your listing is cheaper to buy. You keep the full price on Packrat as a Founder or within your monthly free sales, or lose just 5% after that, with card processing covered either way.
Since late 2024, private sellers on eBay UK pay no final value fee on most categories, so selling is effectively free for you. eBay moved the cost to the buyer as a Buyer Protection fee. Business sellers still pay standard final value fees. So for a private seller the headline is not what you pay, it is what your buyer pays on top of your price.
Because it changes the total your buyer sees at checkout. A £20 card costs an eBay buyer about £21.50 after their fee, but a Packrat buyer only £20.70. The cheaper a card is to buy, the faster it sells and the more likely you are to get your asking price rather than an offer. A high buyer fee quietly competes against your own listing.
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). eBay also absorbs processing for private sellers, so on that point they match, but Packrat's buyer fee is far lower.
For graded slabs and scarce vintage cards, where eBay's sheer audience and the third-party grade matter more than seller reputation or fees. For current singles and sealed product, a TCG-specific marketplace like Packrat usually nets you the same or more while costing your buyer less and giving both sides escrow protection and enforced condition tiers.
Keep more, and give your buyer the best price
0% for Founders and your first sales each month, a flat 5% after, card processing covered, and the lowest buyer fee going. A marketplace built for cards, with escrow on every sale.
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