How to price cards for a show, a shop or online
Set three numbers for each card, what it sells for, the least you will take and your asking price, then use them at a card show, a local shop or online.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published 7 min read
Price every card from one figure: what the same card has recently sold for. From that comp, set two more numbers before you sell anywhere. Your floor is the least you will take, and your ask is the price you show. Then each venue uses the numbers differently. At a show, the ask goes on the sticker and the floor is where you stop haggling. At a shop, the shop names the price and your floor tells you whether to accept. Online, the ask is your listing price and the floor goes into your offer settings.
What are the three numbers?
| Number | What it is | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Comp | What the card sells for now | The middle of recent sales of the same printing and condition, or the same grader and grade |
| Floor | The least you will accept | What an online sale would leave after fees, adjusted for your time and the wait |
| Ask | The price on the sticker or listing | At or a little above the comp, leaving room for offers |
The comp does the most work, so get it right. Drop sales that aren’t the same card, and use only sold prices. Our guide on how to find what a card sold for sets out the method, and card price sites compared explains which source fits which card. Comps is the hobby’s word for those matching sales.
What does an online sale actually leave you?
This is the figure that sets a sensible floor, because selling online is usually your alternative to a quick sale in person. Take a made-up $40 card. The buyer pays $5 for shipping, which covers your postage exactly, and 7% sales tax on the item plus shipping, the rate TCGplayer uses in its own fee examples.
| Marketplace | How the fee is worked out | Fees on the $40 card | What you keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| TCGplayer, Level 1 to 4 seller | 10.75% of the item and of the shipping, plus 2.5% of the order total and $0.30 | $6.34 | $33.66 |
| Whatnot, US standard tier, sports or TCG | 8% of the item price only, plus 2.9% of the order total and $0.30 | $4.90 | $35.10 |
The arithmetic: the order total is $48.15 ($45 plus 7% tax). On TCGplayer, the commission is $4.30 on the item and $0.54 on the shipping, and the transaction fee is $1.50 (2.5% of $48.15, plus $0.30). On Whatnot, the commission is $3.20 (8% of $40) and the payment processing is $1.70 (2.9% of $48.15, plus $0.30). To run the same sums for your own card, enter its price in our seller fee calculator.
The rule that follows: a cash sale of about $34 to $35, at a show or a shop, leaves roughly what a $40 online sale does on these two sites. That is before you buy a mailer, and without waiting for the buyer to receive the card. Below that, the online sale leaves more, if you are willing to wait.
Fees change with the price. TCGplayer caps its commission on the item at $75, though the part charged on shipping has no cap. Whatnot lowers its rate for the next four-week period once your sales in one period reach $15,000. For eBay, and for $50, $250 and $1,000 examples, see our comparison of where to sell cards online.
How do you price cards for a card show?
Put a price on everything before you arrive. A buyer who has to ask a price often won’t. Bring pricing labels, and put a price on each card or on a whole category. For boxes of cheap cards, mark one price per card on the box, or a tiered price, with a lower rate per card for 5, 10 or 100.
Expect buyers to check your stickers. eBay’s app scans a raw or graded card and shows its median sold price in seconds, free, so a sticker far above recent sales stands out. Price from the same sales the buyer will see.
Keep your floors on your own list. For each card worth more than a few dollars, note the floor where only you can see it. When someone offers less than the sticker, counter between their offer and your ask, and stop at the floor.
Bundle the cheap cards. Offer multi-card discounts: selling more cards makes up for the lower price on each.
Write down what sold. Track what you sell and for how much. Those notes show what to bring more or less of next time.
For trades, value both sides from comps, and ignore the stickers. Our guide to your first card show covers how dealing works at the table.
How do you price cards for a local shop?
You don’t set the price at a shop. The shop does, and shops work differently. TCGplayer’s store software shows one way. A shop using it sets:
- a cash buy percentage and a store credit buy percentage, separately, for a game, a set or a single card, with condition and rarity settings for specific cards
- a stock level, after which the software refuses that card unless the shop allows more, and TCGplayer advises a lower rate for those extra copies
- its selling prices, from which the software works out what it will pay. TCGplayer’s example sets the selling price of Lightly Played copies at 70% of the base price a store picks.
TCGplayer’s own advice to stores is to give a little more in store credit, to bring customers back. So bring your comps and your floor for each card worth more than a few dollars. Compare the shop’s offer, card by card, with your floor, not with the comp, since a shop’s buy rates are a share of the card’s value. Take credit only if you already buy from that shop. Our guide to selling cards to a local shop shows the rates some shops publish.
How do you price an online listing?
On TCGplayer, the total is what ranks you. Listings appear in order of price plus shipping. TCGplayer’s own example: a card at $9.24 with $0.99 shipping sits below one at $9.50 with $0.50 shipping. Its seller tools show the Market Price, the Lowest Listing and the Last Sold Listing, and the last two both count shipping. A February 2021 TCGplayer seller blog post adds that the lowest price isn’t always the right one, once you count shipping and the time it takes to pack orders.
On eBay, turn your floor into offer settings. With Best Offer on a fixed-price listing, you can set a minimum offer amount, an automatic accept amount, or both.
- Offers below your lower limit are declined on their own.
- Offers at or above your upper limit are accepted on their own. That limit has to sit below your Buy It Now price.
- Anything in between comes to you. You have 24 hours to accept, decline, counter or let it expire.
- A counteroffer must fall between the buyer’s offer and your Buy It Now price, and it expires after 96 hours.
- In most categories, a buyer can make up to three offers per item.
Mapped to the three numbers: the Buy It Now price is your ask, the automatic decline sits at your floor, and the automatic accept sits at or near the comp. You can also send an offer to buyers watching the item or holding it in their cart, if it is at least 5% below the Buy It Now price. It goes to up to 30 of the most recent interested buyers and stays open for 96 hours.
Describe the card honestly. eBay asks for your own photos of the front and back that clearly show any blemishes or other flaws. Our guide to card condition explains each step from Near Mint to Damaged, and for a slab, name the grader and the grade and add the cert number.
When should you change a price?
Prices move, so treat each number as dated. TCGplayer advises sellers to update their prices regularly. eBay’s Price Guide refreshes its data every 24 hours. Check your comps again before each show, and when a listing has sat without offers. If recent sales have moved, move all three numbers together. For English Pokémon cards, Rip.fan’s card price lookup gives a dated NM market price, and the movers page lists the biggest changes between weekly checks.
Frequently asked questions
How does TCGplayer charge for cheap cards sold through Direct?
On a Direct order, a card valued at $2.49 or less carries a fee of half its value, in place of the usual commission and transaction fees. A card above $2.49 carries $1.12 per card on top of the standard fees.
How low can Whatnot's commission go?
As low as 3%, at its highest sales tier. Private shows, local pickup orders and cancelled orders are taken out of the 4-week sales total that sets your tier.
Does eBay's Price Guide count asking prices?
No. It is built from up to 2 years of completed eBay sales, matched to the same card and, where it can, the same grade, and it uses accepted Best Offer amounts in place of the listed price.
How do I keep shipping down on a cheap card sold on eBay?
Use eBay standard envelope. Under eBay's terms on October 27, 2026, it takes letters of up to 3 oz, card included, for items priced at $20 or less before tax, in eBay enabled categories.