Do you have an entire collection of MTG cards and thinking of selling them for cash?
You’re not alone! Card collectors worldwide see the potential of their MTG collection to convert to cold hard cash with the right timing and platform.
Just recently, Alpha: Black Lotus broke its record, selling at $540,000 in an online auction—proof of rare cards’ hefty market price.
If you have a collection worth selling, this article shows you how to sell magic cards on online marketplaces, local stores, and trading events.
- Why You Should Consider Selling Magic Cards
- Problems With Selling Magic Cards
- What You’ll Need to Sell Magic Cards
- Where to Sell Magic Cards
- How To Sell Magic Cards: Step-By-Step Guide
- Things to Consider When Building a Magic Cards Business
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Similar Tutorials to Check Out
- Wrapping Up
Why You Should Consider Selling Magic Cards
Collectors have different reasons for selling MTG cards, but here are the top things that make trading cards a worthy endeavor for earning more money.
- Attractive Market Value: Uncommon and rare cards increase in value over time. A Black Lotus was sold for $166,000 in 2019, $511,100 in 2021, and a staggering $540,000 this year.
- Solid Fanbase: With over 40 million players annually, the resale and trading of MTG cards remain in full swing. Selling cards individually or in bulk guarantees profit, especially if you have one of those much-coveted mythic rare cards.
- Ample Selling Options: With high demand comes vast selling opportunities. You can sell cards through your local gaming store or partner with online shops.
- Opportunities to Discover Profitable Cards: Selling magic cards online helps you spot profitable cards not part of your core collection. Cards you don’t like but have been around for years can have a fair price due to their age.
Problems With Selling Magic Cards
As with any items up for sale, some factors make magic cards selling a risky trade. Here are issues to look out for.
Many Cards Aren’t Worth Much
While seeing a few cards priced at thousand-dollar figures is impressive, most don’t earn much. Cards like Solve the Equation and Rhythm of the Wild are widely available among collectors but only have a market value of less than $10 each.
You need to own any of the top 15 most expensive MTG cards to get considerable earnings from a set.
You Shoulder the Extra Costs of Independent Selling
Selling your magic collection independently can be your most straightforward option. You contact interested buyers, arrange for the card’s delivery, and get paid. However, this only makes it worth the hassle if you sell valuable cards, guaranteed to bring considerable profit.
You’ll need to pay for packaging and shipping costs, which can offset the amount you’ll earn from selling MTG cards.
Game Shop Undercuts
If you’re looking at getting rid of your magic cards fast and earning some bucks, visiting a local game store is an easy solution. Unfortunately, this is often a rip-off choice for people selling many cards but don’t know how much the cards’ market price is.
Gaming stores rarely sift through bulk cards collection, so they’ll likely offer a fixed price for your items at first glance, which can be less than their actual value.
Can Take Time
There’s no shortcut to selling all your magic cards by yourself. Even if you’re publicly advertising the items on social media, it doesn’t guarantee an immediate sale.
What You’ll Need to Sell Magic Cards
You don’t need to be a hardcore fan to sell MTG cards. It can help you in terms of marketing, yes, but the primary items you’ll ever need to start selling are the following:
- Magic Card Collection: Gathering cards and separating them into their categories is a great way to start. Identify which are uncommon, rare, and mythic, as these cards have real value.
- Preferred Selling Option: Decide on methods you’d want for selling. If you like doing it online, Facebook Marketplace and online shops like eBay are worth considering.
- Payment Methods: Get to know the compatible payment methods of your preferred platform. Do they pay through bank transfer or PayPal? Some platforms pay through store credit once they’ve finished grading your cards.
- Buylist Price: You can get this from shops and legitimate websites that buy cards as part of their reselling inventory. It’s a price list for each card, which is constantly updated, and will serve as your reference to get a ballpark figure of your entire collection’s cost.
Where to Sell Magic Cards
The online marketplace is packed with platforms where you can sell your magic cards for cash. Here are the top three places to check for the best value offer for your MTG collection.
1. Card Kingdom
Card Kingdom has been buying magic cards from owners since 1999 and has built a reputation as one of the most reliable platforms for selling singles and bulk rare cards.
They have an excellent buying guide and have decent price offers than most retailers.
Card valuation through this platform depends on their pre-determined base price and the card’s condition. For example, a card priced at $25 in excellent condition has a payout rate of 85%. This means you’ll get paid $21.25 to your PayPal account.
What Makes This Option Great
Card Kingdom is great for owners who want to sell their collection but prefer to avoid dealing with other collectors. The platform itself is your buyer, who then sells your card to other people using it to purchase cards.
Card Kingdom also allows you to request payment via store credit, which is a huge plus if you regularly use the site to shop for collectibles.
- Fees/Commission: Creating an account and putting a sell order in Card Kingdom is free, but you’ll shoulder shipping fees, taxes, and all processing fees involved in sending your card for assessment to the company.
- Payment Methods: Credit Card, PayPal, and Store Credit
2. eBay
With over 140 million active users, eBay is an easy choice for listing and selling your cards and making them available to the platform’s vast customer base. Many individual magic card owners choose eBay for its straightforward account setup process.
It also now has a scanning feature that helps you upload your card information by scanning it through your phone. This makes listing easier and faster since you won’t have to input all the card details manually.
What Makes This Option Great
eBay is an excellent pick for magic card sellers who want to avoid the hassle of sale management. Traffic is guaranteed on eBay, which saves you the need to craft complex marketing strategies to inform people about your cards.
- Fees/Commission: eBay gets a 13 – 15% of your sales as their commission.
- Payment Methods: Bank account linked to your eBay profile.
3. TCGPlayer
TCGPlayers claims to be the largest online marketplace for trading cards. It allows sellers to list their cards for free and access a comprehensive price comparison of particular cards across different stores. This ensures you can offer a competitive price for your collection.
This platform also allows you to send your cards to TCGPlayer, who handles the packaging and shipping once you make a sale. It works like the Amazon FBA, which helps you focus more on selling cards and removes the hassle of fulfilling orders.
What Makes This Option Great
TCGPlayer is perfect for sellers who want to sell a massive collection of cards to other magic card enthusiasts.
Its enormous customer base almost always guarantees sales, even the less popular cards. Its multi-tier seller types are a huge plus for card owners planning to start a serious MTG card business.
- Fees/Commission: An 8.95% to 10.25% commission fee, depending on your seller type, plus PayPal fees if you choose this payment method.
- Payment Methods: Bank accounts, PayPal, and Store Credit
How To Sell Magic Cards: Step-By-Step Guide
Selling magic cards can be tedious, especially if you’ve got a huge collection. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you streamline the process and get the best possible earnings from them.
STEP 1: Sort Your Cards Individually
Start by identifying your card collection’s rarity. Look at the set symbol at the lower right of the card’s art. Black symbols represent Common cards that cost less than $1 and are best sold in bulk along with the rest. Cards with real value have silver, gold, or orange set symbols.
Once you’ve separated all the Commons, check their printing dates at the bottom right of the card. Common cards printed in 1997 and older can still equate to fair money due to age.
After sorting, you should have four separate card piles – commons, uncommon, rares, and mythic rares.
STEP 2: Pull Up a Card Appraisal Service
Go online and check how much the price of your card is. An example is TCGPlayers’ automated scanning feature that lets you upload a scanned image of your card to pull out its average price details across the market.
This helps you identify Bulk from Chase cards. Bulk cards are those priced at $3 or less, while Chase collections are those in-demand cards priced more than $3.
STEP 3: Separate Reserved List Cards
MTG’s Reserved List are cards that will never be printed again. This means you’re among the lucky few who can benefit from its increased price valuation in the coming years. If you have any of these, it’s best to hold onto them as a long-term investment.
STEP 4: Choose a Selling Method
Once all the cards are in order, choose a platform where you can sell the cards. Online marketplaces like the ones we’ve listed get you the best value for your cards, averaging 70% earnings from the total card price.
Selling through local game shops sounds easier, but they often have a set price or percentage cut for specific cards regardless of market value. You’ll usually get between 30 – 60% earnings at best.
STEP 5: Set Up Your Payment Details
Have your bank account or PayPal details ready when selling your cards. Regardless of the platform, you’ll be asked to provide these details so buyers can easily wire you the card payment.
If you’re selling at online shops with a Store Credit option, ensure you know how much you will receive. Some shops offer 30% top-up credit on top of your earnings if you choose this option.
Things to Consider When Building a Magic Cards Business
If you’re looking at building a full-on magic card business instead of one-off selling, ensure you run through the following considerations first.
1. Massive Card Collection
Do you own an extensive magic collection? Unless you own expensive cards that can be sold individually, having various magic cards is essential for a decent profit.
You must also be acquainted with the top card buyers and sellers in town to know where people buy and sell their collections.
2. Online Shop Listing Process
You’d want to invest in ways to make the card listing process seamless for sellers. This is crucial given how established online retailers automate their end-to-end transactions.
3. Pricing
How do you price your cards? The best way is to get the average buy lists from different platforms, including add-on fees associated with packaging and shipping.
4. Marketing Strategy
How do you promote your magic card business? Starting from scratch requires you to set clear marketing objectives. This helps you focus on a single strategy that resonates with magic card enthusiasts and random card collectors.
Remember that competition is tough even if you operate at a smaller scale than those established dealers. A solid marketing plan helps you establish your voice and authority in the market.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Most Expensive MTG Card?
Black Lotus is historically the most expensive MTG card ever sold. On March 16, 2023, PWCC Marketplace’s auction sold it for $540,000.
But that’s not even its highest price to date! Sometime in 2022, Post Malone claimed paying $800,000 for an artist-proof copy of Black Lotus.
What are the Best-selling MTG Cards Today?
MTG Cards’ bestseller list can vary, but April listings include Etali, Primal Conqueror, City on Fire, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer (Multiverse Legends), Drana and Linvala (Showcase) and Ozolith, the Shattered Spire.
Similar Tutorials to Check Out
Here are alternative online gigs to check that you can do any time of the day:
- Selling on Amazon without Inventory: Build an online business on Amazon without needing storage facilities. You only focus on marketing the product, and Amazon takes care of the rest.
- Selling on Instagram: Do you know how to take great photos and share them on Instagram? This article helps you leverage your skill to sell goods and earn money on this platform.
- Selling Notes Online: There’s real money in note-taking! Find out how to sell your notes and earn cash.
Wrapping Up
Selling magic cards sounds like a thing for hardcore Magic: The Gathering fans, but in reality, anyone who’s got a collection and wants to earn money can do it.
You only need to know where to sell and do some research to get an average dollar figure for your cards.
Which of the three platforms we’ve listed do you prefer? Are there any places you’ve tried that are not on the list? Let’s hear about them in the comments!
