How to sell MTG cards: buylist vs consignment vs selling it yourself
By Bad Axe Card Co. · 2026-11-03
There are three ways to turn Magic cards into money: sell them to a buylist, consign them with a shop, or list them yourself. Each one trades money for time. A buylist pays the least and takes the least work. Selling it yourself pays the most and takes the most work. Consignment sits in the middle.
We run a consignment program, so we have a stake in this. We will still lay out the numbers honestly, because the right choice depends on your cards and how much time you want to spend. Fees below are as of November 2026; marketplaces change them often.
Option 1: Sell to a buylist
A buylist is a store's standing offer to buy cards. Big online stores such as Card Kingdom and Star City Games publish theirs, and most local game stores have one. You send a list, get an offer, ship or drop off the cards, and get paid after they are checked.
What it pays: buylist prices sit well below retail, because the store has to resell the card, pay staff and carry inventory risk. Cards the store wants badly pay better; cards it has plenty of may pay very little or nothing. Many buylists pay a bonus if you take store credit instead of cash, so credit is the better deal if you will spend it there anyway.
Good for:
- Large collections you want gone quickly.
- Cards a store is short on, where the buylist price is competitive.
- Bulk commons and uncommons, which are not worth listing one at a time.
Watch for: strict condition grading on arrival. A card you call Near Mint can be downgraded, which lowers the payout. Check the buylist's condition rules before you ship.
Option 2: Sell it yourself
Listing your own cards on a marketplace gets you closest to market price. You do all the work: listing, pricing, packing, shipping, answering messages and handling the occasional problem order.
The fees, as of November 2026:
| Marketplace | Seller fees |
|---|---|
| TCGplayer (Level 1 to 4 sellers) | 10.75% commission plus 2.5% + $0.30 transaction fee |
| Mana Pool | 5% marketplace fee (capped at $50 per item) plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing |
| eBay (trading cards) | 13.25% final value fee plus $0.30 or $0.40 per order |
On a $20 card, that works out to roughly $17 in your pocket on TCGplayer, about $18 on Mana Pool and about $17 on eBay, before your own costs. Then subtract what you spend on sleeves, toploaders, envelopes, mailers and postage beyond what the buyer pays, plus your time.
Good for:
- Sellers with time, who like doing it.
- Higher-value cards where a few percent matters.
- People who will sell regularly and can build seller feedback.
Watch for: new sellers on most platforms start with lower visibility, and a few bad shipments or condition disputes early on can hurt your standing. Untracked envelopes are cheap but leave you exposed on "never arrived" claims for anything valuable.
Option 3: Consign with a shop
Consignment means you give your cards to a shop, the shop lists and sells them, and you get a percentage of each sale. You keep ownership until a card sells, and you skip the listing, packing, shipping and customer messages.
Here is exactly how our consignment program works:
- You get 85% of the sale price, or 90% on cards listed at $25 or more.
- We list at 95% of TCGplayer market for the same printing, finish and condition, so 85% works out to roughly 81% of market.
- Cards must be worth at least $2 each to list. Cheaper cards are better sold as bulk.
- Payouts go out weekly, with a statement listing every card sold.
- Cards are graded against our condition guide, the same TCGplayer standard we use for everything we sell.
Compared with selling it yourself, you give up a few percent. Compared with most buylists, you usually keep a lot more. The trade-off is time: a buylist pays now, while consignment pays as cards sell.
Good for:
- Collections with many cards in the $2 to $100 range, too many to list yourself but too valuable for a buylist.
- Anyone who wants close to market value without becoming a seller.
Side by side
| Buylist | Consignment (ours) | Sell it yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your share | Lowest; varies by card and store | About 81% of market (about 85.5% at $25+) | Roughly 85% to 90% of your sale price before supplies and postage |
| Your work | Send a list and ship once | Send a list and hand off once | Every listing, every package, every message |
| When you get paid | Right after the cards are checked | Weekly, as cards sell | As cards sell, on the platform's payout schedule |
| Best for | Speed, bulk, cards a store needs | Mid-value collections, minimal effort | High-value cards, regular sellers |
How to get the most for your cards, whichever way you sell
- Sort first. Pull everything worth $2 or more. The rest is bulk and sells by the box, not by the card.
- Grade honestly. Look at edges, corners and the surface under a light. Overgrading costs you money in downgrades and returns. Our post on how condition changes a card's price shows the typical gaps.
- Check the exact printing. Set, collector number and finish change the price. A foil or a special frame can be worth many times the regular card.
- Use a collection app. Scanning cards into an app such as ManaBox gives you a list with set and finish that shops and marketplaces can import.
- Split the collection. Many sellers do best by listing the expensive cards themselves, consigning the middle and buylisting the bulk.
FAQ
Where can I sell MTG cards for the most money?
Selling yourself on a low-fee marketplace usually nets the most per card, if your time is free. Consignment comes close without the work. Buylists pay the least but pay fastest.
What is an MTG buylist?
A store's published list of what it will pay for specific cards. You send the cards, the store checks condition, and it pays cash or store credit.
How does consigning Magic cards work?
You hand over the cards, the shop lists and sells them, and you get a share of each sale. With us that is 85%, or 90% on cards listed at $25 or more, paid weekly. Start on our consignment page.
Are my bulk cards worth anything?
Some are. Bulk commons and uncommons usually sell by the thousand to stores. Check for foils, older cards and popular Commander cards before you sell a box as bulk.