eBay No ‘Used’ Trading Cards Policy Goes into Effect This Month

eBay announced a new policy in July in which it will no longer allow sellers to list trading cards as “used” on its platform, and on Monday, it announced the new policy will take effect on October 23, 2023.

The new policy requires sellers to indicate if trading cards are “graded” or “ungraded” – they may no longer list them as “used.” In July, it said it would auto-migrate current listings to the new system that month.

Sellers of ungraded cards must indicate the card condition, while for graded cards, sellers must provide the name of the professional grader and the grade of the card. eBay also “recommends” sellers include the certification number of graded cards. eBay linked to a landing page that provided more information about selling trading cards.

eBay has entered into relationships with authenticators and offers an Authenticity Guarantee service for Trading Cards (and other categories) backed up by its Moneyback Guarantee.

eBay’s Trading Cards is one of a few “focus categories” where eBay is spending resources as part of its strategy to turn buyers into “lifelong enthusiasts.” Last year, it announced eBay Vault where it physically stores trading cards for owners and collectors inside a 31-thousand-square-foot facility. This July, eBay opened the Vault to eligible cards purchased off-eBay.

The week’s announcement was posted on the eBay Seller Announcement board and includes a link for sellers to revise their listings to comply with the new policy.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.