No More ‘Used’ Trading Cards on eBay: Either Graded, or Ungraded

eBay will no longer allow sellers to list “used” trading cards on eBay – instead, it will require sellers to indicate if the cards are “graded” or “ungraded.” And it will require them to be specific about who graded the cards, telling them that for graded trading cards, they must “Add the relevant grader, numerical grade, and the certification number (recommended).”

Sellers will have to describe the condition of “ungraded” cards. The changes impact all single trading cards in the following categories:

• Sports Memorabilia, Cards & Fan Shop > Sports Trading Cards > Trading Card Singles
• Collectibles > Non-Sport Trading Cards > Trading Card Singles
• Toys & Hobbies > Collectible Card Games > CCG Individual Cards

eBay announced its decision to revamp the system for indicating condition in the trading card category on Wednesday and said it would auto-migrate current listings to the new system this month. A seller immediately asked on the eBay discussion boards, “What happens to existing listings when there is not a one-to-one match? Do they stay new/used until the seller updates? Do they convert to ungraded? Something else?”

An eBay moderator replied as follows:

“If the seller were to revise their listing via one of the UI tools, and opt into the new experience for that listing via the opt-in link, we will move whatever condition grading related item specifics that we can move to the new condition grading structure on draft load. The seller would have to move any that we could not move for them.

“If the seller doesn’t touch the listing, nothing happens; It stays in its current state for the time being.

“We probably would not take any action on existing listings that have not been revised and therefore have not migrated, for several months.”

And in response to the seller’s question, “What’s the deadline for sellers making these updates before they run into problems,” the moderator replied:

“Ans: “For sellers who use our UI clients, the new structure would be required on the revision of an existing listing in October of 2023.””

In its announcement, the company directed sellers to a page on the eBay website where it provided additional information and told sellers, “Stay tuned for more announcements coming in October.”

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/.