Fees and shipping

The price of a Pokémon card is seldom the whole cost. Fees, shipping and taxes come on top, and they determine what the buyer actually pays and what the seller is left with. This entry describes the types of cost; current rates are found in the platforms' and carriers' own price lists.

Seller fees

Most marketplaces charge the seller. Typical items are:

• Sales commission: a share of the sale price, sometimes also of the shipping amount.
• Payment fee: a cost for processing the payment, often a percentage plus a fixed amount.
• Listing fee: some platforms charge for putting an item up, whether or not it sells.
• Extra services: promoted listings, subscriptions for professional sellers and the like.

Structure and level differ between auction platforms, TCGplayer and Cardmarket, and change regularly. Check the companies' current price lists before calculating a sale.

Shipping and insurance

Cards are light but fragile. Shipping cost depends on country, shipment type and whether tracking is included. Common practices:

• Single cards are often sent in protective sleeves and rigid holders inside a padded envelope.
• Tracking lets you follow the parcel and helps in disputes about something not arriving.
• Insurance or a declared value can be relevant for expensive shipments, but terms vary a lot between carriers.
• Slabs and sealed products need sturdier packaging and weigh more, which raises shipping.

Several cards from the same seller in one order normally lower the shipping cost per card. Combining an order is therefore common if the platform allows it.

Other costs

Cross-border trades can bring additional costs:

• VAT, duty and a clearance fee on import, see importing to Norway.
• Currency conversion, where the bank or card issuer may add a margin, see currency.
• Grading, which has its own fees and shipping costs at the grading company; see the company's price list.

Small and large trades

Fixed fee and shipping amounts hit cheap cards hardest: for a card with a low price, shipping alone can make up a large share of the total. On expensive cards the same items become a small share, but insurance and secure packaging come more into focus. It is therefore useful to look at the total amount rather than individual items.

Effect on price comparisons

A market price is normally quoted without shipping and fees. That means two cards with the same listed price can have different final costs, and that a seller receives less than the sale price. Anyone comparing prices between platforms should therefore compare the total delivered price, not just the card price. This entry gives no rates or estimates, since these change and must be read at the source.