YuGiOh remains a thriving competitive scene — and market — even 25 years after its creation
The YuGiOh trading card game (TCG) was created in Japan in 1999 as a physical recreation of the Duel Masters game featured in the manga of the same name. Twenty-five years later, YuGiOh remains one of the world's most popular trading card games alongside Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering, setting Guinness world records for the most entrants in a single TCG tournament and holding the largest TCG tournament ever.
Walk into any card or hobby shop and you’re bound to see players of all ages playing and trading YuGiOh cards. This popularity creates a lucrative market for anyone looking to sell YuGiOh cards online. Whether you have a collection you want to offload, or you’re looking to dip your toes into the hobby for the first time, the following tips will help you get the most value out of your cards.
Looking to sell other kinds of trading cards? Learn how with our article, A Practical Guide to Selling Trading Cards Online.
Where to sell YuGiOh cards online
YuGiOh's recent surge in popularity comes from a variety of sources. There are new players getting into the game for the first time. There are the older collectors who are rediscovering their love for the game and are looking for that hit of nostalgia as they seek out cards they couldn’t get when they were kids. And there are the resellers, looking to capitalize on a hot market.
The market for YuGiOh cards is much different than it was when it first launched, and there are now more resources than ever for connecting with potential buyers. The following is a list of some of the most popular options for sellers — choose the marketplace that best fits your needs.
eBay
eBay is one of the longest-running online marketplaces and auction sites in existence. It’s also one of the most reliable ways to buy and sell YuGiOh cards online.
Let’s get the negative out of the way first. eBay’s seller fees could be pretty high, shaving off a significant portion of the final sale price. These fees are on top of any taxes, shipping costs, or promotional advertising fees, reducing the amount of money you’ll pocket. If you sell YuGiOh cards through eBay, be sure to keep these fees in mind when setting up your listing.
The tradeoffs are generally worth it, though. eBay’s audience is massive, with millions of visitors worldwide looking to buy YuGiOh cards. The platform makes it very easy to get your cards listed and advertised. It handles all of the payment processing and will even help out with international shipments to expand your reach further. Plus, eBay guarantees authenticity on trading cards to give customers peace of mind. Once someone buys your card, all you need to do is ship it to eBay’s verified authentication facility — they’ll handle the rest.
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Other online marketplaces
Sites like Mercari and Offerup bridge the gap between conventional marketplaces like eBay and local garage sales or swap meets. These resources tend to foster a more casual deal-making atmosphere, with automated reduced offer values built into the buying experience to encourage haggling. While you might end up with a lower final sale price than a site like eBay, you’ll generally pay less in seller fees.
If you prefer to sell your cards locally but still want an online approach, consider options like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. These sites connect you with people in your local community who are on the hunt for YuGiOh cards. If you have a hot item, the turnaround from listing your card to making the sale can be almost instantaneous. Plus, you won’t have to pay any seller fees (unless you choose to ship your cards through Facebook Marketplace).
However, because these platforms are essentially online classified ads, they take no responsibility for the outcome of the sale. That means you need to be extremely careful when meeting potential buyers. Do what you can to vet the buyer before agreeing to the sale, and choose public spaces to conduct business.
TCGplayer
In addition to being a vast resource for checking and pricing YuGiOh card values, TCGplayer offers a marketplace dedicated to connecting interested trading card buyers and sellers through its massive online database. Each YuGiOh card’s database entry contains listings from individual users, all priced according to the card’s quality and aligned with the market value rate.
Online communities
Rather than list your cards on an online marketplace, why not skip the middleman and go right to the people who want them the most? Online communities like Reddit’s r/YGOMarketplace or trading groups on Facebook offer a direct line to players and collectors. When listing your cards in communities such as these, be mindful of any listed rules and processes before posting to avoid having your post deleted or your account banned. Also, some communities are restricted to private membership, so you may need to reach out to the group’s moderators and apply for entry before you can list your cards.
How to sell YuGiOh cards online
Each marketplace has its own specific rules and requirements to sell YuGiOh cards online. Even so, the general process of capturing images of your collection and shipping cards to buyers is generally similar. The following steps will help you figure out how to sell YuGiOh cards on eBay or anywhere else you choose to list them.
1. Scan your card collection
Collectors are sticklers for quality. They want to be sure that the card they see in your listing represents the card they’re buying. The best way to provide quality images of your YuGiOh collection is with a digital scanner capable of capturing high-resolution images.
A flatbed scanner that can produce scans between 300 and 600 dots per inch (dpi) will offer the best results while preventing additional damage to your collection. Some scanners include automated feeders designed for ID cards, so you can scan the YuGiOh card without bending or creasing it. These scanners also work, though you may want to place the card into a protective plastic toploader first to prevent damage.
The resulting image should be an accurate digital representation of your YuGiOh card, warts and all. People are willing to purchase cards that are of less than pristine quality if they are aware of their condition up front, so don’t try to hide imperfections. A clear scan of the front and back that captures the edges of the card’s borders will help to head off any questions or concerns buyers may have.
Your scanner may also come with software that will help you name and organize your collection. For example, RICOH comes with PaperStream scanning software, which automatically names scanned images based on set criteria to help you work more efficiently. It’ll also automatically rotate scanned images to keep cards consistently aligned.
Did You Know?:All RICOH fi and SP scanners come with powerful PaperStream Capture software. Learn more about how its included features make scanning trading cards easier than ever.
2. Look up card values and list them
With your collection scanned, it’s time to get a rough idea of each YuGiOh card’s value. TCGplayer is the most commonly accepted determination of a card’s market value. This value isn’t a guarantee of the card’s final sale price, but it provides a reasonable estimate of what you can expect to earn. TCG Player also tracks the change in value over time, letting you know when a card’s price is on the rise or if it’s time to sell before the dip.
Knowing the card’s value upfront will help you determine a reasonable asking price. Each marketplace has its own rules for listing trading cards, but there are a few standards that apply everywhere. Your listing should include the scanned image and a sufficient text description that provides the card's name and any imperfections that may not be immediately apparent from your images. You can set a shipping cost or offer free shipping to entice buyers to your listing. If you do the latter, factor shipping into your final fee to avoid surprises.
3. Pack your cards up and ship them
Congratulations! You’ve made the sale. Now, it’s time to mail your cards to the buyer.
To protect cards during shipping (and avoid disappointing customers), insert your card into a plastic penny sleeve and place this card into a toploader. Sandwich the card between two pieces of cardboard and tape the halves together so the card won’t move during shipment. Then, wrap the card with bubble wrap and place it into a bubble mailer. Ship this package via First Class, or Priority Mail if the customer is willing to pay the extra shipping cost. These precautions aren’t a complete guarantee against shipping damage, but they do offer significant protection against the elements or careless delivery workers.
If your card is worth over $100, consider adding insurance to your shipment. The extra shipping cost will help protect you in case the card is damaged or lost during shipping. Also, consider requiring a signature on delivery to ensure that the buyer actually receives the package once it’s delivered.
Our recommendation: fi-8250
Those in the market for a YuGiOh card scanner have no shortage of options. We take great pride in having spent the last 50+ years researching, designing, and developing some of the most advanced and powerful electronics in the world, including our professional grade fi and SP series of scanners.
Built to purpose for the most demanding document handling jobs, fi and SP scanners are capable of processing tens of thousands of pages per day at the highest levels of accuracy. Their intuitive integration capabilities with all existing work suites minimize time-to-value for businesses looking to invest in tools that will pay dividends for years to come.
The RICOH fi-8250 scanner is the perfect choice for collectors of YuGiOh and other valuable trading cards. It’s equipped with a letter-size flatbed scanner designed to capture high-quality digital images of your cards without damaging them. It also employs Ricoh’s proprietary Clear Image Capture technology to ensure every detail is represented with crystal clarity. Click here to learn more or shop the rest of our production scanner line.
Note: Information and external links are provided for your convenience and for educational purposes only, and shall not be construed, or relied upon, as legal or financial advice. PFU America, Inc. makes no representations about the contents, features, or specifications on such third-party sites, software, and/or offerings (collectively “Third-Party Offerings”) and shall not be responsible for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of such Third-Party Offerings. Please consult with a licensed professional regarding your specific situation as regulations may be subject to change.
