Global commerce leader eBay launched a price guide and a collection tool for trading cards on Thursday that streamlines the process of buying and selling the items that have seen a resurgence in popularity.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrading card enthusiasts have been waiting for a tool to understand the real-time value of their collections, and manage their inventory as part of a portfolio,\u201d said Nicole Colombo, general manager of collectibles and trading cards at the San Jose-based company.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve created a more streamlined collecting experience that provides the crucial context collectors need to be able to assess opportunities, driven by eBay\u2019s unparalleled trading card inventory and data.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colombo said users have long looked to eBay for price valuations but that process can be time-consuming as users search the site to see what certain cards sold for.<\/p>\n
The new tools can do that work for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re basically searching, kind of like putting it together themselves and looking at sold items. And so, we\u2019re providing that service in a transparent, streamlined way,\u201d Colombo said. \u201cWe also heard feedback that people don\u2019t have a great way of tracking their own collection. And so we wanted to provide a service there, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The price guide allows for real-time valuation of both graded and ungraded cards and the collection tool allows users to track their card collections much like stockholders track their portfolios.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so those two things combined are meant to provide transparency into the market and to enable users to make decisions about buying, selling, trading, investing,\u201d Colombo said.<\/p>\n
The price guide and collection tools were launched in beta on Android, desktop and in the latest version of eBay\u2019s app in the Apple App store.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth are meant to be mobile-first tools\u201d and are beta versions because eBay is seeking feedback to enhance the platform, Colombo said.<\/p>\n
During the beta launch, the collection tool will support baseball, basketball, football, golf, ice hockey, soccer, Magic the Gathering, Pok\u00e9mon and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.<\/p>\n
Users can add items to their collection via their purchase history on eBay or by uploading a CSV file in order to track the value of individual items, categories or their full collection.<\/p>\n
Colombo said eBay has seen \u201cexplosive growth\u201d in the trading card industry over the last five years but especially during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
She said in the first quarter of 2021, the gross merchandise volume of trading cards at eBay was over $1 billion with 20 million new listings and an average of 139 cards sold per minute in the marketplace.<\/p>\n
Colombo said trading cards from all categories are seeing significant growth, especially Pok\u00e9mon and basketball cards.<\/p>\n
She said the tools will eventually be expanded to other eBay categories such as collectables, fashions and electronics.<\/p>\n