Walmart takes on eBay in collectibles space
The Walmart Marketplace third-party e-commerce platform is zeroing in on collectors of cards and other memorabilia.
In response to internal data showing trading card sales have grown more than 200% year-over-year on Walmart Marketplace, the retailer is making its first-ever appearance at the National Sports Collectors Convention through Sunday, Aug. 3 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill.
The retailer also recently hosted its third annual Walmart Collector-Con digital event and says it will appear at major collectible gatherings this year. Walmart Marketplace is offering increased access to graded singles, sealed boxes, sports memorabilia, coins, comics, and other items.
Coming soon, collectors will see grades from companies like PSA (a strategic partner of eBay, a major player in the collectibles space), CGS and NGC, displayed for select categories on Walmart Marketplace. And an online collector shop launched in fall 2024 is having new features released, including:
- New filters that let customers search and discover collectibles by team, event, card number, autograph and edition.
- The shop is spotlighting essential collector-grade information, such as condition, grade and detailed seller information, right on the product page.
- New grade and condition badges, now displayed across search, browse and product pages, provide at-a-glance credibility.
Walmart is also rolling out a more efficient and consistent onboarding experience for collectible sellers that provides step-by-step guidance, and collectible sellers will be able to leverage a range of new attributes and condition options for item descriptions, such as specifying grading companies and exact grades as well as identifying the specific sport franchise, athlete, or artist.
In addition, Walmart has changed item return settings give sellers more control and flexibility and is teaming up with collectible livestreamer WeTheHobby to launch a recurring livestream series on the Walmart Live platform this fall during the NFL season.
Other new services Walmart is offering collectors include a partnership with Mascot, a platform that helps collectibles sellers manage their listings across major channels. The retailer says it rigorously vets sellers and invests in technology to fight counterfeit collectible items.
eBay targets collectors
As mentioned above, collectibles represent an increasingly important product category for eBay, and Walmart’s growing presence in the collectibles vertical represents a challenge to eBay’s efforts to serve as the premier online platform for buying and selling collectible items.
eBay recently unveiled its first-ever public sale of PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator)-graded comic books on its eBay Live livestream shopping platform. In March 2025, the e-tailer officially integrated grading from PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), a trading card authentication and grading company it has been strategically partnering with for about two years.
This value-added service applies to cards which already qualify for eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee program. If a card does not pass Authenticity Guarantee, it is returned to the seller and the buyer’s purchase is refunded.
eBay also recently launched the "Evolving Shop," a limited-time curated shopping experience featuring Pokemon-themed rare trading cards and merchandise in honor of Pokemon’s 29th anniversary.
[READ MORE: ‘Pokemon Day’ returns to eBay – for three days]
In addition, eBay offers a series of exclusive Funko products as part of a collaboration with the pop culture brand, and ran a limited-time promotion featuring collectible “Star Wars” merchandise and memorabilia in May 2024.
