Not tax advice. This is a general guide to what gets reported when you sell cards in the US, written from IRS guidance. Your situation decides the details, and a tax professional can confirm them for you.
Selling a card for more than you paid is income
When a card sells for more than it cost you, the difference is a gain you report. That is true whether or not a platform sends you a form: the IRS says all income is taxable unless the law says otherwise, even without a Form 1099-K (IRS, Form 1099-K FAQs).
Hobby, collection or business
How you report depends on what your selling is. The IRS looks at the whole picture, and no one factor decides it (IRS, hobby or business). Some of what it weighs:
- Whether you run it like a business and keep complete, accurate records.
- The time and effort you put in, and whether you depend on the income.
- Whether you change how you operate to make a profit, and whether you have made one.
A collector who now and then sells a card from their own collection is in a different spot from someone who buys boxes and singles to resell every week.
What you’ll report, at a high level
- Selling from your own collection. A gain on a personal item goes on Form 8949 and Schedule D. A loss on a personal item is not deductible, but you still account for the sale so a 1099-K amount is explained (IRS, what to do with Form 1099-K).
- Selling as a business. A sole proprietor reports sales on Schedule C, with the cost of the cards sold and expenses such as fees, shipping and supplies. When net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more, Schedule SE applies too (IRS, self-employment tax).
- A hobby with no aim of profit. The IRS says income from an activity not carried on for profit is reported on Schedule 1 of Form 1040 (IRS, hobby or business).
Form 1099-K
Payment apps and online marketplaces send a Form 1099-K when your payments for the year are over $20,000 and come from more than 200 transactions. That threshold applies to 2026: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act reinstated it in 2025, replacing the lower amounts announced before (IRS, IR-2025-107; IRS, understanding your Form 1099-K).
- You can get one below the threshold: a platform may send it anyway, and your state may have a lower threshold.
- It shows the gross amount, before fees, refunds and shipping. You subtract those when you report, which is why your own records matter.
- It is not a bill and not your profit. It is the starting number you reconcile.
Keep cost records from the start
Your cost is what turns a sale price into a gain or a loss. Without it, the whole sale price can look like profit. For each card, keep:
- What you paid and the date, with the receipt or order.
- Its share of a box, lot or bundle it came from (the box cost calculator does the even split).
- Grading fees and the shipping you paid to get it graded.
- For each sale: the price, the platform’s fees, and what shipping cost you (the fee calculator shows them).
Where Sabrina fits
Sabrina keeps these records as you go: what you paid, grading, sales and their fees, and the profit on each card. On Pro, it turns them into a Schedule C summary, a Form 8949 view, a 1099-K reconciliation and exports for your CPA. It shows what you’ll report; you or your tax professional file.
Sources: IRS.gov pages linked above, checked October 12, 2026.