Selling, fees & tax

Best Offer Negotiation Calculator

Sellers evaluate an offer by what it nets them after fees, not by the headline. This works out what your offer actually puts in their pocket, what a realistic acceptance point looks like, and where to open so the conversation continues.

—suggested opening offer

What each offer level nets the seller.
Offer	% of asking	Seller nets	vs comps	Likely response

Sellers think in net, not in headline

A $300 offer on a $400 card looks like a 25% cut. To the seller it is $260 after fees against $347 if they hold out for the asking price. Framing your offer against their net — and knowing the fee comes off whatever number you agree — is what separates an offer that gets countered from one that gets declined without a reply.

seller nets = offer × (1 − fee rate) your offer relative to comps is what actually decides it, not your offer relative to the asking price

Days listed is the strongest signal

A card listed for two months at an unchanged price has already failed to sell at that number, and the seller knows it. Flexibility rises steeply after about thirty days and again after ninety. A card listed last week is worth offering on only if the asking price is genuinely above the comps.

The offer that works. A number just above what a low-ball would be, sent with one line explaining the comps you looked at. Sellers decline silent low-balls reflexively; the same number with a reason attached gets a counter surprisingly often.

Questions people ask about this

What percentage should I offer on a Best Offer listing?

Work from recent sold prices rather than from the asking price. Offering 80–85% of the asking price is a common opening, but if the card is listed 20% above the comps that same offer is still above market. Cards listed longer than 30 days attract meaningfully lower accepted offers.

How much do sellers usually accept below asking?

It depends far more on how long the card has been listed than on the price. A listing under a fortnight old rarely moves more than 5–10%; one past two months frequently moves 20% or more, because the seller has already learnt the asking price does not clear.

Should I explain my offer to the seller?

Yes — one line naming the recent sold prices you looked at. Silent low offers get declined reflexively because they read as chancers. The identical number with a short reason attached reads as a buyer who has done the work, and gets a counter far more often.

Where these numbers come from

Rates on this page were last checked against the published price lists on September 4, 2026. Grading companies change fees and pause tiers without notice — confirm the total on the submission form before you pay.