Fanatics Collect believes helping collectors keep more of their sale proceeds can ultimately help them build better collections.
The company announced today at The National Sports Collectors Convention that they are launching FanCash Payouts, a new program that eliminates marketplace transaction fees for U.S. sellers who choose FanCash as their payout method on Buy Now and Auction sales.
Instead of receiving cash, sellers will receive FanCash and keep 100% of their sale proceeds, which can be spent across the Fanatics ecosystem, including Fanatics Collect, Fanatics.com, Topps.com, Fanatics Live, tickets, and memorabilia. There is no limit on how much FanCash a seller can earn, though standard vault fees remain unchanged.
The program marks a notable shift from the traditional marketplace model, where sellers often pay commissions of around 10% to 13%, with payment processing fees adding to the overall cost depending on the platform.
Since launching Fanatics Collect in July 2024, Bell and his team have steadily expanded the platform beyond its PWCC roots, adding a Buy Now marketplace, live commerce, grading partnerships and high-end auctions. FanCash Payouts are the latest step in that evolution.
Ahead of the launch, Fanatics Collect CEO Nick Bell spoke with Collectibles on SI about the strategy behind FanCash Payouts, why the company believes the timing is right, and how the initiative fits into its broader vision for the hobby.
A Collector-First Approach
While zero seller fees will grab the headlines, Bell said the larger goal is to remove friction from the collecting experience.
“I think we’re launching something which is genuinely new for the hobby,” Bell said. “You get pretty accustomed to the pain points and the friction in the industry. Fees have always been one of those pain points.”
Bell said the concept emerged from watching collectors continually buy, sell and upgrade their collections.
“The real insight for us across our marketplace and auction business is when you look at buyers and when you look at sellers, they’re often the same people,” Bell said. “As collectors, we’re constantly trading up.”
Unlike traditional online marketplaces, collectors rarely sell an item and leave. Instead, they’re often reinvesting those proceeds into the next card on their want list. Over time, Bell believes marketplace fees can make those goals harder to reach.
“Giving people the ability to keep 100% of their proceeds, we think, is just so collector-focused,” Bell said. “Our dream is that the card that was maybe unobtainable at one point maybe is all of a sudden obtainable.”
Why Now?
Bell said the concept had been “bubbling for a while,” but several trends convinced Fanatics it was time to bring the product to market.
“We were seeing people have offers accepted and very quickly going and buying another card,” Bell said. “We just thought there must be a better way to do this.”
Rather than simply lowering seller fees, Fanatics chose to eliminate them entirely for sellers who opt for FanCash.
“We’ve been pretty focused on figuring out a way to do this that didn’t just reduce fees but remove them completely,” Bell said.
Looking Beyond Seller Fees
For Bell, FanCash Payouts represent more than a marketplace feature. It’s another step toward creating a more connected collecting experience across Fanatics.
Collectors can use FanCash to purchase cards through Fanatics Collect while also spending it on Topps products, Fanatics Live breaks, tickets, memorabilia and other offerings across the company’s ecosystem.
Bell said the goal is to let collectors keep more of the value from each transaction, rather than seeing a portion of every sale consumed by marketplace and payment processing fees.
He also believes collectors increasingly expect hobby companies to deliver the same level of convenience as leading consumer brands.
“We’re very, very focused on setting the very highest consumer standards, not just the collector standards,” Bell said, pointing to companies like Amazon as examples of the experience collectors increasingly expect.
Building for the Long Term
Bell said FanCash Payouts are only the first of several collector-focused initiatives Fanatics Collect plans to introduce over the coming months. That long-term vision extends well beyond marketplace fees. Bell pointed to grading, shipping, collection management and access to information as areas where technology can continue reducing friction for collectors.
Ultimately, Bell hopes FanCash Payouts help collectors do more than save money.
“My favorite stories are when collectors tell me, ‘I finally got my hands on that card,'” Bell said. “That’s what we’re trying to do—build products and services that help collectors find and buy their forever cards.”
💸 RECORD SALE 💸
We just sold this Harry Kane 1-of-1 card for $49,200.
This marks a new all-time record price for any Harry Kane card. pic.twitter.com/KYstWuER1i
— Fanatics Collect (@Collect) July 25, 2026
If the program succeeds, Bell believes keeping more value in collectors’ hands today could help more of those dream cards find their forever homes tomorrow.
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LUCAS MAST
Lucas Mast is a writer based in California’s Bay Area, where he’s a season ticket holder for St. Mary’s basketball and a die-hard Stanford athletics fan. A lifelong collector of sneakers, sports cards, and pop culture, he also advises companies shaping the future of the hobby and sports. He’s driven by a curiosity about why people collect—and what those items reveal about the moments and memories that matter most.
