Gen Z is embracing one decades-old phenomenon: Trading card games like Pokémon.
Collectible card games were the most-purchased secondhand product category for Gen Z in the US on eBay so far this year, according to data from the e-commerce platform.
The trend was especially clear among Gen Z men, who collectively shifted spending from electronics to trading cards and other collectibles, according to eBay. Trading cards were also the top secondhand sales category among Gen Z women on the platform, followed by books and cameras.
While trading cards for franchises such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! initially became popular with kids and teens in the US in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the data shows that the cards remain popular, even among those who were born as they were taking off.
Part of the enduring popularity is because those people who grew up with trading cards are now passing the interest on to their own kids, Aaron Ottensmann, a 29-year-old who runs card sales business SassyTCG, told Business Insider.
"You're starting to see people like me having kids, and they're picking up starter decks and playing with their kids," Ottensmann said.
While Ottensmann said he sources cards from distributors, the business has become competitive enough that some newer sellers buy cards at retailers like Walmart and Costco, then resell them.
Other customers are after high-dollar cards, with some turning to trading cards as an alternative to investing in the stock market.
In early December on Ottensmann's eBay shop, shoppers could find about two dozen cards or packs of cards priced over $1,000. His most expensive sale over the past year, a set of 127 early Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, sold for about $75,000 through eBay.
Trading cards are one part of the broader secondhand sales market, which eBay said is expanding in a report released last month.
About 82% of survey respondents said they planned to spend more on secondhand items this holiday season than they did in 2024, according to the company's Recommerce Report.
Shopping secondhand has gained popularity this year, especially as President Donald Trump's tariffs have raised the price of some goods and added costs to items ordered from outside the US.
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