How to Set Up eBay Business Policies for Card Selling
Before you can list cards in bulk, eBay needs to know your payment, return, and shipping terms. eBay calls these business policies, and MyCardBatch attaches them to every listing it builds for you. This is the one piece of setup that trips up new sellers — so here's exactly how to turn it on and what to create for cards.
What business policies are — and why they matter
Every eBay listing has to answer three questions: how does the buyer pay, can they return it, and how does it ship? Instead of re-answering those on every single card, eBay lets you save reusable business policies and attach them to listings by name. MyCardBatch uses those saved policies so a whole batch of cards can publish with the correct shipping and return terms automatically — no re-typing per card.
The catch: business policies are off by default, and a brand-new seller account usually has none. If you skip this step, clicking Import Policies in MyCardBatch returns nothing, because there's nothing to import yet.
The shortcut: let MyCardBatch create them
Most sellers should start here. It takes about a minute and skips Steps 1–4 entirely.
Connect, check readiness, click Create
- In MyCardBatch go to Settings › eBay and click Connect eBay Account.
- The eBay Listing Readiness panel appears and checks your account: a green tick for each of payment, returns, and shipping that's in place, and a red flag for anything missing or broken (including a shipping policy that exists but has no shipping service selected — a listing-killer that's easy to miss on eBay itself).
- If anything's missing, a Let us set these up for you form appears underneath. Choose your returns policy (30-day is recommended and helps in search), your handling time (1 business day recommended), and the two shipping prices — plain envelope (default $0.99) and tracked (default $4.99).
- Click Create my eBay policies. MyCardBatch opts your account in to business policies if needed, creates the policies on eBay, and re-imports them so they're selected and ready.
They're normal eBay policies once created — you can edit or rename them on eBay any time. If the button reports that a reconnect is required, disconnect and reconnect your eBay account: older connections were authorized before MyCardBatch could write policies, and reconnecting grants that permission.
Doing it by hand on eBay
Prefer to set them up yourself, or already have policies you want to keep? Here's the manual route.
Step by step
Opt in to business policies
On eBay, go to My eBay › Account › Business policies (or search "business policies" in eBay Help and follow the opt-in link). Click Opt in. This is a one-time switch that unlocks the ability to create and save policies. You usually need to be registered as a seller first.
Create a payment policy
Add a payment policy and give it a clear name like Standard Payment. With eBay Managed Payments (now standard for most sellers) the details are largely handled for you — the main thing that matters is that the policy exists and has a name you'll recognize.
Create a return policy
Add a return policy that matches how you want to sell. Common choices for cards are 30-day returns (more buyer-friendly, can help in search) or no returns for raw singles. Name it clearly, e.g. 30 Day Returns or No Returns.
Create your shipping policies (the card-specific part)
This is where cards differ from other items. Most sellers want two shipping policies:
- Plain White Envelope (PWE) — for low-value cards. Cheapest option; name it something like PWE or Envelope.
- Bubble mailer with tracking — for higher-value cards that need protection and a tracking number. Name it Bubble Mailer or Standard Shipping.
MyCardBatch automatically picks the right one per card based on price, so it's worth setting up both. You can always add more later.
Connect eBay to MyCardBatch and import
In MyCardBatch, open Settings › eBay Business Policies, click Connect eBay Account to authorize, then click Import Policies from eBay. Your payment, return, and shipping policies pull in automatically. Add your item location (city + ZIP) and package dimensions, and you're ready to list.
Troubleshooting: "Import Policies" returned nothing
Nine times out of ten this means one of two things:
- You haven't opted in to business policies yet (Step 1), or
- You've opted in but haven't actually created any policies yet (Steps 2–4).
The quickest fix is the shortcut above: click Re-check on the eBay Listing Readiness panel and let MyCardBatch create the missing policies for you. Doing it by hand instead? Go back to eBay, confirm at least one payment, return, and shipping policy exists, then click Import again. If they exist and still won't import, disconnect and reconnect your eBay account in Settings to refresh the authorization.
Troubleshooting: listings still get rejected
Two causes account for nearly all of them, and the readiness panel names both:
- No return policy. This is the number-one reason a first listing fails. eBay will not publish without one.
- A shipping policy with no shipping service selected. The policy exists, so it imports fine and looks correct — but eBay rejects every listing using it until an actual service (e.g. USPS Ground Advantage) is added to it on eBay.
Fix them, hit Re-check, and you want to see “Your eBay account is ready to list.” before you list a batch.
Policies set up? List your first batch.
Once your eBay policies are imported, MyCardBatch scans your cards, fills every field, and lists them via the eBay API or a ready-to-import CSV. Start with 100 free card uploads, no card required.
Get 100 Free Uploads →Frequently asked
Do I have to use business policies?
To list through MyCardBatch (and to list efficiently on eBay in general), yes — listings reference a payment, return, and shipping policy. Business policies are the supported, reusable way to provide them. You don't have to build them by hand, though: MyCardBatch can create them on your account for you.
What shipping policies do card sellers usually need?
Two is the sweet spot: a plain white envelope option for inexpensive cards and a bubble mailer with tracking for higher-value ones. MyCardBatch chooses between them per card based on price.
What's next after setup?
Read how to bulk list sports cards on eBay for the photograph → scan → review → publish workflow.