Within hours of the 2025 New York City Marathon wrapping up, finisher medals began appearing for sale online. A quick look at eBay shows that the shiny, gold-toned Abbott World Marathon Majors medal, handed to every runner who conquered the five boroughs on November 2, now has a small but active resale market.
Recent listings show sellers asking anywhere between $80 to $125 USD, for a single 2025 medal.
Most are listed as “brand new”, still in pristine condition, and often come with shipping charges pushing the total closer to $150. One medal, listed at $80, sold earlier this week, while another, still active, is priced at $125.
Scroll a little further and you’ll find the nostalgia market in full swing.
A vintage 1986 New York City Marathon finisher medal recently sold for $205 USD, a clear sign that the older and rarer the medal, the higher the price tag.
What’s striking is how few medals actually sell.
Despite dozens of listings, eBay’s “sold” filter reveals only a handful of successful transactions. That suggests the market for marathon medals is less about profit and more about novelty, a niche corner of running culture where collectors and the curious overlap.
For runners, the idea of a finisher’s medal ending up on eBay is an uncomfortable one. It’s a personal symbol of training, sacrifice, and triumph, something earned, not bought.
Yet these medals have also become pieces of sports memorabilia, much like old race bibs or vintage posters. For collectors, it’s about owning a tangible piece of marathon history, especially from iconic races like New York.
There’s no official rule against selling a finisher’s medal, though race organizers discourage it.
Still, it’s unlikely to disappear.
As long as the marathon remains a global spectacle, there will always be a few medals changing hands online, some from this year’s finishers, and others from runners who crossed the line decades ago.
So, how much does a NYC Marathon medal cost on eBay? This year, about a hundred bucks, and maybe a little piece of pride, too.
