eBay fee calculator
eBay takes its final value fee on the whole amount the buyer pays, shipping included. So "free shipping with the cost built into the price" and "low price plus shipping" cost you exactly the same in fees; there is no arbitrage there. What does change is search placement and conversion, a marketing decision rather than a fee one.
Fee rates vary by category, seller level and country, and eBay changes them. Take your actual rate from your account rather than the default here.
eBay charges a final value fee on the full amount the buyer pays, shipping and sales tax included, plus a fixed per-order fee. On the figures above, a 100 item with 5 postage at 13.6% plus 0.40 costs 14.68 in fees; after 40 of stock and 6 of postage, 44.32 stays with you.
How to work out eBay fees
The fee base is wider than most sellers expect. eBay charges the final value fee on the total amount of the sale, and its own definition of that includes the item price, handling charges, the shipping the buyer paid, and the sales tax collected. Tax you never keep still enlarges the number the percentage is taken from. Postage being inside the base is the better-known half, and it is the reason free shipping and paid shipping cost identically in fees at the same total.
The rate itself is a schedule rather than a number. In the US, most categories are charged 13.6% on the total up to 7,500 per item and 2.35% on the portion above it, while books, film and music sit at 15.3% and jewellery works on a different split again. This panel applies one flat percentage, so on a sale into five figures it overstates the fee, and on a category above the default it understates it. Take your rate from your own account and treat the box as editable rather than as advice.
Two charges sit outside the schedule entirely. Promoted Listings adds the ad rate you set on top of everything here, and at competitive rates in a busy category that addition can approach the base fee, which is the single fastest way for a comfortable margin to evaporate. Selling to a buyer whose delivery or registered address is outside the US adds an international fee of 1.65% of the total amount of the sale, charged whether or not you thought of the sale as an export. Neither is in the calculation above unless you put it there.
Refunds return less than sellers assume, and the split is specific rather than vague. The variable final value fee comes back in every eligible case, in proportion to what the buyer was refunded. The fixed per-order amount comes back only in some: it is credited when the buyer asked to cancel, or returned the item because they ordered by mistake or did not like it, and it is not credited when you cancelled because the item was out of stock or damaged, or when the return was for a damaged or undelivered item. Your outbound postage never comes back at all. A 2% return rate on a thin margin is a bigger number than the fee table makes it look.
One note on reading the outputs. You keep is the money left after fees, stock and postage, so it is profit on this sale and not the payout eBay will show you. Margin on the sale divides that profit by what the buyer paid rather than by the item price, which makes it a couple of points lower than the margin your product spreadsheet reports for the same item. Break-even price is the item price at which profit reaches zero given your costs and the flat rate you typed, with the shipping you charge already taken off; it does not know about promotion, the international fee or a returns rate, so it is a floor under the model on screen and not a floor under the business.
What people use it for
- Pricing an item before listing it
- Checking whether a low-margin sale is worth making
- Comparing eBay against another marketplace on the same item
- Finding the price at which a sale breaks even before you negotiate
- Working out what an ad rate does to the profit on a promoted listing
- Sanity-checking a payout that came in lower than expected
Questions
In the US, 13.6% of the total amount of the sale for most categories, plus a per-order fee of 0.40 above 10 and 0.30 at or below. Rates differ by category, by country and by seller status.
Yes. The final value fee is charged on the whole amount the buyer pays, postage and handling included.
Yes. eBay defines the total amount of the sale as including sales tax, so the percentage is taken from a figure that contains money you are only collecting on someone else’s behalf.
No. In most US categories the 13.6% applies to the first 7,500 per item and 2.35% to the portion above. This panel uses one flat rate, so it overstates fees on a high-value sale.
Books, movies and music are charged 15.3% up to 7,500 in the US. Jewellery and watches use a different split entirely. Read your own category rather than assuming the common rate.
A fixed amount charged once per order rather than per item, so a bundled multi-item order pays it once. It is 0.40 on orders over 10 and 0.30 on orders at or below 10.
Yes. The ad rate you choose is added on top of the final value fee. In a competitive category it can approach the base fee, so put it in the listing fees box before you judge the margin.
Yes, when you are not using eBay International Shipping. An international fee of 1.65% of the total amount of the sale applies if the delivery address or the buyer’s registered address is outside the US.
The variable final value fee is credited, in proportion to the refund. The fixed per-order amount depends on the reason: it comes back on a buyer-requested cancellation or a change-of-mind return, and does not on an out-of-stock cancellation or a damaged or undelivered item.
No. Outbound postage is gone whatever the refund reason, and on a return you often pay the inbound leg too. Enter a realistic return rate into your own thinking; this panel prices a sale that sticks.
The item price at which profit reaches zero, given the costs and the flat fee rate above and with the shipping you charge already subtracted. Below it the sale costs you money.
Because shipping sits on both sides. Charging more shipping raises the fee base but also raises what the buyer pays, so the item price that breaks even falls by roughly the amount you added.
No. The fee is charged on the total the buyer pays either way, so building postage into the price and charging it separately cost the same. The reason to choose one is search placement and conversion.
Because this one divides profit by what the buyer paid, including the postage they were charged. A margin measured against the item price alone comes out higher on the same sale.
It can. Store subscriptions, Top Rated Seller status and Below Standard status all move the rate, in both directions. Your account is the only reliable source.
Only as a floor. The fee tells you what a price leaves you; it says nothing about what the item will sell for, which is a question for completed listings in your category.
On eBay-managed payments there is no separate processor fee to add: the final value fee already covers it. Comparing against a platform that bills the processor separately means adding that platform’s processing cost, not subtracting anything here.
Subtitle, bold and scheduled listing fees are charged whether or not the item sells. Put them in the listing fees box to see the sale that has to carry them.
No, the fee structure is the same. What differs is that the final price is not yours to choose, so the break-even price stops being a target and becomes a reserve.
Yes, using the marketplace fee calculator, which carries several schedules side by side. Compare on what you keep rather than on the headline percentage, because the fee bases differ.
No. Everything is computed in the page and nothing is sent anywhere.
They follow eBay’s published US selling fees at the date on this page. eBay changes them without much notice, so the source link below is the version that counts.
Because a payout nets off refunds, shipping labels bought through eBay, ad fees and any regulatory operating fee for your country, and it settles on eBay’s schedule rather than per sale. This panel models one sale in isolation.