§01THE QUESTION
How much does eBay actually take?
The percentage is the small part. A sale is cut by four or five separate lines, and the fee is charged on more than the item price.
Below: every published rate with the eBay page it came from, and the arithmetic on one sale of your own.
Written by ResellerCheckup, which reads your eBay report and tells you what you kept across every sale, not one.
§02WHAT THE FEE IS CHARGED ON
The final value fee is a percentage of the total amount of the sale — the item price, the shipping the buyer paid, and the sales tax eBay collected.
That last part surprises most sellers. Tax you never touched is inside the number the fee is calculated on. eBay states it here.
§03ONE SALE, TAKEN APART
Put in a sale you remember. The arithmetic runs in your browser, on eBay's published rates. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Cost of goods is deliberately left out, so this is what you kept of the money that arrived — not profit.
| Item price | $38.00 |
| Shipping the buyer paid | $6.95 |
| Final value fee | -$6.54 |
| Per-order fee | -$0.40 |
| Promoted listing fee | -$1.92 |
| Your postage label | -$8.40 |
KEEP RATE ON THIS SALE
62¢ per $1
eBay took $8.86 of the $44.95 the buyer paid you — 19.7%. Postage took $8.40 more. Before what the item cost you.
Fee base includes the sales tax eBay collected ($48.10). Per-order fee is $0.40 because the sale is over $10.
§04EVERY PUBLISHED RATE
| Final value fee — most categories, no StoreOn the total amount of the sale up to $7,500 per item, plus 2.35% on the portion above. source | 13.6% |
| Final value fee — trading cards, comicsUp to $7,500 per item, plus 2.35% above. No Store subscription. source | 13.25% |
| Final value fee — women's bags & handbagsOn sales of $2,000 or less; 9% if the sale is over $2,000. source | 15.0% |
| Final value fee — athletic shoes at $150 or more13.6% under $150. The per-order fee is not charged at $150 or more. source | 8.0% |
| Final value fee — clothing, shoes & accessories, Basic StoreUp to $2,500 per item, plus 2.35% above. Athletic shoes differ. source | 12.7% |
| Per-order fee$0.30 when the order is $10.00 or less. Charged once per order. source | $0.40 |
| International feeOf the total sale, when the buyer or the delivery address is outside the US and you are not using eBay International Shipping. source | 1.65% |
| Promoted Listings StandardYour chosen ad rate, on the total sale, charged only when the item sells after an ad click. source | 2–100% |
| Insertion fee past the free allowance250 zero insertion fee listings a month without a Store. Not refunded if the item doesn't sell. source | $0.35 |
§05WHAT COMES BACK ON A REFUND
A full refund does not always return the same fees, and which reason the buyer picked decides it.
- Buyer changed their mind, or it didn't fit
- You get the final value fee and the per-order fee back.
- Damaged, defective, wrong item, not as described
- You get the final value fee back. The per-order fee is not returned.
- Any refund
- Promoted listing fees and the international fee are not credited. Partial refunds are credited proportionally.
§06ONE SALE IS NOT THE ANSWER
You just did the math on one sale.
Do it on all of them.
Export the transaction report you already have, drop it in, and read your Keep Rate across every sale in the period — fees, shipping, promoted spend and refunds included, computed by code.