You sell a video game on eBay for $20. The buyer pays $5 for shipping. You expect eBay to keep about $2.70, since you read that the fee is 13.6%. Then the payout shows up and eBay kept $4.04.
Nothing went wrong. That is how the fee works, and most new sellers learn it the same way you just did.
So how much does eBay take from a sale? The short answer is 13.6% plus $0.40 in most categories. The useful answer is closer to 15% on a big sale and 20% or more on a small one. This post shows why.
How much does eBay take from a sale?
For a US seller with no eBay store, eBay charges one main fee when an item sells. It's called the final value fee, and it has two parts.
- A percentage of the total sale. In most categories this is 13.6% on the first $7,500 of the sale, and 2.35% on any amount above that.
- A per-order fee. This is $0.40 on orders over $10, and $0.30 on orders of $10 or less.
These rates are for US sellers and were checked against eBay's selling fees page on October 31, 2026. Payment processing is included. You don't pay a separate card fee or PayPal fee on top.
The catch is in the words "total sale." eBay defines it as the item price, plus any shipping and handling the buyer paid, plus sales tax. So eBay takes its percentage from money that was never yours. The shipping money goes to the post office. The tax goes to the state.
eBay does it this way for two reasons. First, it stops sellers from listing a $1 item with $50 shipping to dodge the fee, a trick some sellers used to avoid fees. Second, eBay pays card processing costs on the whole amount the buyer is charged, tax included. Both reasons are fair from eBay's side. You still need to price for it.
What percentage does eBay take in real life?
Here is the fee on four sales. Each one uses the 13.6% rate and a 7% sales tax, which is an example rate. Your buyer's tax rate will vary by state.
| Sale | Total sale with tax | eBay fee | Fee as % of item price |
|---|---|---|---|
| $8 item + $4.50 shipping | $13.38 | $2.22 | 27.8% |
| $20 item + $5 shipping | $26.75 | $4.04 | 20.2% |
| $100 item, free shipping | $107.00 | $14.95 | 15.0% |
| $1,000 item, free shipping | $1,070.00 | $145.92 | 14.6% |
Two things drive the real percentage up.
First, the flat $0.40 hurts small sales. On an $8 item, 40 cents is 5% of the price all by itself.
Second, shipping and tax add to the base. The more of the buyer's total that is shipping, the higher the fee looks next to your item price.
If you sell low-priced items and guess at 13.6%, your records will be wrong on every sale. You know you're guessing when your payouts keep coming in a dollar or two under what you planned.
How much does eBay take from a $100 sale?
This is the most common version of the question, so here is the full math.
You sell a jacket for $100 with free shipping. The buyer pays 7% sales tax.
- Total sale: $100 × 1.07 = $107.00
- Percentage part: 13.6% × $107.00 = $14.55
- Per-order fee: $0.40
- eBay fee: $14.95
You paid $30 for the jacket, $9 for the label and $1 for a mailer.
Profit: $100 − $14.95 − $9 − $30 − $1 = $45.05
If the buyer lives in a state with no sales tax, the fee is 13.6% × $100 + $0.40 = $14.00. You can't know which buyer you'll get, so plan on the higher number.
On a $1,000 sale the same steps give $145.92, or $136.40 with no tax.
Fees that can stack on top
The final value fee is the one every seller pays. These others apply only in some cases.
- Category rates. Books, movies and most music are 15.3% (our book flipping guide runs that rate through examples). Jewelry, excluding Watches, Parts & Accessories, is 15% when the total sale is $5,000 or less, or 9% when it exceeds $5,000. Watches, Parts & Accessories has tiered rates: 15% on the first $1,000, 6.5% on the portion over $1,000 through $7,500, and 3% above $7,500. Eligible athletic-shoe categories are 8% when the total sale is $150 or more, with no per-order fee. Check eBay's fee page for your category.
- Promoted listings. If you promote a listing with the general option and it sells through the ad, eBay charges your ad rate on the total sale, tax and shipping included. At a 5% ad rate (an example), the $100 jacket above costs another $5.35. That brings eBay's take to $20.30.
- Insertion fees. You get 250 free listings each month. After that, each new listing costs $0.35.
- International fee. If you don't use eBay International Shipping and either the buyer's registered address or the delivery address is outside the US, eBay adds 1.65% of the total sale.
- Below Standard fee. If your US seller level drops to Below Standard, eBay adds an extra 6% to your final value fees for the following calendar month. After four or more consecutive months at Below Standard, the surcharge rises to 7% until your seller level improves.
- Dispute fee. A payment dispute you lose can cost $20.
Promoted listings deserve a closer look. eBay suggests an ad rate on almost every listing you create. It suggests it because ads move items, and eBay earns more on each promoted sale. That works for you only when the price still clears your costs after the ad fee. When it doesn't, the loss is yours and not eBay's. Decide your ad rate with a calculator, not with the default.
Price so the fee is already covered
Once you know the fee, you can work backward from the profit you want.
Amount to collect = (item cost + postage + supplies + $0.40 + profit you want) ÷ (1 − fee rate with tax)
"Amount to collect" is your item price plus any shipping you charge. The fee rate with tax is 13.6% × 1.07 = 14.552% in our example, so you divide by 0.85448.
Say a jacket cost you $30, the label is $9, the mailer is $1, and you want $40 of profit.
- ($30 + $9 + $1 + $0.40 + $40) ÷ 0.85448 ≈ $94.09
List it at $94.09 with free shipping, or at $85.09 plus $9 shipping. Both give you $40 after the estimated fee is rounded to cents.
You don't have to do this by hand. If you'd like to start from the sale price, our free What Can I Pay? calculator works the other way. Enter your expected item-plus-shipping receipts, costs, target ROI and optional minimum dollar profit. It uses a manual fee rate, not an eBay category preset: to include the example's 7% buyer tax in eBay's fee base, use approximately 14.55% plus the $0.40 fixed fee, rather than 13.6%. The exact effective rate is 14.552%; rounding the input can cause a small difference, so use the dedicated eBay calculator below for the category-and-tax estimate. The buying limit includes purchase tax and getting the item home; the calculator targets ROI, not profit margin.
To see how eBay's cut compares with another site, read eBay vs Poshmark fees. If you use an eBay fee calculator, check whether it counts sales tax. Some do and some don't, and that is the usual reason two calculators disagree.
FAQ
Does eBay take a percentage of shipping?
Yes. Shipping the buyer pays is part of the total sale, so the 13.6% applies to it. Offering free shipping doesn't avoid the fee. It only moves the shipping cost into your item price.
Does eBay charge a fee if my item doesn't sell?
Not a final value fee. You only pay that when an item sells. You might pay a $0.35 insertion fee if you've used your 250 free listings for the month.
Do eBay store subscribers pay less?
Often, yes. Store plans have a monthly cost and lower final value fees in many categories, along with more free listings. Whether a store saves you money depends on how much you sell. Run your last three months through a calculator at both rates before you sign up.
What are eBay selling fees on a $1,000 sale?
At 13.6% with a 7% sales tax, $145.92. With no sales tax, $136.40. A different category rate changes the answer, so check yours.
Upcyclist lets you set a Margin Goal (50% by default) and suggests a listing price of cost ÷ (1 − goal). That suggestion doesn't include eBay's fee or shipping, so check it with a fee calculator and adjust. As you record sales, the Inventory Planner shows how many of each item you've sold and your average selling price, and the dashboard turns gold when your overall margin meets your goal.
What's next
Knowing the fee tells you what you'll keep at a given price. It doesn't tell you what price a buyer will pay. Our next post covers how to answer "how much can I sell this for?" using eBay's own sold listings.
