Knowing how much it costs your business to sell on eBay is paramount to the success and profitability of your online business.

After all, with a number of different fees incurred by selling on the marketplace, it’s crucial to understand what these are in order to effectively price your products and determine your profit margins. 

Which raises the question:What exactly are these fees? And more specifically, how much does it cost to sell on eBay?

Throughout this article. We’ve done our best to answer this question, by detailing the following eBay seller fees: ‍

Insertion fees.

An insertion fee is the amount of money eBay charges to the seller for listing an item for sale. These fees are non-refundable.

When you list an item to sell on eBay, you will be charged a fee per listing and per category, and these fees vary dependent on the starting price of the item and the category you choose to list your item in.

If you decide to list your items in multiple categories, then you will pay additional insertion fees depending on how many categories you have listed. 

If you choose to relist any products that didn’t sell, then insertion fees will be charged each time your items are relisted as well as an insertion fee for the original listing.

Sometimes known as listing fees, insertion fees on eBay are essentially the upfront fee that all eBay sellers are charged when listing items to sell on the marketplace. These fees vary 

Keep in mind that the listing duration period and promotional features (listing upgrades) added to the listing contributes to the final insertion fees charged. 

Zero insertion fee listings.

A zero insertion fee is the equivalent of listing an item for free, and every month eBay provides sellers on the marketplace a number of free zero insertion fee listings.

The number of these free listings are dependent on what shop subscription you have.

Store Subscription

Keep in mind that eBay sellers are only eligible for zero insertion fee listings when you list in the country that you are registered with. 

For example, if you are registered as an eBay UK seller, you’ll receive zero insertion fees to list in the United Kingdom.  

Duplicate listings and multiple item listings.

Duplicate listings on eBay, which are identical auction-style listings, are treated as individual listings. In other words, eBay charges one insertion fee for each product that you list, including ones that don’t appear on eBay for its full listing duration.

For multiple item listings and any that are listed with variations, eBay only charges one insertion fee. This is calculated based on the total start price of a product listing multiplied by the total quantity.

For example, when listing five items for £10.00, the total start price is £50.00, and the insertion fee will be deducted from this price.

Good ‘til Cancelled listings. 

If you decide to use Good ‘til Cancelled listings, eBay will charge an insertion fee for every 30-day period and this will renew until your item is sold. These fees are based on the terms that are in effect when the listing goes live or when it renews after 30 days.

A Good ‘til Cancelled fee is essentially a 30-day listing that rolls over automatically.

Every 30 days when your listing rolls over, it will either use one of your free zero insertion fees if available. If not, you’ll be charged a regular insertion fee. 

eBay Shops and Shop Levels.

eBay shops are considered to be a launching point for any business that chooses to sell products on the marketplace. A shop subscription enables you to reach the right customers, manage orders and build your business the way you see fit.

There are three subscription levels available to eBay sellers, which are as follows:

• Basic Shop (£25 per month, excluding VAT)
• Featured Shop (£69 per month, excluding VAT)
• Anchor Shop (£269 per month, excluding VAT) 

Selecting the shop subscription for your business is largely dependent on the volume that you sell and your wider business strategy and overall goals. Your listing fees will depend on the shop level and listing. 

 

Basic Shop

Featured Shop

Anchor Shop

 Monthly   subscription value

£90

£245

£1,275

 Monthly price

£25

£69

£269

 Included fixed   priced listings

250

1,500

Unlimited

 Included 7-day   auction-style   listings

50

300

500

 Insertion fee per   additional fixed   price listing

15p

5p

No charge

 Insertion fee per   additional   auction-style   listing

15p

15p

15p

 eBay packaging   voucher

N/A 

£10

£10

 Listing upgrade   credit

N/A 

£10

£20

 Free listings in 13   additional   countries

N/A 

Yes

Yes

Get your products in front of the right people at the right time with eBay’s promoted listings.

Optional listing upgrades.

Understanding how optional listing upgrade fees are charged is paramount to setting the foundations of a solid business on the marketplace. In the table below, you’ll find six listing upgrades that you can add to your eBay product listings.

 Optional upgrade

 Description

 Upgrade fee per listing

 Reserve price

 Set reserve price (min. £50)   and items will not be sold until that amount is reached

4% of reserve price, maximum £150

 Buy it now price

Give shoppers the option to buy an item immediately and at a higher price

50p

 Subtitle

Add line of extra text that appears beneath a listing title in search results

£1

 Gallery plus

Make use of larger pictures in search results when buyers move a mouse over the thumbnail photo

£2.50

 Listing designer

Improve visual appeal of listing by adding an attractive theme

30p

 Scheduler

Create listings to set to go live at a future time of your choosing

10p

 International site visibility

Maximise listing visibility on eBay.com & eBay.ca. Remember to set international postage options.

25p for Fixed Price listings
4p for start price less than £5
8p for start price £5-£29.99
13p for start price £30+

Find out how to become an eBay top-rated seller and improve your chances of being found by prospective customers on the marketplace.

Final Value Fees.

In comparison to insertion fees, eBay also charges final value fees when an item has been sold. These commission rates are a percentage of the final transaction (including postage) and is dependent on which category your product sits in.

If your item doesn’t sell in the listed time period, then no final value fees are paid; however, if a seller offers or references their contact information to a buyer, eBay does charge a final value as it is eBay who is responsible for the method of contact. 

If your item is listed in multiple product categories, the highest of the final value fees will be charged. 

Final value fee category caps are exclusive to eBay Shop subscribers.

If you are an international seller listing on eBay UK, then you will need to have a shop subscription on eBay.co.uk or a Featured or Anchor shop on the eBay site of your home country to benefit from these caps.

If you are a “below standard” eBay seller, then eBay will charge an extra 4% points fee on top of the standard final value fees when an item is sold. For example, from 10% to 14%, which can affect smaller businesses greatly. 

If a customer opens an “item not as described” request, sellers are assessed in comparison to other sellers in the service metrics dashboard in eBay’s Seller Hub. Sellers with “very high” rates of “items not as described” will be charged an extra 4% points fee on the final value fee.

Currently, there is a final value fees promotion running from 11th July 2019 up until the end of September 30th 2019, whereby UK sellers can pay 2% when selling Health & Beauty items up to a maximum value of £10.

In order to make use of this promotion, you will need to actively opt in. 

Product category

Final value fee

Exceptions

 Antiques

9%

None

 Art

9%

None

 Baby

9%

None

 Books, comics & magazines

8%

None

 Business, office & industrial

10%

None

 Cameras & photography

8%

5% final value fee (max. £20 for shop subscribers for camcorders; digital cameras; film photography and lenses & filters)

 Clothes, shoes & accessories

10%

None

 Coins

9%

None

 Collectables

9%

None

 Computers, tablets &   networking

9%

5% final value fee (max. £20 for shop subscribers for desktops & all-in-ones; drives, storage & blank medial enterprise networking services; home networking & connectivity; Tablets & eBook readers; Laptops & netbooks; printers, scanners & suppliers; software)

 Crafts

11%

None

 Dolls & bears

9%

None

 DVDs, films and TV

8%

None

 Event tickets

11%

None

 Garden & patio

9%

None

 Health & beauty

9%

10% final value fee for hair extensions & wigs; 11% final value fee for vape pens, e-cigarettes & accessories and vaporisers

 Holidays & travel

6% (max. £40)

None

 Home furniture & DIY

10%

5% final value fee (max £20 for shop subscribers) for appliances and DIY tools; 9% final value fee (max £40 for shop scribers) for furniture and bath

 Jewellery & watches

11%

10% final value fee (max. £50 for shop subscribers) for watches

 Mobile phones &   communication

8%

5% final value fee (max £20 for Shop Subscribers) for home phones & accessories; mobile & smart phones; PDAs

 Music

8%

None

 Musical instruments

9%

None

 Pet supplies

11%

None

 Pottery, porcelain & glass

9%

None

 Sound & vision

8%

5% final value fee (max. £20 for shop subscribers) for DVD, blue-ray & home cinemas; headphones; home audio & HiFi separates; iPods & MP3 players; televisions; TV reception & set-top boxes.

 Sporting goods

9%

None

 Sports memorabilia

9%

None

 Stamps

9%

None

 Toys & games

9%

None

 Vehicle parts & accessories

7%

5% final value fee (max. £15 for shop subscribers) for tyres and tyres & tubes. 5% final value fee (max. £20 for shop subscribers) for GPS & Sat Nav and power tools & equipment.

 Video games & consoles

8%

5% final value fee (max. £15 for shop subscribers) for consoles

 Wholesale & job lots

11%

None

 Everything else

11%

None 

From the 11th of July 2019, eBay will introduce the following changes to final value fees in Home, Furniture & DIY and Jewellery & Watches categories for business sellers:

Product category

New final value fee rate

Example

 Home, Furniture & DIY

10% for the portion of the total sales price, including postage, up to £250.00. 6% for any portion of the total sales price, including postage, greater than £250.00.

Your buyer pays:£600.00 + £5.00 postage your Final Value Fee:(£250 x 10%) + (£355 x 6%)=£46.30.

 Home, Furniture & DIY

– Furniture

– Bath

9% for the portion of the total sales price, including postage, up to £250.00. 6% for any portion of the total sales price, including postage, greater than £250.00. Final value fees will remain capped at £40 for eBay Shop subscribers.

Non-Shop Subscriber:Your buyer pays:£600.00 + £5.00 postage your Final Value Fee:(£250 x 9%) + (£355 x 6%)=£43.80.

Shop Subscriber:Your buyer pays:£600.00 + £5.00 postage your Final Value Fee:capped at £40.00.

 Home, Furniture & DIY

– Electrical Socket Adapters & Converters

– Power Strips & Surge Protectors

8% for the portion of the total sales price including postage up to £250.00. 6% for any portion of the total sales price including postage greater than £250.00.

Your buyer pays:£600.00 + £5.00 postage your Final Value Fee:(£250 x 8%) + (£355 x 6%)=£41.30.

 Home, Furniture & DIY

– Appliances

– DIY Tools

– Smart Speakers

Final value fee (max. £20 for Shop subscribers).

No change for these categories.

 Jewellery & Watches

11% Final value fee (with a cap of £50 for eBay Shop subscribers).

eBay Shop Subscribers:
Your buyer pays:£600.00 + £5.00 postage.
Your Final Value Fee:capped at £50.00.

 Jewellery & Watches

 – Watches

No change for this sub-category.

 This change excludes sub-categories with lower final value fees, such as Appliances,   DIY Tools & Smart Speakers.

eBay Motors Fees.

Calculations for fees to sell cars and motorcycles are done so differently. If you are a car dealer then you may prefer to sell your vehicles using eBay Motors Pro. 

 

 

Classified ad

Auction-style

Fixed price

 Listing fees

 

£13.03

£8.70

£8.70

 Optional listing   upgrades

 Gallery plus

£2.60

Free

Free

 Subtitle

43p

43p

43p

 Listing designer

Free

Free

Free

 Scheduler

Free

5p

5p

 Buy it now

N/A

£2.60

N/A

 

 Reserve price

N/A

£6.95

N/A

 Final value fees

 

0.9% of the final transaction (min. £17.39, max. £30.43)

  

Shop by product: What you need to know about eBay’s PBSE

Classified Ads Fees. 

If you decide to make use of classified ads, then there are extra fees to consider. These differ between product categories and there are no final value fees.

That said, depending on how you choose to sell items on eBay, you may encounter additional charges from third parties, such as PayPal. 

Category

Listing fee

 Business, office & industrial

£8.69

 Property

£30.43

 Holidays & travel

£13.04 

Know your eBay fees and profit from your sales.

Once you understand the ins and outs of the total seller fees you will be charged on eBay, you’ll be able to concentrate on creating a solid business on the marketplace.