eBay fees explained: what sellers actually pay in 2026

If you've ever stared at an eBay payout and thought "that's less than I expected," this is the anatomy of why. Disclosure up front: I run Peddly, a lower-fee alternative, but the numbers below are just the numbers. They also change, so verify current rates on eBay's own fee page before making decisions.

The pieces of an eBay fee

Final value fee. The headline number. It's a percentage of your total sale amount, and "total" is the word that surprises new sellers, because it means the item price plus shipping plus sales tax in most categories. Read that again: the fee applies to the shipping charge. If your buyer pays $10 to ship a package, eBay takes its percentage of that $10, even though every cent of it exists to pay the carrier. You're paying a commission on money that was never yours. Rates vary by category and commonly land in the 13 to 15% range for the stuff most flippers sell.

Per-order fee. A fixed charge, around thirty to forty cents, added to every single order regardless of size. On a $10 sale that alone is another 3 to 4%.

Reserve price fees. Running an auction with a reserve (a hidden minimum the bidding must reach)? eBay charges you for setting it: $5 or 7.5% of your reserve amount, whichever is greater, capped around $250. Here's the kicker: you pay it whether or not the item sells. An unsold auction with a $500 reserve still costs you $37.50 for the privilege of protecting your own floor.

Promoted listings. Technically optional. Practically, a lot of sellers will tell you organic visibility has tightened enough that promotion feels like the cost of being seen, and standard promoted rates commonly add another 2%+ when the ad gets credit for the sale.

Store subscriptions. Monthly plans that lower some fees and raise listing allowances. Useful at volume, but it's rent you pay whether you sell or not.

What a $100 sale actually nets

Item sells for $100 with $10 shipping. The final value fee applies to roughly $110, so at 13.6% that's about $14.96, plus the per-order charge. You're at roughly $94.60 kept of $110 collected, and you still have to buy the label out of that. Add a promoted listing and the platform's total cut crosses $17.

None of this is hidden, exactly. It's spread across enough separate line items that most sellers never sit down and total it. I did once, and the total is why Peddly exists: a flat 8% (5% your first 30 days), calculated on the item price, with no per-order fee, no reserve fee, no listing fees, no subscription. Here's the full side-by-side.

Whatever platform you sell on, do the total-it-up exercise once a quarter. It's an uncomfortable twenty minutes and worth every one of them.