Educational only. eBay updates the seller fee schedule twice a year — confirm current rates in Seller Hub before pricing.
eBay's headline number is 13.25%. The real take rate is closer to 17–20% once you add the per-order fixed fee, payment processing, and Promoted Listings. This guide walks the full stack and shows the exact volume where a Store subscription pays for itself. Run your numbers in the eBay Revenue Calculator.
The fee stack, line by line
- Final value fee (FVF): 13.25% of the total order (item + shipping). Most categories. Books/Movies/Music = 14.6%. Sneakers above $150 = 7%.
- Per-order fixed fee: $0.30 on every order. Crushes low-ticket margins.
- Payment processing: ~2.9% (built into Managed Payments).
- Promoted Listings Standard: 3–6% (optional, but most competitive categories need it).
- International fees: +1.65% for cross-border orders.
- Below-standard seller penalty: +5 percentage points on FVF if you fall to Below Standard.
Why charging high shipping doesn't help
FVF applies to the total order — item price PLUS shipping charged. Selling a $20 item with $15 shipping doesn't save you fees vs $35 + free shipping. eBay closed that loophole in 2019. The only thing that helps is sourcing cheaper shipping or pricing it correctly.
When a Store subscription pays for itself
- Starter Store ($7.95/mo): 250 free fixed-price listings. Worth it if you list 50+ items/month at low ASP.
- Basic Store ($24.95/mo): 1,000 free listings + ~0.5pp FVF reduction. Break-even ~$5,000/mo in fees saved.
- Premium Store ($74.95/mo): 10,000 free listings. Required for serious volume.
- Anchor Store ($349.95/mo): Lowest FVF tier. Pays for itself above ~$50K/mo in sales.
Category-specific surprises
Sneakers above $150 drop to 7% FVF — the seller-friendly outlier. Heavy equipment caps at $750 total fee. Trading cards (graded) run 12.35%. Always check the current category schedule before pricing.
The honest take-rate by ticket
On a $25 item: ~22% effective take rate (because the $0.30 fixed fee is 1.2pp on its own). On a $200 item: ~17%. On a $1,000 collectible: ~16.5%. The fixed fee makes low-ticket reselling brutal — focus on $50+ ASP or accept thin margins for volume.