eBay Seller Fees 2026: Every Fee on a $50 Sale, Worked Out

On a $50 sale with no shipping, eBay takes $7.20 and leaves the seller $42.80. That is a 13.6% final value fee on the total sale plus a $0.40 per-order fee on any order over $10, as eBay's selling fees page states it on October 10, 2026. Etsy's standard fees take $5.00 on the same sale (checked September 25, 2026), and Amazon's 15% referral fee takes $7.50.

eBay's rates come from its selling fees help page, read on October 10, 2026. Amazon's referral rate comes from its seller pricing page, read the same day. Etsy's rates are the ones we checked on its Fees & Payments Policy and Etsy Payments Policy on September 25, 2026.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 104 ecommerce platforms for its October 2026 ranking, and 34 of them offer a free plan. A marketplace charges differently: eBay's final value fee applies from the first dollar of every sale.

eBay's fees at a glance

Read the eBay column first. Its bill has two parts that scale differently: a percentage that grows with the sale, and a flat per-order fee that does not. The flat part is why a small order costs proportionally more than a large one.

The final value fee: the base rate from the first dollar

For most categories, eBay charges a base rate of 13.6% of the total amount of the sale, calculated per item, on the first $7,500. Above $7,500 the rate on that portion falls to 2.35%. Price a listing against the base rate first, then check the category.

Some categories carry a different base rate, and eBay lists them on the same page. Women's bags and handbags pay 15% up to $2,000, and jewelry and watches (other than watch parts and accessories) pay 15% up to $5,000, with lower rates above those thresholds. A seller in those categories should price against 15%, not the base rate.

The per-order fee on orders over $10

eBay adds a per-order fee: $0.30 on orders of $10.00 or less and $0.40 on orders over $10.00. It applies per order, not per item, so a buyer who checks out three $20 items together pays it once.

On a $10 order the fee is $1.66, or 16.6% of the sale: $1.36 from the percentage, plus the flat fee. On a $5 order it is $0.98, or 19.6%. On a low price the flat fee takes a bigger share of the sale, so check it before listing an item at that price.

Listing fees: 250 free a month, then $0.35

eBay gives every seller 250 zero-insertion-fee listings each month and charges $0.35 for each listing after that. An eBay Store raises the free allowance and changes the final value fees, and eBay sets those store terms on a separate page that this comparison does not price.

Etsy charges $0.20 for every listing, whether or not it sells. Under eBay's allowance, a shop listing fewer than 250 items a month pays no listing fee at all, which puts eBay ahead of Etsy on listing cost for a catalog of that size.

Two sale sizes, fee by fee

The examples use one item sold once by a US seller: a small sale of $50 and a large one of $200, with the item price only and no shipping or sales tax. Listing fees are left out for all three marketplaces because they are charged whether or not the item sells. Shipping the buyer pays changes the fee base on Etsy and may change it on eBay, so a shop that charges for shipping should rerun these numbers with its own totals.

The arithmetic for the small sale, shown once:

• eBay: 13.6% of the sale is $6.80, plus the per-order fee, for $7.20.
• Etsy: 6.5% of the sale is $3.25, plus 3% ($1.50) and $0.25, for $5.00.
• Amazon: 15% of the sale is $7.50, above the minimum referral fee.

Etsy keeps the most at both sizes: $2.20 more than eBay on the small sale and $8.35 more on the large one. eBay beats Amazon at both sizes, by 30 cents on the small sale and $2.40 on the large one. Amazon's 15% is the highest percentage in the table, and the gap to eBay grows with the order because eBay's flat fee matters less on a larger sale.

Take-home is not profit. If the goods cost the seller $30 in the small sale and $120 in the large one, the margin left after fees is $15.00 on Etsy, $12.80 on eBay and $12.50 on Amazon, and $60.75, $52.40 and $50.00 in the large sale. Shipping, ad spend and the seller's own plan costs come out of those amounts next.

Besides listing fees, three costs sit outside the table on purpose: Etsy's Offsite Ads fee, which applies only to sales its ad network drove, eBay's store subscription terms, and Amazon's seller plan charges. Each can change the ranking for a shop that uses them, so add them before a marketplace decision.

Where eBay costs more than the base rate

eBay's page lists several surcharges that do not show up in the base rate:

• Below Standard: an extra 6% on final value fees while the account is below standard, or an extra 7% after four or more consecutive months below it. Check the seller status in Seller Hub before pricing a catalog.
• Item not as described: an extra 5% in affected categories, or 6% after four or more consecutive months at a very high rate.
• Dispute fee: $20.00 per dispute when eBay finds the seller responsible, excluding sales tax.
• International fee: 1.65% of the total sale when eBay International Shipping is not used and the buyer or delivery address is outside the US.
• Currency conversion: eBay lists a 3% seller currency conversion charge for US-registered sellers, rising to 3.25% on October 14, 2026.

A seller who ships to other countries should price in the international fee and the currency charge together. A domestic seller who never gets a dispute avoids the international charge, the currency charge and the dispute fee.

What this means for a small shop

A shop selling items under $10 pays the flat fee on every order, which pushes the total well above the base rate. A $5 order keeps $4.02 after the percentage and the flat fee. A shop selling items at the small-sale price pays an effective rate near 14% on eBay and near 10% on Etsy, a gap of about $2 per sale before shipping and ads.

The fee math is a short formula. For any price, multiply the sale by the base rate, add the per-order fee that matches that price, and subtract both from the sale to get the take-home. The table gives the answer for the two sale sizes used here.

Frequently asked questions

How much does eBay charge per sale in 2026?

For most categories, eBay takes its base percentage of the total sale up to $7,500, plus $0.40 per order over $10, with less on orders of $10.00 or below, as stated on its selling fees page read on October 10, 2026. A $50 sale pays $7.20 in those fees and leaves $42.80.

What is eBay's final value fee?

It is the percentage eBay takes from each sale, calculated per item. The base rate for most categories applies to the first $7,500, dropping to 2.35% above that. Women's bags and handbags pay 15% up to $2,000 and jewelry and watches pay 15% up to $5,000 under the same schedule.

How much does eBay take from a $100 sale?

$14.00 for most categories: the percentage on $100 is $13.60, plus the per-order fee. That leaves $86.00 from the item price, before ads, store fees or any optional listing upgrades.

Is there a free eBay selling plan?

No free plan removes the final value fee, which applies to every sale from the first dollar. The free allowance that does exist is for listings: up to 250 zero-insertion-fee listings each month, and more with an eBay Store.

Is eBay cheaper than Etsy?

On these figures, no. The small sale keeps $42.80 on eBay and $45.00 on Etsy. Etsy's $0.20 listing fee and its Offsite Ads fee on ad-driven sales are outside that comparison, so a shop that runs Etsy ads should count them before deciding.

Is eBay cheaper than Amazon?

Slightly, on the referral fee alone. On the small sale eBay keeps 30 cents more than Amazon's 15%, and on the large sale the gap widens to $2.40 in eBay's favor. Amazon's seller plan charges are not part of this comparison, so check them before choosing.

How we compared

eBay's rates, surcharges and listing allowance come from its selling fees help page, read on October 10, 2026. Amazon's referral rate was read the same day. Etsy's rates were checked on September 25, 2026, on the policy pages linked in the intro. The worked examples apply those published percentages directly to the item price, with no shipping and no sales tax, rounded to the cent. Toolradar's count is from its October 2026 ranking.

Cite this: Retailpresso, "eBay Seller Fees 2026: Every Fee on a $50 Sale, Worked Out", October 2026.

Sellers who compare marketplace take-home should also read our Etsy seller fees breakdown, which goes line by line through the Etsy stack used here, and our AI for Amazon sellers roundup for the Amazon side. Multichannel shops that sell on eBay next to a storefront can compare order management systems, shipping software and inventory management software once the fee math is on the spreadsheet. Shops choosing a print partner for eBay listings can start with our Printful review and Printify review. A Shopify store alongside a marketplace can compare Shopify pricing, the cheaper Shopify alternatives, and the Shopify profile on Toolradar.

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