eBay fee calculator: what most calculators get right, what they miss, and how to check yours

What should an eBay fee calculator include?

An eBay fee calculator works out what eBay will charge on a sale, so you can see what you keep. The good ones get the main final value fee right. The weak ones stop there, and leave out the smaller fees and charges that turn a thin profit into a loss. This guide lists every fee a calculator should handle for eBay UK business and private sellers, notes where eBay.com differs, and shows how to test a calculator against your own invoice.

One rule first: fee rates change and vary by category and seller type, so any calculator is only as current as its last update. Check the figures against eBay's own fee pages, and never rely on a rate you remember.

Which fees do UK business sellers pay?

eBay UK's page on business selling fees lists the charges. Read it on eBay's business seller fees page. In summary, as eBay set them out when we checked:

eBay says all the fees on that page are exclusive of VAT. That matters to the next point.

VAT on fees

Because eBay UK shows business fees before VAT, a calculator that uses the listed rate may understate what you actually pay if VAT is added to your fees and you cannot reclaim it. If you are VAT registered, you may be able to reclaim it. Our guide to VAT on eBay fees explains how it shows on your invoice and when you can reclaim it.

What about UK private sellers and eBay.com?

UK private sellers pay a different set of fees. eBay says UK-based private sellers pay no final value fee and no regulatory operating fee when items sell (Motors vehicles excluded), get 300 free listings a month and then pay 35p per extra listing, pay extra for optional upgrades, and pay a 3% international fee when delivering overseas. See eBay's selling fees page and our guide to eBay UK private seller fees. If you buy items to resell, eBay UK expects you to register as a business seller, and the business fees apply.

On eBay.com, fees are set by eBay US and differ from the UK. Use eBay.com's own fee pages for the current US rates, and check what the US final value fee is calculated on before you trust any calculator's US mode.

What do most eBay fee calculators get wrong?

1. Charging the fee on the item price only. eBay UK calculates the final value fee on the total amount of the sale, including postage and applicable taxes. A calculator that ignores postage understates the fee on every sale with a postage charge.
2. Leaving out the per-order fee. On a cheap item, a fixed per-order fee is a large share of the price.
3. Leaving out the regulatory operating fee. Small per sale, but it applies to every business sale.
4. Ignoring Promoted Listings. With a general campaign, the ad fee is a percentage of the total sale amount, including item price, postage and taxes, at the rate in effect at the time of sale. See eBay's Promoted Listings page.
5. Ignoring international and currency charges on sales to buyers abroad.
6. Ignoring VAT on fees for sellers who cannot reclaim it.
7. Using an old or wrong category rate. Rates vary by category, and a calculator with one rate for everything is a guess.
8. Forgetting your performance level. eBay UK says a Below Standard seller can face higher final value fees, so the same sale can cost more.

Which fees are fixed and which grow with the price?

A good calculator treats the two kinds of fee differently, because they hit cheap and dear items in different ways.

• Percentage fees grow with the sale: the final value fee, the regulatory operating fee, the international fee, the currency conversion charge and a general campaign ad fee. They take the same share of a £5 sale as of a £50 sale.
• Fixed fees stay the same whatever the price: the per-order fee, listing fees beyond your free allowance and optional upgrades. They take a much bigger share of a cheap sale.

Example, with hypothetical prices: on a UK business sale of £6, the £0.30 per-order fee alone is 5% of the sale. On a sale of £60, the £0.40 per-order fee is under 1%. That is why a store full of cheap items needs a minimum profit in money, not just a percentage markup: the percentage covers the percentage fees, but only a money floor covers the fixed ones.

When you test a calculator, include at least one cheap item. A calculator that gets a £50 sale right can still be badly wrong on a £5 sale if it leaves out the fixed fees.

A worked example: the same sale, two calculators

Example, with hypothetical numbers: a UK business seller sells an item for £20 plus £3.50 postage to a UK buyer, through a general Promoted Listings campaign at a 3% ad rate. For the arithmetic only, assume a final value fee rate of 12%; this is a hypothetical rate, not eBay's rate for any category, so check yours on eBay's fee page.

• Calculator A charges 12% on the £20 item price only: £2.40.
• Calculator B uses the total sale of £23.50 and adds the other charges: final value fee 12% of £23.50 is £2.82; per-order fee £0.40 (the order is over £10); regulatory operating fee 0.35% of £23.50 is about £0.08; ad fee 3% of £23.50 is about £0.71. Total: about £4.01, before any VAT on fees.

The difference is £1.61 on one sale. If your expected profit on that item was £3, calculator A tells you that you keep £3 when you really keep about £1.39. Across hundreds of sales a month, that gap is the difference between a profitable store and an unprofitable one.

How do you check an eBay fee calculator?

1. Pick three recent sales: one cheap item, one with postage charged, one promoted.
2. Find the fees eBay actually charged for each, on your invoice or in Seller Hub's Payments tab.
3. Enter the same sales into the calculator, with the same category, postage and ad rate.
4. Compare line by line. Any gap tells you which fee the calculator is missing or getting wrong.
5. Recheck whenever eBay announces a fee change, and at least every few months.

For building your own sheet rather than trusting someone else's, see our guide to an eBay profit calculator you can trust.

From fee calculator to listing price

A calculator tells you what you keep at a price. To set the price, turn it round: work out the price that leaves your target profit after all fees. Because most eBay fees are a percentage of the sale, you divide your cost plus profit by one minus the total percentage, then add fixed fees such as the per-order fee before dividing. A repricing tool should do this sum for every price it sets. Dropizon does it from your own formula, grossing eBay fees up into the price with a minimum profit floor, so each listing's price covers its fees at the moment it is set.

A quick checklist

• Final value fee on the total sale, including postage and applicable taxes.
• Per-order fee and regulatory operating fee.
• The right category rate, from eBay's current page.
• Promoted Listings ad rate on the total sale amount.
• International fee and currency conversion charge for sales abroad.
• VAT on fees if you cannot reclaim it.
• Checked against three real sales on your invoice.