eBay is ripping you off with listing fees
Summary: The discussion revolves around complaints about eBay's listing fees, with multiple participants expressing frustration. akiyamarj534o mentions discovering over 200 items were tagged for a fee without any returns from selling blaster boxes, calling it a scam. inhawaii highlights that three long-term sellers, including one with 18 years of experience, are confused by the fees and claim they are being scammed by eBay, questioning how the system works in terms of monthly limits.
Has anyone checked there transactions lately?
Every month, eBay tells me I have 250 free listings. So, every month I start listing items. I've been doing this for 3 years. I've had between 250 and 650 items listed for sale. All of sudden, end of Sept., I started to get hit with a bunch of $.35 listing fees for things that I listed a while ago. In some cases, 3 years ago. I never go over my 250 free listings each month, but I try to get as close to it as possible, and hopefully selling as much as possible.
I call eBay up, actually you can't talk to a human when you call, so I decided to do an automated chat to see what happens, and after arguing with the bot for about 10-15 min, it said a rep would call me back. I get on with the rep, and tell them that they have made a mistake by charging me a listing fee on a whole bunch of old listings. They say, it's not a mistake, they are now charging for all the listings that they "re-list" for you each month, if you have over 250 listings.
I ask why do they tell you you have 250 free listings, when they are counting every one of your active listings as one of those listings, but don't count them down on their promotional "counter"? They say that the way I can avoid this is to start an ebay store. I can pay $22/year, or I can pay $27/monthly. I say what's the difference? They say it's the same deal, 1,000 listings at no cost. I say, that makes no sense, why would anyone pay $27/month if you get the same thing for a one time fee of $22? He couldn't tell me. I opened up the seller hub and look up what a store costs, and it's not a one time fee of $22, it's a monthly charge of $22. So, if you commit for a year, you pay $22/month, but if you decide you don't want to sign a year contract, it's $27/month. I also see that they have a basic store for $4.95/month. I ask what do you get for $4.95/month. He says you get 250 listings per month. I say, only 250/month??? Why would I pay $4.95/month when that is what you are giving me for free now??? He says the same thing over again. TWICE.
I ask to speak with a supervisor. They go through the same speech. So, I say what do you mean, you are going to start charging me $.35/listing every month for any listing over 250??? She says YES. I say, what do I have to do to avoid those recurring listing fees for the 350 extra listings that I have. She says delete them. I said, is there any way I can avoid those recurring "re-listing" fees? She says, buy a store.
So, eBay is now extorting $22/month for sellers for their "250 free listings", if you don't sell 250 items in a month. I say, that's not free!!!!! AND it seems like they are going to start charging you $4.95/month for the privilege of using the 250 free listings.
THIS IS EXTORTION!!!!
Check you transactions... they could be charging you $.35/ listing if you have more than 250 items listed, unless you pay for a store and they are getting ready to start charging you $5/month for those 250 "free" listings.
Do you know how much money they will make if they start doing this?????? Do you know how much money you will lose??? It's basically BULL$hit extortion. Their normal fee's are high enough without adding any additional costs, but they have you over a barrel if you want to use their site because they have access to your bank account and can just rob you blind.
inhawaii
·3 weeks agoThree people on this thread claiming to have the same issue, claiming ebay is "scamming" them. One of them has been selling for 18 years. All three have no clue how it works.
"I've been selling on eBay for 18 years, and I NEVER go over the 250 per month."
akiyamarj534o
·3 weeks agoYup, just found out last month why I had over #200 items tagged for the .35 cent fee and got nothing back from a recent sale of blaster boxes. What a scam
mightyouneedit
·8 months agoI just had this happen to me, just got off the phone with an agent, and they told me I went over my free 250 per month, that's why I was charged $.35 cent listing fee. I know I didn't. I've been selling on eBay for 18 years, and I NEVER go over the 250 per month, that we are allotted. I listed the item Dec. 1st, along with my other 250 free listings. I revised this one item on Dec. 11th and got charged $.35 cents for listing the item. It may only be $.35 cents, but it should be in my pocket, not eBays! The first agent I spoke to said it has been happening to several people, and I would be refunded...I waited, no refund. Called back today and was told I had gone over my 250 per month...not true. He told me I could take down the listing and then they could refund me the $.35 cents...??? I still have 12 days on the listing so why would I take it down to get the refund...makes no sense. They make enough money on each of my sales...including a percentage of the shipping fee (which I'll never understand). Check all your transactions people. I may not have even noticed it, except they took it away from what my earnings were on an item I sold 2 days later, that's what brought it to my attention.
dryophelia
·8 months ago@mightyouneedit
You currently have 316 listings. That’s more than 250.
mightyouneedit
·8 months agoI had 78 listing left over from the month before, and they are ending now. The ones I listed Dec. 1st, won't end until the end of the month.
lacemaker3
·8 months ago@mightyouneedit
All of your listings are fixed price, so they don't end, they get renewed each month, on the same day of the month as when they were started. Every time a fixed-price listing renews, it uses up one of your free-insertion-fee listings.
So, if you have 250 free-insertion-fee listings, then you can't have any more than 250 active listings at any one time or you will be charged an insertion fee for any listings that renew after that during the month, or any new listings that you start.
Insertion fees are charged when the item is listed or renewed, and re nonrefundable. If you end a listing you don't get a refund of the insertion fee. The CS who told you that was mistaken.
mightyouneedit
·8 months agoI never let my listings end on their own, and I never let them automatically renew. I take them down 1 to 2 days before they are going to end.
fern*wood
·8 months agoIf you ended them, did you then relist? How did you end up with 316 listings this month? Have you looked back over your fees? Did you look at your Promotional offers to see the used/left free listing totals for this month?
lacemaker3
·8 months agoUh, sorry, no you don't. We can see when your listings were started.
I saw a lot more listings on your account earlier, and some were being ended as I watched. But as of right now, here are your most recent listings. The ones visible here were started between May 25 to Sept 8, 2025:
and your oldest listings here:
fern*wood
·8 months agoHave you read the posts to this thread? All listings that carry over from prior months count against this month's total as well as any new listings. You can track your available free listings on your seller hub under promotional offers.
kibble-net
·10 months agoOP, if you feel the fees are too high, then you don't have to keep listing here. No one is holding a gun to your head.
Personally I use the store subscription to save on fees and it's a great value. But you have to do the math and figure out what is best for YOU.
Best of luck in whatever you choose!
mamacassidy
·10 months ago@janesjava
Another thing to consider is that you can have multiple selling accounts.
However, when you start a new account, you will have low listing limits and your money will be held for 30 days until ebay decides you are trustworthy. But if you are completely against paying for a store, you could theoretically have 10 different selling accounts with up to 250 free Active listings per month.
For me personally, that is too much to keep up with, so I went with the store. But I know many people in this community have multiple selling accounts.
broto_64
·10 months agoEbay isn't ripping me off in the sense that they were not upfront with their costs.
I'm not sure what all you have listed, I have less listings than you do and with a basic store I find it cheaper than playing "free" listing games. Whether it is deceptive advertising, it certainly toes the line, just get a store and be done: It's $22 a month if you commit for a year, or $27 a month if you don't want an annual contract.
gator08041971
·10 months ago@janesjava
Figures.
You can no longer apparently set a listing to end if its not an auction. They will have to be ended manually. Fixed price listings stay active till canceled, and apparently don't give you an option to set or end them after X days or such. They used to, but not anymore apparently.
You will have to end ones you don't want active manually. Any that are due to relist next month will have to be ended BEFORE they renew or they use a slot next month. (starting tomorrow)
gator08041971
·10 months ago@janesjava
Use the bulk editor, or go here and do the following:
https://www.ebay.com/sh/lst/active
You can select all the active listings by clicking the box at the top left to checkmark them all. Then click the "Edit" button, to Edit all XX listings.
The bulk editor will show up.
https://www.ebay.com/bulksell?workspaceId=2771984252949&ru=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsh%2Flst%2Factive&rp=cws
Again, check off all the listings you want to change so they can end when done.
Then, under edit:
Modify the Duration option.
EDIT
Nevermind, this apparently only works on AUCTION listings. (Not sure why, but okay)
inhawaii
·10 months agoThank you for the information.
I will take the appropriate action.
janesjava
OP10 months agoI've never paid for a store, because I only sell for 6 months, give or take. If old listings count towards those free listings, why don't they make the counter go down??? It says on my selling promo, List 250 new listings without an insertion fee. It says I can list like 5 million things per month if I want.
Promotional offers
List up to 250 Items for FREE Every Month!
Pay no insertion fees on 250 auction-style or fixed price listings.opens in a new window or tab
Monthly limits
5Mmore items
275listed and sold / 5M limit on quantity of items
$5M more
$6,816.82listed and sold / $5M limit
What am I not understanding????
tobaccocardyahoo
·10 months agoUsed/Left:250Promotional offers, 250 used, 0 left.opens in a new window or tab/0
lacemaker3
·10 months ago@janesjava,
They told you that you have already used all your promotional listings for this month, October, but you apparently missed this:
Your monthly listing limits have nothing to do with how many items you can list "for free" (meaning without insertion fees).
It says you get 250 Promotional items "for free", and you used them all. It doesn't say anywhere that you can list 5M more items "for free".
This is explained here in eBay policy:
worldcoinauctions
·10 months agoYeah that is more or less how it works. If you want to keep under the 250 you can list about 8 a day for auction, or a total of 250 but keep in mind that fixed price listings that auto renew count against that. Has worked that way since they started doing the 250 free per month. Not a new thing. Up to you to keep track of how many you have renewing each month, you can list new ones to make up the difference.
gator08041971
·10 months ago@janesjava
If I understand the basic store option, it gives you an additional 250 slots. Not the same 250 you already got for free.
I say this, because you pointed out why pay for a basic store for 250 when you get 250 already. Well, you wouldn't. But you will end up with a total of 500. Which then should accommodate your current amount of listings.
And as others have said, its always a running total of all your listings over a 30 day period. Each time a listing is newly added, or if its renewed, it uses a slot. If you cancel it and relist it, that uses a slot for each instance if its within the same period.
For example, you can have 125 auction style listings, list them for 10 days, and in one month (assuming none sold and you relisted them automatically) you could use up 375 insertions for that 30 day period.
slippinjimmy
·10 months agoYou don't, you are confusing a Starter Store with a Basic Store. With a Basic Store you get at least 1000 listings per month (plus potentially many more in specific categories).
Some sellers use a Starter Store because they want the extra features of a Store (running promotions/sales) but don't need the extra listings. This is especially true if you sell in a Category that has the same FVF rate for both Store or Non-Store.
janesjava
OP10 months agoGator,
Thanks for your input, but when I spoke with the eBay supervisor, she said the basic store only gives you 250 listings. Period. If you have an offer for free listings it counts towards the 250.
Just sharing what gigi told me.
gator08041971
·10 months ago@janesjava
Basic (as noted by @slippinjimmy ) only gives you 1000 total. Its starter that doesn't give you more, but gives you basic store front features.
And as a couple others have pointed out, you only get 250 listing slots per monthly cycle. If you have 250 already listed, when those renew, they will use any available slots.
Essentially, you can only have up to 250 active items. If an item sells, it still used a slot for the current monthly cycle, till the next month starts, then the count is reset.
Tomorrow, your available listing slots will reset and you will have all 250 slots available again, but if you have 250 listings or more active, they will eventually use up those 250 slots if they don't sell and get renewed throughout the next month.
janesjava
OP10 months agoYes, I now understand that you can only have 250 active listings at any one time. But, ebay doesn't say " you have 250 free listings this month, unless we RE-LIST" 250 of your old listings."
It just puts a counter up and says "you have 250 free listings."
Is there any way to just end listings after 30 days, without going to every single listing and end it?
robbie31415
·10 months agoI don't think so.
You can with 3rd party inventory management.
Fixed on ebay are auto renewed until cancelled.
janesjava
OP10 months agoThank you all for responding to my messages. I do understand the policy NOW.
I also think I understand that they are going to start charging people $5/month to list things on ebay, because what they are saying is that everyone has a store, if up to 250 free listings is a basic store or starter store or whatever it's called.
janesjava
OP10 months agoOne more question, if you don't mind. If you want to have a listing for a "widget", but you have multiple sizes and multiple colors of widgets, and you set up the listing for a widget with 10 available. Does that still count as 1 listing or is it counted as 10 listings?
albertabrightalberta
·10 months agoA variation listing with multiple items to choose from in one listing counts as a single listing.
fern*wood
·10 months agoWithout any store you can have 250 listings before the listing fees start. No $5.00 charge.
A starter store will only give you 250 free listings plus a few store perks like ability to run a sale.
The basic store gives you a ton of listings. I currently have 2400 and pay no listing fees. It’s a math thing to decide which you want depending on how many things you have to list.
janesjava
OP10 months agoThank you all again for your input. I guess I'll just have to decide is I want to open a store for next year. The fact that I am basically just using ebay to clean out my house of 30 years, my antique/boutique business, and the items that I acquired after my parents and in-laws passed. AND, that I only do it half a year makes it a decision that I'm just going to have to think hard on.
albertabrightalberta
·10 months agoYou aren't understanding quite right.
You have 250 free listings to insert per month.
To give an easy example, let's say you post your 250 free listings tomorrow, November 1. You'll have used your 250 free for the month.
So even if you sell 100 of your items the next day and have 150 active listings left, you still have used your free listings for the month so any more listings you post will be charge 35 cents each.
Unavailable member
·10 months agoWhomever this “eBay supervisor†was you spoke to sure doesn’t know anything about a basic stores.
I have a Basic store with 10,000 free insertion fee listings in Books and Magazines. All my listings are in Books and Magazines> Audiobooks. I have over 5500 listings and have never been charged an insertion fee for any of them.
mamacassidy
·10 months ago@janesjava
This is definitely not new.
I learned this lesson basically the same way you did, but back around 2017 or so.
For a while, I kept ending listings each month before they would renew, but at some point, I realized I'd be better off just paying for the store.
With the reduced fees, the free supplies coupon, the ability to have sales and coupons, the store more than pays for itself.
monica-sells
·10 months agoEvery day......your assumptions are flawed...the listing policy has been the same for years
meme6253
·10 months agoGet a Basic store & that should resolve your issue.
buyselljack2016
·10 months agoeBay is not ripping me off.
I am careful not to exceed my 250 "free" insertions per month.
ladybugmls
·10 months agoThe eBay Basic Store subscription costs $27.95/month for a month-to-month subscription, or $21.95/month if you commit to a year.
evry1nositswindy
·10 months agoIt isn't 250 NEW listings every month. Those 250 listings include those that are relisting from the previous months. It's a rolling total. If you don't want extra fees, end those listings and add them at your leisure. You just have to be at 250 total listings for the month.
fern*wood
·10 months agoThey are correct in that is how it works, but it isn't something new that just started. I had another selling ID with only the 250 per month and it always worked the same. I got 250 free per month which included all new, relisted or rolled over listings. The .35 per listing fee has always been charged if you go over. You can track the free listings you have available on your seller hub under promotional offers.
If you have much more than 250 listings per month and do the math, it would benefit you to open a basic store.
femmefan1946
·10 months agoThere are from time to time Free Promotional Listings.
It may be that you have lucked in over the years on some of those.
My Basic Store has 1000 "free " listings, but for many months has also had 10,000 truly FREE Promotional Listings.
Or you may not have noticed the extra fees. Do you look at your costs every month?
janesjava
OP10 months agoI just started getting the $.35 listing fee Sept. 26th. I have only ever listed items when they gave me free listings, and it's been 250 free every month for as long as I remember. This year, I've had a min of 263 items from Jan through Mid June. I know that because I put my store on time away for the first 6 months of the year. I've been doing that for 3 years, basically trying to clean out my house. I've never been charged a listing fee. I check my transactions regularly, because I don't sell that much stuff each month.
Every month I get a selling promo that says I have 250 free listings with a counter that clicks down as I list things each month. I never went over 250 listings in a month and in 3 years, never got charged a listing fee until the end of this Sept. The only thing that changed on my end is that I think I finally hit about 500 listings in Sept.
So, what changed???
janesjava
OP10 months agoThey're not really free listings if they are only free for a month.
tobaccocardyahoo
·10 months agoEbay defines what free means.
The reason there is no one who supports your interpretation is because no one has your false interpretation of free.
If you stayed close to 250 listings and had anything reasonable in sell through, you might have, even with relists, stayed under the 250, since fewer would need relisting if they were sold.
The basic store has 1000 free fixed price listings, 250 free auction listings in select categories, and 10,000 free additional insertions in select categories.
fashionsandbeauty4u
·10 months ago@janesjava
All Sellers without a store are eligible for a total of 250 free active listings per month. Any active listing over that 250 total will be charged an insertion fee.
There is a misconception that a Seller gets 250 each month. As shown in the link, it is 250 total active listings.
Subscriptions and fees | Seller Center https://share.google/r6jy6r0LJ69tgONyG