FEES....!!!!!
Summary: In the discussion, lucas92911 expresses frustration over eBay’s fees, claiming they are so high that after selling two items with shipping charges included, the profit amounted to only 83 cents. They feel this is unsustainable and not worth the effort. christworks and others respond by pointing out that the fees have not increased significantly, suggesting that the issue lies with the choice of items being sold and their pricing strategy, rather than eBay's fee structure. monroe67 discusses estimating eBay’s cut and mentions the various factors affecting the net profit from sales. Other participants emphasize that eBay operates as a business platform, not a yard sale, and that selling lower-value items often does not cover costs.
Ebay's fees are so over the top now that after selling two items and charging for shipping, after Ebay took their cut out of the whole thing including the shipping, I am getting 83 cents for two items. That is crazy. I have sold on ebay since the early days. It used to be great to help supplement my income just a little bit and to help get rid of things around the hosue while making a little $$. Now, its come to this. Obviously not worth the shipping materials and gas and time to mail the items. I cant raise the prices much higher on items or shipping as no one will buy. Its just so very sad to me that its come to this. I sold something the other day and Ebay took 46% off the top. For what? So aggravating and unsustainable. Thats my reward for staying with them for maybe 30 years? I've lost count.
stainlessenginecovers
·Jul 16, 2026 at 1:11 AM · Edited@lucas92911 Even 30 years ago you could NOT make any $$ selling an item for $10. It cost .60c just to 'list' an item over $10 with NO guarantee it would even sell. Multiply that .60c x 100 items and you were paying $60 for a 7 day auction!!
Did you grow up near power lines?
pepperballhawaii
·Jul 15, 2026 at 11:42 PMYes, I agree the fees are way too much for what they provide as a service!
stainlessenginecovers
·Jul 16, 2026 at 1:10 AM@pepperballhawaii what they 'provide' as a service is MILLIONS of people can possibly see and buy your items.
Try advertising in the Maui Times and see how many things you sell.
Heck, for 15% of the item price, beating paying $5000 a month is a bargain.
mam98031
·Jul 15, 2026 at 10:35 PM@lucas92911
Ebay hasn't raised their base selling fees in most categories for a very long time. Now if you are CHOOSING to promote your listings, then you are in full control of setting the percentage of additional fees you are WILLING to pay for a sale. So that choice is completely in your control.
If you aren't making enough money on your item, that isn't Ebay's fault, they do NOT set your pricing, you do. So either you are not setting your pricing for what you need to make a reasonable profit or the market just won't allow you to make but pennies on a transaction. Then you would need to decide if it is worth selling those items.
Keep in mind, much like the rest of the world, how it was 30 years ago is not how it is today. So much has change to include how buyers shop and even the buyers that are out there using the site. Not to mention the vast increase in the shear number of active sellers [18+million] along with their active listings [2.5+ BILLION]. Those factors alone change everything from how it was back in the good old days.
I look at shipping a bit differently than some. I charge what I need to charge to safely and accurately ship out my items. If a buyer chooses not to purchase from be due to the shipping costs, then so be it. I am not here to pay buyers to buy from me. I try to stay as reasonable as I can, but as we all know carriers can be a bit crazy with their pricing as the recent changes with USPS rates for GA shows.
Ebay does NOT take 46% in ANY category unless you are doing Promoted fees at 30+%, then that was the seller's decision to do that. Shipping rates are NOT part of Ebay fees. If you sell anywhere on the internet, you will have to ship your items and Ebay does NOT control shipping rates.
Now some little things that may help you.
Re-evaluate your pricing.
Check those shipping rates, some are so low that you are having to pay out of pocket to cover the costs. This link will give you the current USPS rates. If you are buying shipping online, then it is the Commercial rates you want to look at. If you go directly to the PO to buy your shipping, then you are paying full Retail rates.
https://pe.usps.com/PriceChange
Turn on an additional light when taking pictures. Clean Crisp pictures are far more important than many think they are.
Measurements. In some of your clothing listings you put measurements and in others you don't. When selling clothing, new or uses, but really important in used clothing are measurements. Expand your descriptions with information your buyer needs to make an informed purchase. It will only help you.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 month agoMany of the items you are offering are not worth the effort of selling. They should be donated to a charity which you approve of.
An item for $4.50 plus $5.98 is not worth your time.
You did a lot of work listing items without realizing that they would not pay for your effort.
bonanza125
·1 month agoThen your selling days on Ebay are over. When you say "Get rid of things" Ebay fees and shipping has gone up. Stuff worth under $7 isn't worth listing individually anymore. It will cost that just to ship the item. Ebay expects you to operate as a business not a yard sale. As a business you need to know your costs and fees up front. If you don't make much either raise your prices or sell elsewhere as in locally. Ebay is not taking 46% unless you click on promotion. The common mistake sellers make who complain here is that they have no idea what costs are until they get to this forum.
spacecoastparts
·Jul 15, 2026 at 9:24 PM"Ebay expects you to operate as a business not a yard sale."
Ebay's slogan is "Buy what you love, sell what you don't". That is exactly what a yard sale is, not a business philosophy. People then find out selling their low-value items are not practical.
bonanza125
·Jul 15, 2026 at 10:45 PMBuy it. Sell it. Love it is the slogan. Ebay still expects sellers to operate as a business. Ebay offers a 30 day moneyback guarantee. Sellers have a customer base who continue to come back. That is a business philosophy not a yard sale philosophy.
spacecoastparts
·Jul 16, 2026 at 12:59 AM · EditedHave you watched the latest eBay commercials? It’s “Buy what you love, sell what you don't”.
It’s on their website:
https://pages.ebay.com/fashion-selling/
eBay may expect sellers to operate as a business, but they lure them in with yard sale mentality.
OP seems to be a prime example of this dichotomy. Wanting to supplement income by getting rid of things around the house. Now for many household items, it’s simply not worth it.
kensgiftshop
·1 month agoSelling at those prices, there won't be much profit after fees and shipping.
monroe67
·1 month ago"Ebay's fees are so over the top now that after selling two items and charging for shipping, after Ebay took their cut out of the whole thing including the shipping, I am getting 83 cents for two items. . . . "
I will never understand posts like this from long-time sellers of "maybe 30 years."
A glance at "lucas92911's" listings show that he has had more than 13K sold items. That means 13,000. Thirteen thousand items.
Lucas, are you just now learning that the percentage portion of eBay's Final Value Fees (FVFs) are, in true fact, applied to the total paid by the buyer? That total many times does include shipping paid by the buyer.
Of course, with the sleeveless top you sold yesterday, you charged no shipping to the buyer. I will assume that the buyer did pay some sales tax on that purchase, since 45 of the 50 states do charge sales taxes, and most of those do impose sales taxes on clothing.
eBay's FVF on shipping is not a new development.
eBay began charging their FVF on shipping in July of 2011 , so that's 15 years ago.
eBay began collecting sales taxes in 2019 after certain states started requiring it, following the 2018 Supreme Court decision of South Dakota v Wayfair, Inc.
Have you added one of eBay's Promoted Listing arrangements to your listings?
If you have, you are paying eBay the percentage that you chose to pay them.
"I sold something the other day and Ebay took 46% off the top."
eBay's FVF percentages are nowhere close to 46%. The highest FVF percentage is 15.3%. Looking at your sold items, I think everything there is subject to eBay's current standard FVF percentage of 13.6%.
christworks
·1 month ago · Edited@lucas92911 Honest question: Are you an adult? I'm asking because for a second I thought I was on a board for juveniles.
Lots of drama in that post.
Another question: Who is choosing
to list $6 clothing items with free shipping? eBay or you?
eBay doesn't charge for shipping. You, the seller, charge for shipping. When you list an article of clothing for $5.95 with free shipping, what did you think was going to happen? The whole sale was a loss for you. You have to charge buyers for shipping or include the cost of the label in the item price. Shipping is not actually free.
eBays fees have mostly been unchanged for years. Their fees are around 15%, sometimes less depending on category. They are nowhere near 46%. If you promote your items, that is added to how much they take it. Promotions are optional.
Looking at your items, you are selling a lot of low dollar mall brand clothing that is already heavily saturated and that frankly nobody wants. You need better things to sell. That is your issue. eBay cannot solve that. You can.
It shouldn't have taken until now for you to realize that. But, at least you have. You can turn things around. If you wa t to sell clothing, which is fine, hit the thrift stores up or yard sales and buy only clothing that's in demand and you can flip for better money. You can do it. You aren't a failure. But you got to have better stuff. I wouldn't list anything for less than $10. I have been working on getting rid of low dollar stuff and have pulled my average sales price up to $45 this year.
My rule of thumb is 20% goes to eBay. That is selling fees and promotions. Then, I assume $10 shipping. Both of those numbers are over estimates, but in the field when buying I want that cushion because it helps me avoid items that I'll only make a buck or two on.
monroe67
·1 month ago"My rule of thumb is 20% goes to eBay."
My selling ID estimates 30% of the listing price being retained for eBay fees,
meaning I estimate I will receive 70% of the listing price.
If I get more than that estimated 70%, so much the better.
But I am never surprised by a low payout.
christworks
·1 month ago · Edited@monroe67 If you are giving eBay 30%, you are promoting way too much.
You should never have to be surprised by a low payout. With few exceptions, you should know what you will make off a sale before the sale happens. If you are doing auctions, you may not.
monroe67
·Jul 15, 2026 at 8:59 PM"If you are giving eBay 30%, you are promoting way too much.
You should never have to be surprised by a low payout. With few exceptions, you should know what you will make off a sale before the sale happens. If you are doing auctions, you may not."
I am not giving eBay 30%.
I do not promote my listings at any percentage. I tried promoting a few things a couple years ago and got nothing, so I simply do not promote any listings any more.
The point of my post was more like, "Oh! You estimate 20% to eBay!
I, on the other hand, estimate 30%!"
I have now decided to keep this response as short as possible, though I did originally try to emphasize that I was talking about ESTIMATES.
You know, like approximations.
Just a rough almost-guess that I keep only In My Mind.
This statement, though: "With few exceptions, you should know what you will make off a sale before the sale happens." -- I've seen similar opinions or theories about this in these forums occasionally, over many years.
In my experience, there are just waaaaay too many variables in sales of any item that I have listed and sold for me to ever know what I "will make off a sale."
Will the buyer pay sales tax? If so, will it be a low percentage of around 4%-5%, or will the item be delivered to one of those states with higher sales tax rates of 10% to 11%? Varies among states and I don't know which state any potential buyer lives in.
Will the buyer have to pay sales tax on the shipping price he pays as well as on the price of the item?
Will the buyer be in Colorado or Minnesota and have to pay a delivery charge, that is required by his state?
Will the buyer pay no sales tax because the item is delivered to Delaware, but the buyer is located and registered in Russia or England or Australia, so eBay will charge me an additional 1.65% as their International Fee?
You estimate 20%; I estimate 30%.
Maybe I choose to estimate that additional 10% more than you do because I simply do not know the variables I listed above.
Done for today, I think . . . . . . .