Six sources give eBay's fee as 12.9%, 13.25%, 13.35%, 13.6%, 14.0% and 15.3%

Key takeaways

• eBay's 2026 final value fee for most categories is 13.6% of the total sale (item, shipping and sales tax) up to $7,500, plus $0.30 per order under $10 and $0.40 above. The 12.9% to 15.3% spread across published guides is mostly definitional: whether the per-order fee is included, whether shipping is in the base, and which category.
• eBay charges on item plus shipping. A $20 item with $8 shipping is charged on $28 — a structural difference from Amazon and Walmart worth understanding before pricing.
• Etsy's stack has four parts: a 6.5% transaction fee, payment processing, a $0.20 listing fee renewed every four months, and offsite ads. A fee-comparison site puts the total effective rate at roughly 9.5% to 11.3%.
• Etsy's offsite ads fee is at 15% and is mandatory above a revenue threshold. It is the line that decides which platform is cheaper on a given sale.
• Neither is a general second marketplace for an FBA seller. eBay suits used, refurbished, parts and high-ticket goods; Etsy suits handmade, custom and vintage under a policy that excludes most private label.

eBay charges 13.6% on the item, the shipping and the sales tax, plus $0.40 an order. Every other number you have read for eBay’s fee is that one with a piece missing. The second marketplace guide puts Walmart first for a US physical-goods seller. These two are the answer when your product does not fit that pattern — and both are frequently misread from their headline rates.

01eBay, and why the number moves

Source	Reported final value fee
SPX Commerce	12.9% + $0.30 (including payment processing)
ProfitCalcu	13.25% + $0.30, capped at $750 per item
Platform Fee Calculator	13.35% + $0.40 on item plus shipping, processing included
Taxomate	13.6% + $0.40
EcomCalcTools	14.0% effective on a $100 sale, most categories, no store
Webgility	12%–15% plus a small per-order charge
eBay’s own stated range (per one source)	2.5%–15.3% by category

These are largely the same fee described differently. Whether the per-order charge is folded in, whether the base includes shipping, and which category — those three choices produce the spread.

Two things every source agrees on:

Payment processing is included. No separate charge, unlike Etsy.

The fee is charged on item plus shipping. One source’s example: a $20 item with $8 shipping is charged on $28. That inverts the usual instinct to move cost into shipping — on eBay it changes nothing except your fee base.

One 2026 change: clothing and accessories rose from 15% to 15.3%, with the per-order charge unchanged.

Listing fees: at up to 250 free fixed-price listings a month, then $0.35 each. Store subscribers get more — one source says up to 10,000 depending on plan.

The store subscription will reduce final value fees, with one source citing as little as 4.6% on qualifying categories. Reported break-even logic: worth it if you regularly exceed the free listing allowance, or if the reduced rates on your volume exceed the subscription cost.

02Etsy, and the fee nobody models

The four-part stack:

Component	Reported
Transaction fee	6.5% of item price including shipping
Payment processing	~3% + $0.25
Listing fee	$0.20, renewed every four months
Offsite ads	15%, mandatory above a revenue threshold

Total effective rate without offsite ads: at roughly 9.5% to 11.3%.

The offsite ads program is the decision point. One source reports it as mandatory for sellers above $10,000 in annual revenue and as significantly increasing costs. Another frames the comparison directly: for items priced $20 to $200 without offsite ads, Etsy is typically cheaper than eBay by about 3.5 to 4 percentage points — and if 40% or more of your Etsy sales trigger the 15% fee, eBay’s flat rate may be predictably cheaper.

That is the sharpest published framing of the choice, and it turns on a number you can only measure after selling there for a while.

03Which fits which product

Reported guidance, and it is consistent:

eBay wins on:

• Used, refurbished and non-handmade goods — no category restrictions
• High-value items above $500 with a store subscription
• Parts, accessories and collectibles where search demand is specific
• International buyers, via the global shipping program
• Cases where Etsy’s offsite ads attribution is heavy

Etsy wins on:

• Handmade, craft, custom and vintage items — its buyer base actively searches for these
• Items $20 to $200 where offsite ads do not trigger
• Products where the audience justifies a premium

Etsy’s handmade and vintage policy is the hard constraint: some items simply do not belong there. For a standard private-label FBA product, that usually settles it.

04What this means for an FBA seller

Neither is a general-purpose second marketplace. Walmart is, for the reasons in the Walmart guide — same logistics, same customer expectation, comparable fulfillment program.

eBay is worth considering if you have returned, open-box or refurbished inventory that Amazon will not let you list as new, or if you sell parts and accessories where eBay’s search behavior differs. It is also a route for removal-order inventory that would otherwise be liquidated at a fraction of value.

Etsy is worth considering only if your product genuinely fits the handmade, custom or vintage policy. Listing a mass-produced private-label item there is a policy problem waiting to happen.

Both add the same overheads as any channel: sales tax on direct-adjacent sales — see the sales tax guide — pricing constraints from parity policies, and multi-channel inventory and accounting.

And on fulfillment: MCF can ship eBay orders from your FBA inventory, with the caveat that alternative last-mile providers being required on eBay because Amazon’s in-house delivery cannot be used there.

05What to do

Compare on your own category and price point, not on headline rates. Every source’s number is correct for some configuration.

Remember eBay charges on item plus shipping. Free shipping is not free; it moves cost into the fee base.

Measure Etsy’s offsite ads attribution before judging. It is the line that decides the comparison and you cannot know it in advance.

Check the store subscription break-even if you list more than 250 items a month or sell high-ticket goods.

Treat these as product-fit decisions, not diversification. The diversification argument is in the second marketplace guide; these two are answers to “where does this specific product belong.”

Run it on your own figures. The margin and break-even calculator takes your price, cost of goods, referral rate, fulfillment fee, returns and ad spend and returns net profit per unit, net margin and the maximum ACOS the product can carry. Nothing is stored and nothing leaves your browser.

Take one SKU you already sell and price it on both platforms at the same net margin you get on Amazon. If the eBay price comes out above the market for that item, the fee question is answered before you list.

Frequently asked

What does eBay actually charge?

Reported between 12.9% and 15.3% across six sources plus a per-order fee of $0.30 to $0.40. The spread is mostly definitional — whether the per-order fee is included, whether shipping is in the base, and which category. Payment processing is included.

Does eBay charge fees on shipping?

Yes. The final value fee applies to the total the buyer pays, item plus shipping. A $20 item with $8 shipping is charged on $28.

Is Etsy cheaper than eBay?

For items $20 to $200 without offsite ads, reported as typically cheaper by about 3.5 to 4 percentage points. eBay becomes more competitive above $500 with a store subscription, or where Etsy's 15% offsite ads fee applies heavily.

What is Etsy's offsite ads fee?

15% of the attributed order, dropping to 12% once the shop has made $10,000 in a trailing twelve months — at which point participation becomes mandatory for the life of the shop, per Etsy's Fees & Payments Policy. It is the line that decides which platform is cheaper, and you cannot measure your attribution rate until you have sold there.

Can I sell private-label products on Etsy?

Generally no. Etsy's handmade and vintage policy means some items do not belong there, and a mass-produced private-label item usually falls outside it.

Should an FBA seller add eBay?

As a product-fit decision rather than diversification. It suits used, refurbished, open-box, parts and high-ticket goods — including inventory Amazon will not let you list as new, which would otherwise be liquidated.

Sources

1. eBay selling fees, US (final value fee 13.6% of the total amount of the sale up to $7,500 in most categories, 2.35% above; per-order fee $0.30 on orders of $10 or less and $0.40 above; 250 free insertions per month), eBay Seller Center accessed 2026-09-05
2. Fees & Payments Policy (6.5% transaction fee on item price plus shipping; $0.20 listing fee; Offsite Ads 15% or 12% above $10,000; $100 cap per order), Etsy accessed 2026-09-05
3. eBay final value fees explained, 2026 (13.6% on item plus shipping plus tax; $0.30 / $0.40 per-order fee since March 15, 2024), FlowLister Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
4. eBay vs Etsy fees 2026: which keeps more money? (eBay 13.35% + $0.40 on item plus shipping with processing included; Etsy 6.5% transaction fee; Etsy typically cheaper by 3.5–4 points for $20–$200 items without offsite ads; store subscribers as low as 4.6%; product-fit guidance), Platform Fee Calculator Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
5. eBay vs Etsy — which is cheaper for sellers in 2026? (eBay 13.25% + $0.30 capped at $750 per item; Etsy 6.5% + 3% + $0.25 processing giving roughly 9.5–10%; 250 free listings then $0.35; store subscription listing allowances), ProfitCalcu Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
6. eBay selling fees 2026 (13.6% final value fee and $0.35 insertion fees; Etsy offsite ads significantly increasing costs above $10,000 annual revenue; promoted listings adding 2–10%), Voolist Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
7. eBay seller fees 2026: final value fee and payout (14.0% effective on a $100 sale in most categories without a store; final value fee applying to the total including shipping; store break-even logic), EcomCalcTools Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
8. eBay seller fees 2026: 13.6% + $0.40 per sale (worked examples by category; fees deducted from payout at sale), Taxomate Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
9. Marketplace seller fees comparison (eBay final value fee including payment processing at roughly 12.9% + $0.30; promoted spend adding 15–20%; audience roughly 50% smaller), SPX Commerce Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
10. Marketplace fees 2026: Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Walmart compared (Etsy at 6.5% regardless of product type; eBay per-order charge plus category percentage), Webgility Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
11. eBay seller fees 2026: complete breakdown (2026 clothing and accessories increase from 15% to 15.3%; per-order charge unchanged), FeeCalculator Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
12. eBay vs Etsy vs Amazon vs Shopify fees (eBay final value fees ranging 2.5% to 15.3% by category plus a per-order fee; judging platforms on total selling cost rather than one visible percentage), DPL Secondary accessed 2026-09-05