Use this eBay fee calculator to estimate your profit after fees on a UK sale. Enter the sale price, postage, your costs, category and VAT status, and it returns every eBay fee, your net profit and the price you need for a target margin.
eBay UK Fee and Profit Calculator
Enter what you paid, what you charge and how you sell. The calculator shows every eBay fee and your profit after them.
Result summary
Business seller, not VAT-registered: 20% VAT on eBay fees counted as a cost. One item per order.
How much does eBay take from a UK sale?
For a business seller in the default “Everything else” category, eBay charges 12.9% of the sale total plus a 40p per-order fee and a 0.35% regulatory operating fee, all before VAT. Those figures are the defaults in the calculator above. Other categories charge less or more, and some drop to a lower rate on the part of the sale above a set price.
The sale total is the item price plus postage plus any tax, so eBay takes its percentage of the postage you charge as well. If you charge £3.50 postage on a £30 item, the fee is worked out on £33.50, not £30.
How the calculation works
- Final value fee: the category percentage applied to the sale total. Where eBay lists two rates, the higher rate applies up to the stated price and the lower rate to the part above it, calculated per item.
- Per-order fee: 30p when the order total is £10.00 or less, and 40p when it is over £10.00.
- Regulatory operating fee: 0.35% of the sale total.
- Promoted listing fee: the ad rate you enter, applied here to the sale total. eBay lets you choose the percentage, so the calculator takes it as an input.
- VAT on fees: eBay quotes its fees exclusive of VAT, so 20% is added on top.
Worked example: a £30 item with £3.50 postage charged, in “Everything else”, comes to about £4.84 of fees before VAT and £5.81 with VAT. If the item cost you £12 and postage cost you £3.50, a business seller who is not VAT-registered keeps £12.19, a 36.4% margin.
VAT-registered or not: why the same sale pays differently
Once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in 12 months you have to register for VAT. A registered seller’s listed price includes 20% VAT, so part of every sale belongs to HMRC, while the VAT on eBay’s fees can be reclaimed. A seller who is not registered keeps the whole sale but cannot reclaim the VAT on fees, so it is a real cost.
Take the same £30 item and £3.50 postage entered as VAT-inclusive prices. The registered seller’s profit falls from £12.19 to £7.58, a 27.1% margin, because £5.58 of the £33.50 goes to VAT on the sale. Enter your own costs excluding VAT if you are registered, and include VAT if you are not.
What price do I need for a target margin?
The last result card works backwards. Set a target margin and it finds the lowest item price that reaches it, given your costs, postage and fees. With the defaults and a 20% target, a non-registered seller needs to list at £21.43. A VAT-registered seller needs £26.27, because the price has to cover VAT on the sale as well.
If the calculator says “Not reachable”, the target is higher than the fee structure allows at any price. Lower the target or your costs, or move to a category with lower fees.
Where the category rate changes the answer
Category matters more than most sellers expect. Laptops and Netbooks pay 6.9% up to £1,000 of the sale total and 3% above it, so a £997 laptop with £3 postage pays £69.00 in final value fee. Jewellery and Watches pay 14.9% up to £1,000 and 4% above it. Trainers pay 11.9%, dropping to 7% when the item price is £100 or more.
Try switching the category on the same £30 item. The gap between 9.9% and 12.9% is about £1 on a £33.50 sale before VAT, which is why low-margin resellers check the category before they price.
Private sellers
UK private sellers pay no final value fee or regulatory operating fee, so the calculator shows zero fees for that setting. Fees still apply if you list more than 300 items in a month, buy optional listing upgrades or deliver to an overseas address. Selling regularly for profit can make you a trader in the eyes of HMRC. The side hustle tax guide explains the trading allowance, and the UK side hustle tax calculator turns your profit into a tax estimate.
Vinted vs eBay fees
Vinted works the other way round. Its price list charges the buyer a Buyer Protection fee, described as usually 3% to 8% plus £0.30 to £0.80, and lists only optional seller services such as bumping and showcase. On a £30 item that is roughly £1.20 to £3.20 added to the buyer’s total, and nothing taken from the seller’s sale price.
That does not make Vinted cheaper for every seller. The buyer’s fee changes what they will pay, postage rules differ, and eBay reaches a different audience for many categories. Compare your profit on both, not the fee schedules alone.
Practical tips
- Price postage into the sale total. A free-postage listing still pays the fee on the postage you have built into the price.
- Watch the £10 line on cheap items. An order of £10.00 pays a 30p per-order fee and £10.01 pays 40p.
- Check the category before you list. Listing in two categories charges the higher of the two fees.
- Test a promoted listing rate by entering it, then read the margin. A 10% ad rate on the default sale takes profit from £12.19 to £8.17.
What this calculator leaves out
It handles one item per order. It leaves out eBay Shop subscription costs, the international fee, the Below Standard seller surcharge, vehicle sales and currency conversion. Fee schedules change, so check the current eBay page before you rely on a margin for a large order.
FAQ
Does eBay charge fees on postage?
Yes. The final value fee is worked out on the total amount of the sale, which includes postage and any tax.
Are eBay fees inclusive of VAT?
For business sellers the fees on eBay’s page are exclusive of VAT, so 20% is added. VAT-registered sellers can normally reclaim it.
Do private sellers pay eBay fees in the UK?
Not final value fees. UK private sellers sell free outside vehicle listings, with fees only for extras such as optional upgrades or overseas delivery.
How do I work out profit after eBay fees?
Take the sale total, subtract every eBay fee, VAT where it is a cost, your item cost, postage and other costs. The calculator does each step and shows the margin.
These are estimates, not a statement of what eBay will bill. Verify high-stakes tax and pricing decisions with eBay’s own pages or a qualified accountant before acting.
Sources and assumptions
Default estimate: business seller, not VAT-registered, “Everything else” category, one item per order, no promoted listing, no Shop subscription. Fee data last checked on 28 September 2026 against eBay’s page updated on 4 August 2026.
