How Much Does eBay Take in Fees?
For most categories, eBay takes about 13.6% of the total sale, item price plus shipping plus any sales tax, plus a small flat per-order fee. Flip that around and a seller in the most-common category keeps roughly 86 cents of every dollar the buyer paid, before subtracting what the item itself cost to acquire.
What eBay takes, by category
| Category | eBay takes | Seller keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Most categories | 13.6% | ~86.4% |
| Books, Movies & TV, Music | 15.3% | ~84.7% |
| Coins & Paper Money | 13.25% | ~86.75% |
| Guitars & Basses | 6.7% | ~93.3% |
| Handbags (over $2,000) | 9% | ~91% |
| Jewelry & Watches (over $5,000) | 9% | ~91% |
Percentage of the final value fee base only, before the flat per-order fee. See the full schedule for every category and the threshold rules.
"Take" includes more than the item price
eBay's percentage is taken from the total the buyer paid you, not the item price in isolation. Shipping you charged counts, and so does any sales tax eBay collected on the state's behalf, even though that tax money was never yours to keep in the first place. A seller who only tracks the item price when estimating what eBay "takes" is comparing eBay's percentage against the wrong base and will consistently underestimate the fee.
Store subscribers keep slightly more
A store subscription lowers the final value fee percentage in many categories and, in some tiers, the per-order fee too, at the cost of a monthly subscription fee. A high-volume seller can come out ahead paying for a store; a seller listing a handful of items a month generally can't recoup the subscription cost from the fee discount alone. This schedule reflects the standard, no-store rate, the ceiling on what eBay takes rather than the floor.
Payout isn't profit
"What eBay takes" and "what you actually make" are two different numbers. The payout percentages above only account for eBay's own cut; they say nothing about what the item or its shipping cost you to begin with. A sale where eBay takes a modest 13.6% can still be a loss if the item cost more than the payout covers. For a figure that nets out your own cost and shows real profit margin, use the eBay fee calculator with your numbers.