How Much Does eBay Take From a Sale in the UK? (2026)
If you sell as a private seller on eBay.co.uk, eBay takes no final value fee from the sale: on a £30 item with £3.50 postage you receive the full £33.50. Money only leaves your payout in a few cases: a 3% international fee when the buyer's delivery address is outside the UK, optional upgrades and promoted listings, listings beyond your free monthly allowance, and different rules if eBay treats you as a business seller. Fees checked on eBay's own pages on 4 October 2026.
The short answer for private sellers
On eBay.co.uk the fee page for private sellers lists no percentage commission on a completed sale. That is the number most people are really asking about when they search "how much does eBay take", and for a casual seller clearing a wardrobe it is £0.
This applies to private sellers only. eBay decides whether you are private or a business from how you sell, not from what you call yourself, so a one-off clear-out and a steady weekly stock of bought-in items are treated differently. If you buy to resell regularly, read the business-seller page before you assume the £0 applies to you.
What can still come out of your payout
International sales. If your registered address is in the UK and the buyer's delivery address is outside the UK, eBay charges a 3% international fee on the total of the sale: item price, postage, handling and any taxes. On a £30 item with £3.50 postage that is £1.01, so you receive £32.49 instead of £33.50. You can exclude international delivery locations in your listing settings if you would rather not sell abroad.
Listings beyond the free allowance and optional extras. Private sellers get a monthly number of free listings; past that, each listing carries an insertion fee. Upgrades such as promoted listings or extra features are optional and charged on top. Neither is taken from a normal sale, so you only pay them if you opt in or list in bulk.
Currency conversion. If you list on an eBay site in a different currency from your payout account, eBay may convert amounts and apply a conversion charge. It is easy to miss, so keep your listings on eBay.co.uk if you want GBP all the way through.
Postage you pay for. Your own postage cost is not an eBay fee, but it comes out of your margin if you offer free postage. Charge postage in the listing, or price the item with it included.
| Case | eBay fees | You receive |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer in the UK | £0.00 | £33.50 |
| Buyer outside the UK (3% international fee) | £1.01 | £32.49 |
Work out your own number in 30 seconds
Open the eBay UK fee calculator, enter the sale price, the postage you charge and the postage you pay, and tick the international box if the buyer is abroad. It shows the fee lines from the schedule above and what is left. The same page lists the official source and the date we checked it, so you can compare with eBay yourself.
If you are still deciding where to list, compare the same item on Depop and Vinted. The cheapest platform on paper is not always the one where your item sells; fees are one input, buyers are the other.
Steps before you list
1. Confirm you are selling as a private seller. If you list a lot of bought-in stock, check eBay's business-seller fees instead: they are not the same, and our calculator does not model them.
2. Photograph the item well. A clean first picture does more for a sale than any fee saving. The free listing photo tool crops to the square eBay prefers, evens out the background and runs in your browser, so your pictures are not uploaded.
3. Set postage deliberately. Weigh the parcel, pick the cheapest tracked option that fits, and decide whether to charge it or absorb it.
4. Switch off international delivery if you do not want the 3% fee or the customs hassle.
5. Keep a note of what each sale really paid you. A simple record in the profit tracker beats trying to reconstruct it at tax time.
What this guide does not cover
Business seller fees, eBay Shops subscriptions, Top Rated benefits, charity listings and tax obligations are outside this guide. eBay changes its fee pages from time to time, so treat the date on this page as the date we last looked, and use the link in the FAQ to confirm before a large sale. This is a fee explainer, not tax advice, and nothing here predicts what an item will fetch.
Frequently asked questions
How much does eBay take from a sale in the UK?
For private sellers on eBay.co.uk, eBay's fee page lists no final value fee on a completed sale, so the fee is £0. A 3% international fee applies when the delivery address is outside the UK. Business sellers pay different fees. Checked 4 October 2026.
Does eBay charge a fee when I sell an item in the UK to a UK buyer?
Not a percentage commission for private sellers. You can still pay for optional upgrades, promoted listings and listings beyond your free monthly allowance if you use them.
What is the eBay international fee?
If your registered address is in the UK and the buyer's delivery address is outside the UK, eBay charges 3% of the total sale, including postage. On a £30 item with £3.50 postage that is £1.01.
Am I a private or a business seller on eBay?
eBay decides from how you sell, not only from what you declare. Regular sales of bought-in stock are usually treated as business selling and follow the business fee page. Read eBay's own definition before assuming the private-seller schedule applies.
Where do these figures come from?
eBay.co.uk's selling fees page for private sellers (ebay.co.uk/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822), retrieved 4 October 2026. The worked examples use the Resale IQ fee calculator.
Resale IQ turns 14M+ listing records into one answer: BUY, WATCH, or SKIP — with buy-below price and best sizes.
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