eBay (UK): the £0 case
eBay UK private sellers pay nothing at all on a UK domestic sale — £0 fees, not 12.9%.
Short answer
eBay UK private sellers pay nothing at all on a UK domestic sale — £0 fees, not 12.9%. On a £50.00 sale that is £0.00 in fees — 0.0% of the sale — leaving £50.00. The published UK rate card is 12.9% + £0.40 + VAT, and it applies to business sellers. Since 1 October 2024 a private seller on a UK domestic sale is charged no final value fee, no per-order fee and no regulatory operating fee — so a £50 sale costs exactly nothing. Non-UK-resident private sellers and anyone buying to resell are still on the business rate.
Your numbers
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Net payout
£50.00
- Total fees
- £0.00
- Effective fee rate
- 0.0%
- Net profit
- £50.00
- Buyer pays
- £50.00
Fee breakdown
What £0 actually costs
On the default sale above, eBay (UK) takes £0.00 — 0.0% of the price, leaving £50.00 in the seller's account.
The published UK rate card is 12.9% + £0.40 + VAT, and it applies to business sellers. Since 1 October 2024 a private seller on a UK domestic sale is charged no final value fee, no per-order fee and no regulatory operating fee — so a £50 sale costs exactly nothing. Non-UK-resident private sellers and anyone buying to resell are still on the business rate.
Every line is itemised below with the arithmetic that produced it, so each figure can be checked against the published rate card.
The $0.30 floor, and the categories that do not have it
Read the referral line on its own here. On a $1 electronics item Amazon computes 8% = $0.08, then charges $0.30 because that category carries the published minimum. The same $1 item in grocery is charged 8% and nothing more, because the official rate card prints "--" in the minimum column for grocery, media, video games, consoles, gift cards and fine art.
The floor is not a rounding rule, it is a per-unit charge. It only disappears once the percentage overtakes it — at 8% that happens at $3.75, so everything below that price pays $0.30 in referral fee no matter how low the percentage would be.
Professional selling plan, with the $39.99 monthly fee spread over 100 orders ($0.40 per order). On a $1 item that plan fee is larger than the referral fee, which is exactly why a sub-$2 sale is not viable on this plan.
The same price on every other platform
This is what makes the £0 figure unusual: at £50.00, the platforms rank like this.
Poshmark: $10.00 (20.0%).
Amazon (US): $7.90 (15.8%).
eBay (US): $7.20 (14.4%).
Etsy: $5.20 (10.4%).
Mercari: $5.00 (10.0%).
Rates last verified 2026-10-12.
Rate table
| Private seller — eligible UK domestic saleno final value fee, no per-order fee, no regulatory fee; the buyer pays a Buyer Protection Fee | £0.00 |
|---|---|
| Private seller — delivered outside the UK | 3% of the total sale |
| Business seller — Most categoriesrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 12.9% |
| Business seller — Clothing, shoes & accessoriesrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 11.9% |
| Business seller — Computers & electronicsrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 9.9% |
| Business seller — Books, films & musicrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 9.9% |
| Business seller — Home, furniture & DIYrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 11.9% up to £500.00, then 7.9% |
| Business seller — Collectablesrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 10.9% |
| Business seller — Vehicle parts & accessoriesrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 9.5% up to £750.00, then 3% |
| Business seller — Jewellery (except watches)rates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 14.9% up to £1,000.00, then 4% |
| Business seller — Watches, parts & accessoriesrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 12.9% up to £750.00, then 3% |
| Business seller — Women's bags & handbagsrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 12.9% up to £800.00, then 7% |
| Business seller — Trainers / sneakersrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 11.9% |
| Business seller — Business, office & industrialrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 12.5% |
| Business seller — Phones, laptops, cameras & TVsrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 6.9% up to £1,000.00, then 3% |
| Business seller — Coinsrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 10.9% up to £450.00, then 3% |
| Business seller — Musical instruments & DJ equipmentrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 10.9% |
| Business seller — NFT categoriesrates exclude VAT, which eBay adds at 20% | 5% |
| Business seller — per-order fee | £0.30 on orders up to £10.00, £0.40 above |
| Business seller — regulatory operating fee | 0.35% |
| VAT on seller feescharged on the fee total; reclaimable only if you are VAT-registered | 20% |
| Listing allowanceabout 35p each above the allowance | 300 free listings per month |
- Rates last verified
Formula
12.9% + £0.40 + 20% VAT — applied to this case it comes to £0.00 on £50.00What each term means
Assumptions
- eBay (UK) UK marketplace, GBP, one third-party seller.
- Professional selling plan where the platform has one, with the monthly fee spread over 100 orders so the per-order figures stay visible.
- The buyer pays no shipping, so the fee base is the item price alone.
- Postage, item cost and packaging are excluded from the fee and shown only in the profit line.
- Advertising is a budget the seller sets, not a published fee, so it is not included.
Worked examples
The same item listed at $20
- Buyer pays
- £20.00
- Total fees
- £0.00
- Effective rate
- 0.0%
- Net profit
- £20.00
Fee breakdown
£0.00 in fees — 0.0% of the sale. private seller: £0 total.
The same item listed at $50
- Buyer pays
- £50.00
- Total fees
- £0.00
- Effective rate
- 0.0%
- Net profit
- £50.00
Fee breakdown
£0.00 in fees — 0.0% of the sale. the same sale costs a business seller £8.44.
The same item listed at $200
- Buyer pays
- £200.00
- Total fees
- £0.00
- Effective rate
- 0.0%
- Net profit
- £200.00
Fee breakdown
£0.00 in fees — 0.0% of the sale. private seller: still £0.
Every figure above is computed from the rate schedule on this page for eBay (UK), using the same engine as the calculator — not typed in by hand.
Common mistakes
Assuming the headline rate applies at £0
The published UK rate card is 12.9% + £0.40 + VAT, and it applies to business sellers. Since 1 October 2024 a private seller on a UK domestic sale is charged no final value fee, no per-order fee and no regulatory operating fee — so a £50 sale costs exactly nothing. Non-UK-resident private sellers and anyone buying to resell are still on the business rate.
Reading a percentage when the fee has a fixed component
A flat charge does not scale down with the sale. It is why the effective rate on a cheap sale can be several times the published percentage, and why quoting the percentage alone understates the cost badly.
Questions
- Why does eBay (UK) charge £0 here?
- The published UK rate card is 12.9% + £0.40 + VAT, and it applies to business sellers. Since 1 October 2024 a private seller on a UK domestic sale is charged no final value fee, no per-order fee and no regulatory operating fee — so a £50 sale costs exactly nothing. Non-UK-resident private sellers and anyone buying to resell are still on the business rate. The figure is taken from the current published rate card, verified 2026-10-12.
- What does eBay (UK) charge on a £50.00 sale?
- £0.00, which is 0.0% of the sale, leaving £50.00. Every fee is listed separately above with the formula behind it.
- How do the fees change as the sale price rises?
- $20 → £0.00 (0.0%); $50 → £0.00 (0.0%); $200 → £0.00 (0.0%).
Related calculators
These calculators apply published marketplace fee schedules. They are general information tools, not tax, legal, accounting or financial advice — check your own payout statement and speak to a qualified professional where it matters.
eBay (UK) — 12.9% + £0.40 + 20% VAT. Rates last verified: . the marketplace's own fee page.