Amazon vs eBay fees
The two biggest general marketplaces, and the comparison most often answered with a single averaged percentage. It cannot be: Amazon has no single rate, only a category, and the gap between its 8% categories and its 45% one is far wider than the gap between either and eBay.
On a $50.00 sale, eBay leaves you $0.30 more — 0.6% of what the buyer paid. Over 100 sales like this one that is $30.00.
| Buyer pays | item + shipping | $50.00 |
Referral fee Charged on the total price, shipping included. | 15% of $50.00 | −$7.50 |
| Total fees | −$7.50 | |
| Reaches your account | $42.50 | |
Plus $39.99 per month, which is not a per-sale cost and is left out of the figures above.
| Buyer pays | item + shipping | $50.00 |
Final value fee Card processing is included in this fee. | 13.6% of $50.00 | −$6.80 |
Per-order fee Orders over $10.00. | $0.40 flat | −$0.40 |
| Total fees | −$7.20 | |
| Reaches your account | $42.80 | |
Which is actually cheaper?
At default settings, there is no crossover price. eBay keeps you more at every price from $1 to $20,000, so unlike most comparisons this one is not a question of order size. Articles that answer it with a single worked example happen to be right here — but only for the setup they assumed, which is the part they do not say.
What does change the answer
9 settings reverse it completely. On a $50.00 sale eBay normally keeps more, but not in these cases:
- Amazon: Appliances — Full-sizeFlips itAmazon+$3.20
- Amazon: Automotive and PowersportsFlips itAmazon+$1.20
- Amazon: Base Equipment Power ToolsFlips itAmazon+$1.20
- Amazon: Business, Industrial and Scientific SuppliesFlips itAmazon+$1.20
- Amazon: ComputersFlips itAmazon+$3.20
- Amazon: Consumer ElectronicsFlips itAmazon+$3.20
- Amazon: TiresFlips itAmazon+$2.20
- Amazon: Video Game ConsolesFlips itAmazon+$3.20
- Amazon: Individual ($0.99/item)eBay+$1.29
- eBay: Allowance used upFlips itAmazon+$0.05
What this comparison deliberately will not answer
International buyer: eBay publishes a surcharge for this and Amazon does not publish one that could be sourced. Comparing them here would make Amazon look cheaper on the strength of a gap in its own documentation, so no winner is declared. Check Amazon’s current terms directly if this applies to you.
Payout currency differs: eBay publishes a surcharge for this and Amazon does not publish one that could be sourced. Comparing them here would make Amazon look cheaper on the strength of a gap in its own documentation, so no winner is declared. Check Amazon’s current terms directly if this applies to you.
Cheaper is not the same as better
This page prices a transaction. It cannot price the thing that usually matters more: a marketplace brings you a buyer who was never going to find your own site, and that traffic is worth a percentage that no fee table can put a number on. A platform that takes more and sells more of your stock is the better platform, and no arithmetic here can tell you whether that is the case for you.
So treat the figures as one input. Saufee states what each one charges; where to sell is your call.
What this calculator does not cover
- FBA fulfilment and storage fees are NOT included. Amazon publishes those only inside its logged-in Revenue Calculator, not as a schedule that can be sourced and dated, and they depend on the size tier and weight of the individual product. Estimating them here would be inventing numbers. If you use FBA, add your per-unit fulfilment cost separately — this page prices selling on Amazon, not shipping through it.
- Pet Supplies is 15% here; veterinary diets are charged at 22%.
- Fine Art carries a $1.00 minimum referral fee on its first band, which is modelled as the overall minimum for the category.
- A product’s fee category is assigned by Amazon and is not always the category shoppers see in the store.
- Advertising, long-term storage, removal and refund administration fees are all separate and not modelled.
What this calculator does not cover
- These are the basic rates for most categories. Trading cards, bullion, motors, real estate and several others are priced on their own schedules.
- Accounts rated Below Standard pay an extra 6% on final value fees; a Very High "item not as described" rate adds a further 5%.
- The international fee does not apply when you use eBay International Shipping on an eligible listing.
Other comparisons
These calculators are free, and they stay free
There is no account, no email wall and nothing for sale here, which is deliberate — it is what lets the site publish what platforms actually charge and link to where each rate came from. Re-reading ten fee schedules every week is the unglamorous part, and it is what keeps the numbers worth trusting. If that saved you a bad listing decision, you are welcome to put a little toward the domain and the hosting. If it did not, please do not.
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