There is no such thing as a ‘free’ lunch! Don’t you agree?   Some may say yes, while others disagree with the statement.  Likewise, it is not free to sell on eBay.   However, should your product sold at the ‘right’ price then you would earn a handsome profit after deducting all the relevant fees charged by eBay.

[Note: This article is a guideline as to give you some basic reference.  The intention is to share the experiences and knowledge so hopefully we would all be successful making money online with eBay.]

The basic fees involved are:  INSERTION FEE and FINAL VALUE FEE.

When you list an item on eBay, you are charged an Insertion Fee. If the item sells, you would then also be required to pay a Final Value Fee.  Insertion Fee is calculated on a sliding scale based on the minimum bid (your auction starting price), your fixed-price, or the reserve price.

So, how much are the fees involved?  It depends…! The basic fee structure depends on the style and the product category.  If you sell media items (i.e. Books, Music, Video Games,  DVDs & Movies), then you’re charged a slightly lower insertion fees.  Take a look at the following table for eBay’s insertion fee structure.

If you’re running a reserve-price auction, eBay bases its insertion fee on the reserve price, not the starting bid. eBay also charges a fee to run a reserve-price auction.  Here’s an example on how a reserve price affects your insertion fee. If you set a starting bid of $1.00 for an item but your reserve price is $500.00, you’re charged a $4.00 insertion fee based on the $500.00 reserve price plus a $5.00 reserve fee (1 percent of the reserve price).

eBay has a different fee structure for items that are listed as fixed-price sales:

• Fixed-price sale insertion fee: $0.35
• Fixed-price sale insertion fee for media: $0.15

This is quite a bargain, so if you have multiples of a single item and know what you need to get for them, a fixed-price sale is a great way to go!

In addition to the insertion fees, when your item sells, you also have to pay a Final Value Fee based on your item’s closing price. The table below outlines the Final Value Fees for most items.

Final value fees*

* These Final Value Fees do not apply to motor vehicles, real estate, or items listed in certain subcategories of the Business and Industrial category.

Keep in mind that there is a slightly higher Final Value Fee for fixed-price listings, based both on your closing price and the type of item you sold, but a fixed-price listing can stay on the site for as long as 30 days! Go to eBay.com Fees page for more information.

[Good News: As part of its marketing strategy, eBay has announced that for every 30-day period, your first 5 single-quantity auction-style listings to be listed on the site will enjoy an insertion fee of $0.00 for eligible categories. These $0 insertion fee listings also have a final value fee per listing of 8.75% or $20, whichever is lower.]