Sellers routinely price against a platform’s headline rate and then wonder where the money went. The gap is always the same handful of charges that do not appear in the marketing.
What comes off a sale?
- Commission — a percentage of the sale price, sometimes called a final value fee or referral fee. This is the number platforms advertise.
- Per-order fees — a flat charge on each order regardless of size. Small on a £50 sale, brutal on a £3 one.
- Payment processing — typically around 2.9% plus roughly 30p, either bundled into the platform fee or charged separately.
- Regulatory operating fees — a small percentage some marketplaces now add.
- VAT on the fees themselves — if you are not VAT-registered you cannot reclaim it, so it is a real cost.
Whether payment processing is included in the headline rate or added on top is the single biggest source of confusion, and it differs by platform. Two "15%" platforms can cost meaningfully different amounts.
A worked example
An item costing you £12.00, plus £3.50 to get it to you, sold for £29.99. Taking eBay’s standard rate as the illustration:
The working
Sale price £29.99 Final value fee £29.99 × 12.95% −£3.88 Per-order fee −£0.30 VAT on those fees −£0.84 Your cost £12.00 + £3.50 −£15.50 ───────────────────────────────────────── Kept per unit £9.47 Margin £9.47 ÷ £29.99 31.6%
The headline rate was 12.95%. What actually left the sale was closer to 17% once the fixed fee and the VAT on fees were counted.
The traps worth knowing
- Fixed fees destroy low-value itemsA 30p per-order fee is 1% of a £30 sale and 10% of a £3 one. Anything cheap needs checking individually rather than against a blanket margin rule.
- Amazon’s referral fee has a minimumBelow a certain sale price the percentage stops applying and a flat minimum takes over, which means break-even on very cheap items is higher than a proportional calculation suggests.
- eBay’s per-order fee steps at a thresholdThe flat charge changes above and below a price point, so an item sitting near that line behaves differently on either side of it.
- Shopify has no commission but has a subscriptionZero per-transaction commission looks unbeatable until you spread the monthly fee across your actual volume. At low volume it is the most expensive option per unit.
- Category rates varyBoth eBay and Amazon vary commission by category, and negotiated rates exist. Treat any published standard rate as a well-informed default, not as your account.
Common questions
How much does eBay take from a sale?
The standard final value fee plus a per-order charge, with VAT on top of both if you cannot reclaim it. On a typical £30 sale that lands nearer 17% than the headline rate, and the proportion rises sharply as the sale price falls because of the fixed element.
Is Amazon FBA worth it?
It depends on your unit economics rather than on a rule. FBA adds fulfilment and storage charges on top of the referral fee, and buys you Prime eligibility and no picking or packing. Work out your kept-per-unit both ways on your actual products — the answer differs by weight, size and how fast the stock turns.
Why is my margin lower than my markup suggested?
Two reasons usually stack. First, margin and markup are different measures — a 50% markup is only a 33.3% margin. Second, platform fees come off after that. A 38% margin at the till can be closer to 25% once a marketplace has taken its cut.
Do these fees include VAT on my sale?
No. If you are VAT-registered, 20% of a VAT-inclusive sale price is not yours to keep, and that comes off before any of the above. On a £29.99 sale that is £5.00 gone before a single fee is counted.
What this does not cover
- Advertising, promoted listings and coupons.
- Returns and the postage on them, which on some categories is the largest single cost after the goods.
- Storage, long-term storage surcharges and removal fees.
- Currency conversion on international sales.
Fee rates are each platform’s published standard rates and change periodically. Check yours against your own seller account before making a pricing decision on them.
Check this before you rely on it. A free guide to everyday arithmetic — not tax, accounting, financial, legal or medical advice. The working is shown above so you can verify it against your own figures. See our terms of use.