Selling-cost worksheet
Enter the percentage and fixed fee from the current US eBay fee schedule for your account. The other starting amounts are illustrative. This single-rate worksheet excludes tiered rates, advertising, international fees, store subscriptions, returns, and income taxes.
Enter every amount, including the applicable percentage and fixed fee. Use zero for a cost that does not apply.
Formula: fee = (sale price + buyer shipping + marketplace sales tax) × fee percentage + fixed fee. Marketplace-collected sales tax is included in this fee base and excluded from your revenue. Check the actual transaction statement before recording profit.
Start with the correct account and category
At the September 30, 2026 review, eBay's US non-Store schedule listed sports trading cards at 13.25% on the applicable amount up to $7,500 per item and 2.35% on the portion above. Its order charge was $0.30 for orders of $10 or less and $0.40 above $10. Store and Live schedules differ.
Do not turn that dated snapshot into a permanent calculator default. Open the schedule that applies to your account and category, and check the actual listing preview. Optional advertising, international transactions, subscriptions and account adjustments can change costs. Enter the current values into the calculator on this page; it is a planning aid, not an eBay invoice.
Separate revenue from the fee base
The reviewed standard fee calculation includes the item price, applicable buyer-paid shipping and tax. Tax collected by the marketplace is not money you keep, even when it contributes to the fee base. Shipping collected is revenue for this calculation, but buying the label is a separate expense.
A useful worksheet therefore has distinct fields: card price, shipping collected, tax included in the platform calculation, percentage rate, fixed charge, actual postage, supplies and other expenses. Combining those into one sale-price field makes it easy to omit a cost or count tax as profit.
| Step | Operation |
|---|---|
| Fee base | Card price + applicable shipping collected + tax used by the platform |
| Estimated platform charge | Applicable percentage calculation + order charge + other fees |
| Net before card cost | Card price + shipping collected − platform charge − postage − supplies |
| Estimated profit | Net before card cost − acquisition cost − remaining relevant expenses |
Worked example: a five-dollar card
Illustrative example using the dated non-Store rate: card price $5, shipping collected $1, tax in the fee base $0.48, order charge $0.30, postage $0.85 and supplies $0.15. The fee base is $6.48. At 13.25%, the percentage charge is about $0.86; adding the order charge gives about $1.16.
The seller collected $6 excluding remitted tax. Subtracting $1.16, $0.85 and $0.15 leaves approximately $3.84 before the card's cost and labor. The postage and tax inputs are hypothetical, not current label quotes or a statement of the buyer's tax rate. This example shows why a small fixed charge matters on inexpensive cards.
Worked example: a hundred-dollar card
Illustrative inputs: card price $100, shipping collected $5, tax in the fee base $8.40, order charge $0.40, postage $5 and supplies $0.50. The fee base is $113.40. Applying the same dated percentage and order charge produces approximately $15.43 in platform fees.
Estimated proceeds before card cost are $105 − $15.43 − $5 − $0.50, or $84.07. If the card originally cost $90, this is not an $84.07 profit. It is a loss before any other relevant expenses. Keep acquisition records alongside the sale rather than using the payout alone as a success measure.
Higher-value sales can cross a rate tier
A single-rate estimate is incomplete when a sale crosses a tier boundary. Illustrative simplified example with no shipping collected or tax: a $10,000 card under the dated non-Store schedule produces $993.75 on the first $7,500 plus $58.75 on the next $2,500, plus a $0.40 order charge, totaling $1,052.90.
With hypothetical $25 postage and $3 supplies, that leaves $8,919.10 before acquisition cost and other charges. This example is deliberately isolated to show the tier arithmetic. If the calculator you use applies only one percentage, calculate tiers separately or enter a carefully derived effective rate; do not treat a single-rate result as an exact high-value invoice.
Compare the estimate with an actual order
After a completed sale, record each fee line, label cost and any refund or adjustment. Compare the actual result with your estimate and explain the difference. An advertising charge, international element or misestimated parcel can matter more than rounding a percentage to another decimal place.
Use that history to set future minimum offers and shipping policies. A buyer's total and a seller's payout are not the same number. Do not add a generic payment-processing fee automatically if the platform already includes processing in its described final-value structure; use the actual account statement to avoid counting the same expense twice.
Frequently asked questions
Are fees based only on the card price?
Not necessarily. Use the applicable schedule's definition of the sale total, including its treatment of shipping and tax.
Does free shipping avoid selling fees?
It changes how the buyer sees the price, but you still pay to fulfill the order. Model your actual revenue and postage rather than treating free as costless.
Is the calculator connected to my eBay account?
No. Supply your own current inputs and verify the final order statement. The estimate does not retrieve account-specific rates or adjustments.
Can I use one rate above every price threshold?
Only if the applicable schedule actually uses one. For tiered fees, calculate each portion or derive the effective rate for that exact transaction.
Is net proceeds the same as profit?
No. Subtract the card's acquisition cost and other relevant expenses before interpreting the result as profit.
Sources
Product checklists, definitions, and policies can change. These sources were reviewed on 2026-09-30.
- eBay US selling feesReviewed September 30, 2026. Non-Store schedule, tiered fees and order charges are distinct from Store, Live, advertising and account adjustments.
Card Collector Capital publishes educational research, not financial advice. Card prices, populations, checklists, and grading policies can change. Verify the exact card and current information before buying, selling, or submitting a card.