How eBay seller fees work
When an item sells, eBay charges a final value fee: a percentage of the total amount of the sale — the item price plus the shipping you charged — and a small fixed fee per order. Your profit is what's left after fees and your own costs:
fee = ( ( price + shipping ) × rate ) + fixed
net payout = ( price + shipping ) − fee
profit = net payout − your costs
Because the fee applies to shipping too, padding the shipping charge to dodge fees doesn't work — it just moves money into the fee base.
Worked example
An item sells for $120 with $10 shipping; your costs (item + the postage you actually paid) are $55; the rate is 13.25% + $0.40:
Sale total: $120 + $10 = $130.
Final value fee: $130 × 0.1325 + $0.40 = $17.23 + $0.40 = $17.63.
Net payout from eBay: $130 − $17.63 = $112.37.
Profit: $112.37 − $55 = $57.37.
Margin check: on a $130 sale you cleared $57.37 — a 44% margin in this example. Tracking the profit figure (not just the sale price) is what separates sellers who scale from those who quietly lose money on fees.