Amazon FBA vs eBay: which keeps more?
eBay's 13.6% looks close to Amazon's 15% referral — but Amazon adds fulfillment on top, while eBay's percentage secretly grows with your buyer's sales tax. Same product, both stacks, five prices.
Who wins at each price?
| Price | Amazon FBA keeps | eBay keeps | Winner |
|---|
Canonical profile: product cost 35% of price, inbound $1.20, packaging $0.30, self-shipping $4.80 where relevant, ads 10% of price, returns 5%, 300 units/month, TikTok affiliate 10%. Change the real inputs on each platform's own calculator page.
Where each one bites
Amazon bites in the open: fulfillment, storage, placement, plan. eBay bites quietly: the FVF applies to the tax-inclusive total, so in high-tax states your effective rate creeps toward 15% while Amazon's stays put. For one-off, used, or long-tail inventory, eBay also skips the inbound-shipping-to-a-warehouse step entirely — you ship once, to the buyer.
The verdict pattern
For standardized products at volume, FBA's logistics usually repay their fees in conversion. For irregular inventory — the thing eBay was built for — Amazon's stack has nothing to attach to. The price bands above show the fee story; the inventory story is yours.