eBay vs TikTok Shop: which keeps more?
The deal-hunter's marketplace against the impulse feed — and a $10 price point where the two cross within five cents of each other.
Who wins at each price?
| Price | eBay keeps | TikTok Shop 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.
A near-tie at the bottom, a gap at the top
At $10 the two are effectively tied (TikTok ahead by about $0.05) — eBay's $0.40 per-order fee and TikTok's affiliate cut both dominate small sales. From $25 up, eBay wins by roughly $0.20–$5.75 per sale, because 13.6% on the tax-inclusive total turns out cheaper than 6% plus a 10% affiliate share. Again the affiliate is the swing factor: with affiliate off, TikTok's bare 6% beats eBay at every price.
Used and rare vs new and demoable
eBay owns used, refurbished, rare and long-tail inventory — categories TikTok barely serves. TikTok owns products that sell in a fifteen-second demo. If your catalog is one-of-one items, eBay is the only game; if it is repeatable new stock with visual appeal, TikTok's discovery engine is worth the affiliate cut even when the fee table says otherwise.