How much does eBay take from a $50.00 sale?
Short answer: $7.20 in platform fees — 14.4% of what the buyer paid. After typical product and running costs, this sale nets $15.86. Here is every line.
The $50.00 sale, line by line
Platform fees
$7.20
Take rate
14.4%
You are paid
$42.80
Net profit
$15.86
| Final value fee | -$6.80 |
| Per-order fee | -$0.40 |
| Product cost (COGS) | -$17.50 |
| Inbound shipping | -$1.50 |
| Packaging | -$0.40 |
| Your shipping cost | -$6.50 |
| Advertising (off-eBay) | -$0.00 |
| Expected returns loss | -$1.04 |
| Net profit | $15.86 |
Now add the buyer's sales tax
If the buyer paid 8% sales tax, eBay charges its FVF on $54.00 instead of $50.00 — fees rise to $7.74 and your profit falls to $15.32, even though the tax money never touches your account.
Assumptions
Most-categories item, no store, you pay $6.50 shipping, product cost 35% of price, inbound $1.50, packaging $0.40, 4% return rate, no promoted listing.
Change any of them and the answer moves — that's what the calculator is for.
Fee schedule version 2026.1, verified 2026-10-22. Worked with the same engine as our calculators.