For an eBay profit calculation, knowing the sale price is not enough. Your real profit is what is left after the item cost, postage, packaging and eBay fees. So here is a worked example with every step.
The sale
- You bought an item for £85.
- Then you sold it for £142 and charged the buyer £4.50 for postage.
- After that, you paid £4.35 to post it and £0.80 for packaging.
As a private seller
UK private sellers pay no final value fee on most categories, so the sum is simple:
£142 + £4.50 − £4.35 − £0.80 − £85 = £56.35 profit. That is a 38.5% margin on the £146.50 the buyer paid, and a 66.3% return on the £85 you spent.
As a business seller
eBay charges fees on the total sale of £146.50, including postage (rates as checked on 5 November 2026):
- Final value fee at 12.9%: £18.90
- Regulatory operating fee at 0.35%: £0.51
- Per-order fee (order over £10): £0.40
- Total fees: about £19.81
So profit is £56.35 − £19.81 = about £36.54, a margin of 24.9%.
The lowest price you can list at
Working backwards, the item price at which you would make no profit is about £85.65 as a private seller and about £99.88 as a business seller, with the same costs and £4.50 postage charged. Anything above that is profit.
Try your own numbers
Put your own costs into our free eBay fee and profit calculator to see your fees, margin and break-even price instantly. You can change the fee percentage to match your category.
To track this across all your sales, our eBay profit tracker spreadsheet shows fees, postage, profit and margin for each one. Planning a monthly target? The free resale profit planner shows profit per item and how many sales you need.
Fee rates change and categories differ, so treat all figures as estimates. This is not tax or financial advice.
Related: how to track your eBay sales in a spreadsheet.
Get the free eBay profit tracker (lite)
A one-tab spreadsheet that shows what you really earn on each sale, after fees, postage and costs. Enter your email and we will send it to you, plus the occasional seller tip.