Standing in the store with an item in your hand? Enter what it sells for on eBay and the profit you want. See the most you can pay after eBay's fees, ad fees and shipping.
eBay takes its fee percentage and the ad rate on the whole order, including shipping and the sales tax the buyer pays.
Estimates for US sellers using eBay's published final value fee rates (checked October 25, 2026). Your actual fees can differ. What's not included · Already bought it? Use the profit calculator
In the store? The free Autotabit app does this on your phone. Take a photo of an item in store, check its eBay solds, and see the most to pay, with your goal already saved. Try it free →Log a sourcing trip with what you spent, tag the items you list from it, and Autotabit matches every sale back to the store it came from, with eBay's real fees and your label cost.
A 2-minute walkthrough of this calculator, using a pair of Red Wing boots I bought and sold.
Work backwards from the sale. Three steps, and the calculator does them for you.
Look up the item on eBay and filter to sold items. Use a price you see it selling for regularly, not the one lucky high sale and not what other sellers are asking.
eBay's percentage is charged on the whole order, including the shipping the buyer pays and sales tax, plus a per-order fee. Add any promoted listing fee and your label.
Whatever is left after fees, shipping and your profit is the most you can pay. If the tag price is higher, it's a pass, or a lower profit than you wanted.
Example numbers on eBay US: most categories, no store, 7% sales tax, no ads
| Sells for | Buyer pays shipping | Your label | Left after fees & label | "Pay a third" says | Your profit at that | Max for a $10 profit |
|---|
The rule of thumb ignores fees and shipping. On cheap items, especially with free shipping, eBay's fees and the label eat most of the sale, so paying a third can leave you with almost nothing. On bigger items it's too cautious: a $100 item can still make a $10 profit if you pay more than twice what "a third" says.
I paid $16.06 and made $76.52. To still make $20, I could have paid up to $72.58. "Pay a third" would have stopped me at $33.31.
I paid $10.74, more than everything that was left, so I lost $1.94 on the sale.
A calculator checks one item. Over a year, what matters is which stores and categories pay you back, and how long your money sits on the shelf.
Profit calculator for items you already have →
Start with what the item actually sells for on eBay, take out eBay's final value fee and per-order fee, any promoted listing fee and your shipping label, then subtract the profit you want. What's left is the most you can pay. Because eBay's fee is a percentage of the whole order, including shipping and sales tax, it's easiest to let the calculator do it.
It's a rule of thumb: only buy an item if it will sell for at least three times what you pay. It's quick, but it ignores fees and shipping. On cheap items, especially with free shipping, eBay's fees and the label can take most of the sale, so the 3x rule can leave you with very little profit. On higher-priced items it can be too cautious and make you pass on good buys. The table above shows both.
It's the 3x rule done with fees taken out. A 3× goal means what you get back after eBay's fees, ad fee and the label is at least three times what you paid. So $30 left after fees on an item you paid $10 for is 3× your money, and a $20 profit.
Yes. eBay's final value fee and Promoted Listings general ad fees are calculated on the total amount of the sale, which includes the item price, the shipping the buyer pays and sales tax. Enter the buyer's sales tax rate to include it.
Yes. Pick eBay UK or eBay Australia at the top. For the UK, choose private or business seller: private sellers pay no final value fee on most sales, while business sellers pay the category rate, the per-order fee, the 0.35% regulatory operating fee and 20% VAT on fees. For Australia, choose free selling or your eBay Pro plan; eBay Australia's fees already include GST. The max buy price shows in pounds or Australian dollars. For a full fee breakdown, see the eBay UK fee calculator and the eBay Australia fee calculator. Selling on eBay Germany? Tap eBay Germany at the top to open our eBay Einkaufsrechner, the same calculator in German with eBay.de's fees.
Search for the item on eBay and filter the results to sold items. Sold prices show what buyers actually paid, while active listings only show what sellers are asking. Use a price you see items selling for regularly, not the single highest sale.
ROI is profit divided by what you paid for the item. Margin is profit divided by what the buyer paid you (sale price plus shipping charged). A $20 profit on an item you paid $10 for is a 200% ROI; if the buyer paid $50, that's a 40% margin. These match how Autotabit calculates ROI and margin in the app.