For a completed eBay order, take item price plus shipping charged to the buyer, then subtract the actual eBay fees, postage you paid, item cost, packaging, and any other costs tied to that sale. Use the fee shown on the order for the final answer. A fee calculator is an estimate before the order exists.
Sale profit = item price + buyer-paid shipping − eBay fees − actual postage − item cost − packaging − other sale costs
Buyer sales tax needs careful handling. eBay may include tax in the base used to calculate its final value fee, while the tax itself is collected and remitted rather than becoming your sales revenue. eBay's current US selling-fee schedule gives the category rates and examples. The percentage varies by category and Store plan, and ads, upgrades, international fees, or account-specific charges can add costs.
A $50 item, worked all the way through
Assume a US seller without a discounted Store rate sells an item for $50 and charges $5 shipping. Buyer sales tax is $4. The applicable final value fee in this example is 13.6% of $50 + $5 + $4, plus a $0.40 per-order charge. The seller pays $7 postage, paid $20 for the item, and uses $1 of packing materials.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Item price and shipping received | $55.00 |
| eBay fee: 13.6% × $59 + $0.40, rounded | −$8.42 |
| Actual postage | −$7.00 |
| Item purchase cost | −$20.00 |
| Box and packing materials | −$1.00 |
| Profit before shared overhead | $18.58 |
The $4 sales tax affects the fee estimate but never enters the $55 revenue line. The $5 buyer shipping charge and $7 label cost are separate: the seller is $2 short on postage, and eBay charged a fee on the buyer's shipping payment as part of its fee base. This is why “sale price minus eBay's cut” overstates profit.
Reconcile the estimate to the finished order
Use eBay Seller Hub payments and transaction details for the final value fee, ad fee, label charge, and any credits. Match the sold order to your inventory SKU to retrieve the actual purchase cost. Add packaging, return-related costs when they occur, and any sale-specific expenses. If the item is returned, reverse or adjust the sale in your records instead of leaving the original profit standing.
The Reseller CFO workbook connects an inventory SKU to its purchase cost and estimates platform fees, postage differences, supplies, time, and a return reserve across many sales. Its eBay estimate uses item price plus buyer-paid shipping; it does not have a buyer-sales-tax input or every category, Store, and promotion rule. For an exact single-sale number, reconcile the workbook's fee estimate to the actual fee on the eBay transaction. The workbook's “real margin” is a management measure that includes a time cost and reserve; the $18.58 example above is cash profit before shared overhead.
If you sell the same stock on Poshmark too, set up one SKU and bin record per item so the cost follows the item rather than getting reconstructed after the sale.
