Shipping, sales tax and your eBay fees.
The amount used to calculate a fee is not the same as the amount you earn. Keep these four figures separate.
Four amounts worth separating
| Amount | Seller revenue? | Fee base? | Seller cost? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Item sale price | Yes | Yes | No |
| Buyer-paid shipping | Yes | Generally yes | No |
| Buyer sales tax | No | Generally yes | No |
| Actual delivery bill | No | No | Yes |
The table describes the supported US domestic order. It does not cover taxes charged on your seller fees or international orders.
Does eBay charge fees on shipping?
Buyer-paid shipping is generally included in the total amount used for the final value fee. Enter the amount you collect as Buyer-paid shipping. Enter your carrier bill separately as Actual shipping cost.
If a buyer pays $10 shipping but your label costs $8, the revenue includes $10 and the delivery cost is $8. If you offer free shipping, buyer-paid shipping is $0; your actual label still belongs in costs.
Do not add your shipping label twice: once as a manual platform fee and again as a shipping cost. Labels bought through eBay remain fulfillment costs for this estimate.
Why does sales tax affect the fee?
In the supported scenario, the final value fee base includes the buyer’s sales tax. But that tax is excluded from the seller revenue used for proceeds, profit and margin.
With a $100 item, $10 buyer shipping and $8.80 tax, the ordinary fee base is $118.80 while seller revenue is $110. At a 13.6% percentage rate, $16.16 is the rounded percentage fee before the separate order charge.
The calculator asks for a tax dollar amount; it does not look up state tax rates, decide taxability or prepare tax returns. For target pricing, update the tax amount if the estimated sale price changes.
Shipping exceptions need explicit handling
eBay describes an exception when faster shipping is offered alongside a cheaper domestic option. The final value fee may use that cheapest domestic option rather than the shipping paid for the faster service. If this applies, use the optional fee-base shipping field in Advanced options.
This override only changes the final value percentage base. It does not reduce the shipping you collected, change the buyer’s total order amount or alter the General ad base.
eBay International Shipping and athletic-shoe Authenticity Guarantee shipping have additional rules. Those scenarios are excluded from this release. Do not use the manual override as a substitute for their complete rules.
Read eBay’s official shipping exceptions ↗Check it with a reproducible example
The calculator’s default example uses the $100 item, $10 shipping and $8.80 tax above, with Home & Garden selected and no Store. Add $40 item cost, $8 actual shipping and $1.50 packaging. The estimated total fee is $16.56 and net profit is $43.94, excluding any unentered extras.
Estimate fees with tax included ↗For the complete definitions, see our calculation method. For category rates, see the selling fees guide.