Amazon vs eBay Fees UK 2026: Which Is Cheaper to Sell On?
eBay's final value fee against Amazon's referral fee, plus plans, per-order fees, FBA and VAT, with worked examples for a £15, £60 and £400 sale. Checked against both marketplaces' UK fee pages on 17 October 2026.
Neither marketplace is cheaper for everything. As a UK private seller, eBay wins: it takes nothing from a UK sale (vehicles aside), while Amazon charges 75p an item plus a referral fee. As a business seller, it depends on category, price and how you fulfil orders.
eBay usually costs less on toys, books and most items over £20 where Amazon charges a flat 15%. Amazon usually costs less on clothing and homeware at £20 or under, and on higher-priced jewellery and watches.
eBay's business selling fees are a 9.9% to 12.9% final value fee in most categories, plus 30p or 40p per order and 0.35% of the sale. Amazon charges an 8% to 15% referral fee, a 2% digital services fee and £25 a month for its Professional plan (full schedule in our Amazon seller fees guide). Both add 20% VAT.
Amazon vs eBay fees at a glance
| Fee | eBay (business sellers) | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Per-item plan fee | None | 75p per item sold (Individual plan only) |
| Listing fees | 30p each without a Shop, monthly on Good 'Til Cancelled; Shops include free listings | None below 2 million active listings |
| Minimum and closing fees | None | 25p minimum referral fee in most categories; 50p closing fee per media item |
| Fulfilment | You post it; fees unchanged | You post it, or FBA from £1.83 a unit (£1.46 Low-Price), plus 1.5% and storage |
| Refunds | Final value fee credited on most refunds; per-order fee too unless you're at fault | Referral fee back, minus 20% of it (£5 at most) |
Both percentages are charged on the total including postage or delivery, and Amazon's referral fees run from 5% to 45% across all its categories. Its digital services fee sits on top, so a 15% referral fee really costs 15.3% of the sale before VAT.
Selling plans: Amazon's £25 a month vs eBay's listing fees
Amazon makes you pick a plan. Individual has no monthly fee but charges 75p per item sold (90p with VAT). Professional costs £25 a month (£30 with VAT), and only Professional sellers can sell in restricted categories.
eBay has no plan, but business sellers pay 30p per listing without a Shop, charged again each month on Good 'Til Cancelled listings: 100 listings cost £30 a month before VAT.
A Basic Shop at £27 a month (£32.40 with VAT) includes 250 free fixed-price and 100 free 7-day auction-style listings. The Shop Tier Calculator shows which tier pays for itself.
Final value fee vs referral fee, category by category
The biggest cost on both sites is a percentage of each sale, set by category. Eight common categories compared:
| Category | eBay final value fee | Amazon referral fee |
|---|---|---|
| Books | 9.9% | 15% + 50p closing fee; no minimum fee |
| Clothing | 11.9% | 5% to £15, 10% to £20, 15% above. FBA and Seller Fulfilled Prime orders over £40: 15% of the first £40, then 7% |
| Toys and games | 10.9% | 15% |
| Homeware | 11.9%, 7.9% above £500 (Home, Furniture & DIY) | 8% to £20, 15% above (Home Products) |
| Laptops | 6.9%, 3% above £1,000 | 7% (Computers) |
| Jewellery | 14.9%, 4% above £1,000 | 20%, 5% above £225 |
| Watches | 12.9%, 3% above £750 | 15%, 5% above £225 |
| Car parts | 9.5%, 3% above £750 (Vehicle Parts & Accessories) | 15%, 9% above £45 (Automotive and Powersports) |
eBay's per-order and 0.35% fees, and Amazon's 2% digital services fee, come on top. eBay Top Rated Sellers get 10% off the percentage part on Premium Service listings.
Watch the price thresholds
eBay's lower rates, and Amazon's for jewellery, watches and car parts, apply only to the part of the price above each threshold. Amazon's clothing and Home Products thresholds switch the rate for the whole price.
Car parts: the bands cross twice
On a £120 part, eBay's fees are £12.22 before VAT (£11.40 + £0.40 + £0.42) against Amazon's £13.77 (£6.75 + £6.75 + £0.27 digital services fee).
eBay stays cheaper up to about £350, and again above about £800 thanks to its 3% rate over £750; in between, Amazon is slightly cheaper. Our eBay Motors fees guide has the full picture.
Categories don't map exactly (Amazon has separate 15% Kitchen and Home Linen and Rugs categories), so check both lists: our final value fee guide and Amazon referral fee table.
Per-order, per-item and closing fees
- eBay charges per order: 30p on orders of £10 or less and 40p above (30p until 12 February 2026), once however many items the buyer checks out. Orders up to £10 in selected Collectables and Home, Furniture & DIY categories pay 10p.
- Amazon charges per item: 75p each on the Individual plan; a 50p closing fee on every book, music, DVD, video, video game (including accessories and consoles) and software item; and a 25p minimum referral fee in most categories.
On cheap items they decide it: a £5 toy costs 87p on eBay, 77p on Amazon Professional and £1.52 on Individual. Three in one order pay one eBay per-order fee, but 75p three times on Individual.
Private sellers: free on eBay, 75p an item on Amazon
Clearing out your own things? UK-based private sellers on eBay pay no final value, per-order or regulatory fee in any category except Cars, Motorcycles & Vehicles.
eBay fees apply only above 300 listings a month (35p each), for optional upgrades, or on sales to buyers outside the UK (3% of the total sale).
The buyer pays a Buyer Protection Fee instead: 10p plus 7% of the first £20 of the item price, 4% from £20 to £300 and 2% from £300 to £4,000. A £15 item shows as £16.15 and a £60 one as £63.10, plus postage.
Private sellers post eligible items with Simple Delivery. Amazon has no private-seller equivalent: the 75p, the referral fee and the digital services fee all apply, normally plus 20% VAT. Our eBay private seller fees guide covers when eBay expects you to switch to a business account.
Worked examples: a £15, £60 and £400 sale
How these examples work
Business seller, Amazon Professional, UK buyer, free delivery (so both fees fall on the same price), posted by you, no ads. eBay: final value fee + per-order fee + 0.35%; Amazon: referral fee + 2% digital services fee; each line rounded to the penny. Not included: Amazon's £25 plan, eBay's listing or Shop fees, and postage.
Amazon hasn't said whether its digital services fee covers closing fees, the 75p or the FBA surcharge, or whether VAT applies to it. We apply it to referral and FBA fees only and add VAT to every line (up to 24p here).
A £15 sale: T-shirt, toy and homeware
| Item | eBay fees | Amazon fees | Lower fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-shirteBay 11.9% · Amazon 5% | £2.24 (£2.69 with VAT)£1.79 + £0.40 + £0.05 | £0.77 (£0.92 with VAT)£0.75 + £0.02 | Amazon, by £1.47 |
| ToyeBay 10.9% · Amazon 15% | £2.09 (£2.51 with VAT)£1.64 + £0.40 + £0.05 | £2.30 (£2.76 with VAT)£2.25 + £0.05 | eBay, by 21p |
| HomewareeBay 11.9% · Amazon 8% | £2.24 (£2.69 with VAT)£1.79 + £0.40 + £0.05 | £1.22 (£1.46 with VAT)£1.20 + £0.02 | Amazon, by £1.02 |
On the Individual plan, add 75p (90p with VAT) to each Amazon figure. The toy then costs £3.05 on Amazon against £2.09 on eBay, but Amazon still wins on the T-shirt (£1.52) and homeware (£1.97).
A £60 sale: jacket, toy and jewellery
| Item | eBay fees | Amazon fees | Lower fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| JacketeBay 11.9% · Amazon 15% | £7.75 (£9.30 with VAT)£7.14 + £0.40 + £0.21 | £9.18 (£11.02 with VAT)£9.00 + £0.18 | eBay, by £1.43 |
| ToyeBay 10.9% · Amazon 15% | £7.15 (£8.58 with VAT)£6.54 + £0.40 + £0.21 | £9.18 (£11.02 with VAT)£9.00 + £0.18 | eBay, by £2.03 |
| JewelleryeBay 14.9% · Amazon 20% | £9.55 (£11.46 with VAT)£8.94 + £0.40 + £0.21 | £12.24 (£14.69 with VAT)£12.00 + £0.24 | eBay, by £2.69 |
Above £20, Amazon's clothing and homeware rates jump to 15%, so eBay wins all three. Through FBA the jacket's referral fee falls to £7.40 (15% of the first £40, 7% of the other £20), or £7.55 with the digital services fee, but you'd pay an FBA fee instead of postage.
A £400 sale: laptop, jewellery and a big toy set
| Item | eBay fees | Amazon fees | Lower fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| LaptopeBay 6.9% · Amazon 7% | £29.40 (£35.28 with VAT)£27.60 + £0.40 + £1.40 | £28.56 (£34.27 with VAT)£28.00 + £0.56 | Amazon, by 84p |
| JewelleryeBay 14.9% · Amazon 20% to £225, then 5% | £61.40 (£73.68 with VAT)£59.60 + £0.40 + £1.40 | £54.83 (£65.80 with VAT)£45.00 + £8.75 + £1.08 | Amazon, by £6.57 |
| Toy seteBay 10.9% · Amazon 15% | £45.40 (£54.48 with VAT)£43.60 + £0.40 + £1.40 | £61.20 (£73.44 with VAT)£60.00 + £1.20 | eBay, by £15.80 |
- Jewellery: Amazon's rate drops to 5% above £225, so it's cheaper from about £335.
- Watches: Amazon is cheaper from about £280 to about £2,950, where eBay's 3% rate over £750 catches up. A £400 watch costs £43.35 on Amazon against £53.40 on eBay.
- Laptops: Amazon is slightly cheaper (by £1.50 at £1,000) until eBay's rate drops to 3% above £1,000.
- Flat 15% categories: eBay's lead grows with the price.
Amazon's £25 plan adds 25p a sale at 100 sales a month (30p with VAT). Run your own numbers with our eBay fee calculator and Amazon fee calculator.
Fulfilment: FBA vs posting orders yourself
eBay leaves postage to you. On Amazon you can post orders yourself or pay per unit for Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). UK rates from the rate card effective 1 July 2026:
- Standard FBA: from £1.83 (light envelope up to 20 g); a standard parcel up to 900 g is £3.06.
- Festive peak, 15 October 2026 to 14 January 2027: parcels about 12p more, so that parcel is £3.18.
- Low-Price FBA (items £20 or less including VAT; £10 in seven categories, including Books and Kitchen): from £1.46, with no peak fees.
- Fuel and logistics surcharge: 1.5% of fulfilment fees since 17 April 2026, with no end date announced.
- Storage (most standard-size items): £0.76 per cubic foot a month, £1.51 from October to December.
Getting stock to Amazon costs you too. The £60 toy, as a standard parcel up to 900 g at peak:
With VAT, that's £8.58 on eBay against £14.96 through FBA, a £6.38 gap. After peak ends on 14 January 2027, the rate card puts the parcel back at £3.06 and the gap before VAT at £5.20, unless Amazon announces 2027 changes first.
At £15, FBA has to beat £1.78
A homeware item on Low-Price FBA as a small parcel up to 400 g costs £1.20 referral fee + £2.70 FBA fee + 4p surcharge + 8p digital services fee = £4.02 before VAT. eBay's fees are £2.24, so FBA only wins if posting it yourself costs more than £1.78.
VAT and Amazon's digital services fee
Both add 20% VAT to business fees. eBay's 40p per-order fee becomes 48p and an 11.9% final value fee 14.28% of the sale; private-seller fees already include VAT. Amazon has charged UK-established sellers VAT on fees since 1 August 2024, so the £25 plan costs £30.
Amazon also adds a 2% digital services fee to referral and FBA fees on UK store sales (3% in its French, Italian and Spanish stores since 20 March 2026). eBay has no equivalent.
VAT-registered sellers can usually reclaim this VAT (check each marketplace's VAT invoices); for everyone else it's a straight cost. Our £90k VAT threshold guide covers when you must register.
Amazon's referral fee and VAT: not settled
eBay charges its final value fee on the total including any taxes. Amazon's pricing page says its referral fee is a percentage of the total the buyer pays, but its FAQ says "excluding any taxes".
If you're VAT-registered, divide a referral fee on your settlement report by the VAT-inclusive price to check. Our examples use the price the buyer pays.
Which is cheaper for you?
eBay usually costs less if:
- you're a private seller;
- Amazon charges a flat 15%: eBay is cheaper from about £7.50 in its 10.9% categories (toys, sporting goods) and from about £20 in its 12.9% ones (pet supplies);
- you sell books, music, films or video games (9.9% against 15% plus a 50p closing fee);
- you sell clothing or homeware over £20 and post it yourself.
Amazon usually costs less if:
- you sell clothing or homeware at £20 or less (5% or 10% for clothing, 8% for Home Products);
- you sell jewellery over about £335 or watches between about £280 and £2,950;
- your items are very cheap and you're on Professional (no 30p per-order fee);
- FBA costs less than your own postage, packaging and time.
It's close for laptops up to £1,000 (7% against 6.9% plus 40p and 0.35%). And fees aren't everything: prices, sell-through and returns vary too.
Selling on both eBay and Amazon
Adding Amazon to an eBay business? Our guide to selling on Amazon UK covers set-up, listing and fulfilment step by step.
- Margin per channel: the same price can leave a different profit on each site. Use our eBay fee calculator and Amazon fee calculator (or Amazon's Revenue Calculator).
- VAT: sales on both count towards the same £90,000 VAT registration threshold, over a rolling 12 months.
- FBA stock: Amazon's Multi-Channel Fulfilment can ship your eBay orders, from £3.40 for a one-unit order in the smallest envelope tier, plus the 1.5% surcharge (MCF rate card).
- Profit: DashVue tracks the eBay side today, showing what every order made after eBay's fees, postage and item cost. Amazon support is in development, so use Amazon's own reports for that side for now.
Amazon vs eBay fees FAQ
Is it cheaper to sell on eBay or Amazon in the UK?
For private sellers, eBay: UK sales are free apart from vehicles. Business sellers usually pay less on eBay for toys, books and most items over £20, and on Amazon for clothing and homeware at £20 or less and pricier jewellery and watches.
How much does Amazon take compared with eBay?
On a £60 toy, eBay takes £7.15 from a business seller before VAT and Amazon £9.18 (£8.58 against £11.02 with VAT). Amazon's Professional plan adds £25 a month.
Can I sell on Amazon without a monthly fee?
Yes: the Individual plan charges 75p per item sold instead of £25 a month, plus the referral fee. Professional is cheaper from 34 items a month. eBay has no monthly plan, though business sellers without a Shop pay 30p per listing.
Do eBay and Amazon charge fees on postage?
Yes. eBay charges its final value and regulatory fees on the total including postage and any taxes, and Amazon its referral fee on the total including delivery and gift wrapping.
Is FBA cheaper than posting eBay orders myself?
Only if your postage, packaging and time cost more than the fee gap. For a £60 toy at the peak rate, FBA fees are £12.47 before VAT against £7.15 on eBay, a £5.32 gap, before storage.
Do I get fees back when I refund a buyer?
eBay credits the final value fee on most refunds made through eBay (pro rata for partial ones), plus the per-order fee unless you're at fault (fee credits explained). Amazon refunds the referral fee minus 20% of it, capped at £5.
Official sources
This guide was checked on 17 October 2026 against:
- eBay: fees for business sellers and fees for private sellers (both last updated 30 September 2026)
- eBay: Buyer Protection fee and fee credits
- Amazon UK: selling plans, referral fees and refund fees
- Amazon FBA Europe rate card, effective 1 July 2026
- Amazon Seller Forum notices on the digital services fee and its March 2026 update, VAT on Amazon fees, the fuel and logistics surcharge and 2026 peak fees
- Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfilment UK rate card
- GOV.UK: register for VAT