How to Calculate Your eBay Profit After Fees (UK Guide)
By SellerLens · Published
Revenue is not profit. On eBay the money that lands in your account is only part of the story, because fees, postage, packaging and the cost of the item all come out of it. This guide shows a simple way to work out your real profit on any order.
The formula
Net profit = what the buyer pays (item price plus postage charged) minus eBay fees, minus what the item cost you, minus your postage and packaging costs, minus any refunds or returns. If you are VAT registered, also take off the VAT you owe on the sale.
Margin is net profit divided by the sale total. ROI is net profit divided by what you spent on the item, postage and packaging.
A worked example
Say you sell an item for £25.00 and charge £3.50 postage, so the buyer pays £28.50. For this example we assume a final value fee of 12.8% of the total plus a 30p fixed fee; check eBay's current fees page for your category because rates change. The fee is £3.65 plus 30p, so £3.95.
You paid £9.00 for the item, £3.20 for the postage label and £0.40 for packaging. Net profit is 28.50 minus 3.95 minus 9.00 minus 3.20 minus 0.40, which is £11.95. That is a margin of about 41.9% on the £28.50 sale and an ROI of about 95% on the £12.60 you spent.
What people forget
Fees are charged on the whole order total including postage, not just the item price. Returns and partial refunds reduce profit after the fact. Promoted listing ad fees are charged on top of normal fees. Packaging, labels and your time add up across hundreds of orders.
Why doing it by hand breaks down
A spreadsheet works for a handful of orders, but eBay's reports do not include your item or postage costs, so every order needs manual entry and every refund needs a manual fix.
SellerLens connects to your eBay account through eBay's official sign-in, pulls in every order with its real fees and refunds, and lets you add your purchase and postage costs once so your true net profit is worked out automatically. You can try it free for 7 days with no card required.