Compare what you keep, not just the discount

With the starting costs below and no seller fees, promotion or return allowance, a £25 offer leaves £12.75, a £30 offer leaves £17.75 and a £35 sale leaves £22.75. Enter 25 and 35 in the alternative-offer boxes to compare all three. Each exceeds the example £8 profit target, but accepting £25 instead of £30 gives up £5 of profit.

If a 10% promotion charge applies, that £5 price difference becomes £4.50 after the extra promotion cost. The comparison uses the same costs and fee assumptions for every offer. It cannot predict whether the buyer will accept a counter-offer or whether waiting will produce another buyer.

For a collection offer, postage change or a different bundle, run a separate calculation with those costs changed too. Use the eBay Fee & Profit Calculator to plan a listing before an offer arrives; this page is for comparing an actual offer with your target.

What to enter

Use the item amount you would receive, excluding any buyer protection charge retained by eBay. Enter postage received separately, then the label and packaging costs you pay. All money fields are in GBP. If eBay handles delivery without passing postage money or label costs to you, do not count those as your income or expense.

Choose private seller mode only when the seller percentage and fixed fee do not apply. Business and custom modes use the rates you enter, not a live category lookup. The example business rate is not a verified rate for your account. Add any extra fixed charges to Other costs.

Worked example: a £30 offer

Suppose the asking price is £35 and the offer is £30, with £3.49 postage received. The item cost £12, the postage label costs £3.29 and packaging costs £0.45. In private mode with no promotion or return allowance, income is £33.49 and costs are £15.74, leaving £17.75 estimated profit before tax.

Set promotion to 10% and the estimated promotion cost is £33.49 × 10% = £3.349. Profit becomes £14.40 when rounded to pennies. Add a 5% return allowance and another £1.6745 is reserved, leaving £12.73. That allowance is a planning buffer, not an eBay charge or a forecast of how often buyers return items.

How the lowest target offer is worked out

The calculator subtracts the seller fee percentage, promotion percentage and return allowance from 100% to find the share of income left after variable costs. It adds fixed costs and your profit target, divides by that remaining share, then subtracts postage received.

With the example costs, 10% promotion, no return allowance and an £8 target, the calculation is (£15.74 + £8) ÷ 0.90 − £3.49 = £22.8878. The minimum offer is rounded up to £22.89 so rounding does not leave it below the target. Break-even uses the same calculation with a zero profit target.

These estimates hold postage and costs constant. If the combined percentages reach 100%, increasing the offer cannot contribute more towards fixed costs; the tool asks you to check the rates rather than giving a misleading minimum.

Fee sources and limits

eBay's private seller fee guidance describes free selling for UK-based private sellers, with exceptions including vehicle listings and optional services. The general promotion guidance bases ad fees on the sale total, including postage and applicable taxes or fees.

This tool applies promotion to the offer plus postage you enter and assumes it is charged on this sale. It does not determine ad attribution, calculate separate taxes or buyer-facing charges, add VAT to fees automatically, or model cost-per-click campaigns. Enter effective rates that include any VAT you bear, and check the actual fee basis in your account.

A lower offer does not change parcel weight or dimensions. Extra items or packaging can change the postage band, so measure the packed parcel if the contents change. The offer comparison guide also covers time spent packing and the difference between clearing space and selling for profit.

Estimate only, before income tax and overheads not entered. Fee sources and calculation examples checked 1 September 2026. This is an independent tool, not an eBay service.