eBay Promoted Listings: What They Cost and How the Fee Works
How eBay charges the ad fee, what each ad rate costs on an example sale, and how to work out the highest rate a listing can afford.
Promoted Listings is eBay’s advertising for sellers. You pay an ad fee when a promoted item sells. This guide covers the general campaign, which is the standard type. The fee figures are for a UK business seller.
How a general campaign is charged
You choose an ad rate between 2% and 100%. eBay then shows your listing in sponsored positions. Three rules decide what you pay.
The ad rate is charged on the total sale amount. eBay defines the total as the item price, postage, taxes and any other applicable fees. The rate is not a percentage of the item price alone, and it is not a percentage of your profit.
You pay when the item sells within 30 days of a click on the ad. If the item does not sell, there is no ad fee.
eBay counts any interaction with the ad as a click. Its examples are adding the item to a watchlist, adding it to a basket and opening a quick view. The click does not have to come from the person who buys. The fee is charged when the promoted item sells and any buyer clicked on the ad in the previous 30 days.
A listing that gets regular visits will usually have had a click in the last 30 days. If you promote that listing, expect to pay the ad rate on most of its sales.
Who can use Promoted Listings
eBay says sellers rated Above Standard or Top Rated, with enough account activity, can promote fixed price listings in most categories.
What each ad rate costs on an example sale
A business seller sells an item of clothing for £40 plus £3.50 postage. The total is £43.50. Without advertising, eBay’s fees are £5.73. That is the 11.9% final value fee, the 0.35% regulatory operating fee and the £0.40 per-order fee. The item cost £18 and postage costs £3.20. The profit is £16.57, a margin of 38.1%.
The table adds an ad rate to the same sale. Every figure is before VAT.
| Ad rate | Ad fee | Total eBay fees | Profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No ads | £0.00 | £5.73 | £16.57 | 38.1% |
| 2% | £0.87 | £6.60 | £15.70 | 36.1% |
| 5% | £2.18 | £7.91 | £14.39 | 33.1% |
| 10% | £4.35 | £10.08 | £12.22 | 28.1% |
| 15% | £6.53 | £12.26 | £10.04 | 23.1% |
| 20% | £8.70 | £14.43 | £7.87 | 18.1% |
Each 1% of ad rate costs this listing about 44p. A 10% ad rate costs £4.35, which is 26% of the £16.57 profit. The ad rate is also charged on the £3.50 postage.
The same ad rate on a cheaper item
A £12 item with £2.99 postage is a £14.99 sale. Fees before ads are £2.23. If the item cost £6 and postage costs £2.80, the profit is £3.96.
A 5% ad rate costs 75p and leaves a profit of £3.21. A 10% ad rate costs £1.50 and leaves £2.46. The 10% ad rate takes 38% of the profit. If you are not VAT registered, VAT on the fees reduces the profit further.
The highest ad rate a listing can afford
Work out the profit on a sale with no advertising. Divide it by the total sale amount. The result is your margin before ads, and it is also the ad rate at which the sale makes no profit. For the £43.50 sale it is 38.1%. For the £14.99 sale it is 26.4%.
Then decide the margin you want to keep and subtract it. To keep 25% on the £43.50 sale, the most you can spend on ads is about 13%. To keep 20% on the £14.99 sale, the most is about 6%.
Suggested and dynamic ad rates
eBay shows a suggested ad rate for each listing. eBay says it is based on factors such as the item’s attributes, the season, past performance and current competition. The suggestion does not take your costs into account.
A dynamic ad rate updates your rate to the suggested rate every day. Your ad cost then changes without you changing it. If you use a dynamic rate, compare the rate you are being charged with the highest rate the listing can afford.
How much sellers spend on ads overall
From April to June 2026, eBay’s advertising revenue was 2.7% of everything sold on the marketplace. eBay’s own ad products brought in $570 million, 25% more than a year earlier. The 2.7% is an average across all sales, including sales with no ad. Sellers who advertise therefore pay more than 2.7% on their promoted sales.
Deciding whether to promote a listing
- Work out the highest ad rate the listing can afford first. A listing with a 10% margin before ads makes no profit at a 10% ad rate.
- Start at the 2% minimum. Raise the rate only if the listing is not being shown.
- Compare sales with and without ads. Count how many units sold in a few weeks without ads and in a few weeks with them. If sales did not rise, the ad fee did not add sales.
- Include the ad rate in the price. If you plan to promote an item, set the price with the ad rate included. The break-even pricing guide has the formula.
The fee calculator has a Promoted Ad Rate field, so you can see the same sale with and without an ad rate.
Sources
- eBay UK help: Promoted Listings general campaign strategy
- eBay UK selling fees for business sellers, last updated 30 September 2026
- eBay Inc. second quarter 2026 results, published 5 August 2026
Next guide
How to Reduce Your eBay Fees lists nine ways to lower what you pay eBay on each sale.
This guide describes the general campaign strategy as set out on eBay’s UK help pages in October 2026. Other campaign types are charged differently, and eBay changes its advertising terms from time to time. Fee rates are from eBay’s UK fee page as last updated on 30 September 2026. The costs in the worked examples are made up for illustration. This guide is general information, not financial advice.