High-frequency operation problems for eBay novice sellers

How much does eBay take from the sales price?

Our standard selling fees are typically 10% of the total sales price (as a final value fee) and a $0.35 item insertion fee. Sellers who register and list on eBay.com receive 50 free insertion fee credits each month. Store subscriptions can provide additional insertion fee credits each month.

What does MPN mean when selling products?

A Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) is a series of numbers and/or letters that a manufacturer gives to a part. For example, each part of a car (brake disc, timing belt, etc.) will have a different and unique MPN. This allows the buyer to determine which company manufactured a specific part.

Sellers on eBay often include the MPN in their listings so that buyers can easily find a specific part. See the Seller Central page on MPNs and Other Product Identifiers for additional information.

Can I choose to have the buyer make the "best offer"?

When you create a fixed price listing using our advanced listing tool, you can choose to let buyers bid at the Buy It Now price by checking the Best Offer box. Flexibility on price can help increase your chances of a sale. Check out our Selling at Best Offer help page for more details and steps to set up automatic responses to offers above or below a specified price.

Best Offer may be automatically applied to some listings created by new and occasional sellers, and you will still have the option to accept or reject these listings.

Do I need to charge sales tax on my merchandise?

Depending on the laws in your area, you may need to pay sales tax. We recommend that you consult a tax professional to review local and federal tax regulations. You can review our Taxes and Import Fees help page and our Tax Policy for more details.

In some states, eBay assumes marketplace responsibility for collecting and remitting sales taxes on behalf of sellers. In these states, you will not have the option to set a tax rate for your transaction because eBay receives this portion of the transaction and passes it on to the state itself.

If you know you need to charge taxes on some or all of your listing items, you can set up a tax table to specify the rates at which each U.S. state charges sales tax. You'll also need to indicate in your listing what sales tax you charge when you list your items. Changes made to your tax table will not be reflected in any currently active listings; after you save your tax table changes, only the items you list, relist, or modify will be affected.