Final value fee.

eBay charges nothing to list the first 250 items a month and takes its money when the item sells. The rate depends on the category, and eBay's seller fee page puts the range at 2.5% to 15.3%: most categories run 13.6% of the sale up to $7,500 and 2.35% on the portion above, plus a per-order fee of $0.30 on orders of $10.00 or less and $0.40 above that. Books, movies and music sit at the top of the range; heavy equipment sits near the bottom at 3%. The detail that catches sellers out is the base. The fee is calculated on the total amount of the sale, including shipping and sales tax, not on the item price, so shipping billed on top and free shipping folded into the price are not the same margin on the same order.