revaInsertion Fee
Some marketplaces charge you before anything sells.
- An insertion fee is due when the listing is created, sold or not; the final value fee is only due on a sale. Budget them separately.
- Free monthly allowances per market at the time of writing (September 2026): eBay US 250 listings then $0.35; eBay UK 300 then 35p; eBay.de 320 then €0.50; eBay.pl 150 then 1.50 zł.
- On UK, German and Polish private accounts, automatic relists and renewals are free and do not use the allowance; manual relists do. On eBay US, each relist and Good 'Til Cancelled renewal is charged.
- eBay's duplicate policy allows one fixed-price listing of an identical item at a time, and US duplicate auctions are charged an insertion fee per listing — repost strategies cost money and can breach policy.
- The per-listing fee weighs most on cheap items: 1.50 zł is 0.75% of a 200 zł sale but 7.5% of a 20 zł sale.
An insertion fee is a charge for creating a listing, due whether or not the item sells. Today it lives mainly on eBay: each market gives a monthly batch of free listings and charges per listing once that batch is gone. The number that decides your costs is not the fee but how fast you burn the allowance.
Below: where these fees sit, how allowances get consumed, and the duplicate trap that turns reposting into a bill.
What is an insertion fee?
Rent for the listing, not a share of the sale. Three charges get confused:
- Insertion fee — per listing, when it goes up or renews, sold or not.
- Final value fee — a commission, due only on a sale; mechanics in final value fees.
- Upgrades and promotion — optional extras like a subtitle, priced separately.
Only the first is due before anything happens — a shop can cost money in a month with no sales.
Where insertion fees apply today (checked date)
Official fee pages, at the time of writing (September 2026), for private sellers:
| Market | Free listings per month | Fee per listing after |
|---|---|---|
| eBay US | up to 250 (more with an eBay Store) | $0.35 |
| eBay UK | 300 (400 with a £19.99/month Shop) | 35p |
| eBay.de | 320 | €0.50 |
| eBay.pl | 150 | 1.50 zł |
Notes: the German pages quote fees without VAT, while the UK private and Polish pages include VAT. Business sellers are priced separately: UK without a Shop, 30p per listing; German business without a shop, €0.35 fixed price or €0.50 auction — no free batch either. Category-level rates per market: eBay UK fees and eBay Germany fees.
Free allowances and how they are consumed
The allowance follows the listing event; relists are where it leaks:
- UK, Germany, Poland (private): automatic relists and renewals are free and do not touch the allowance; a manual relist — delete and repost — counts as a new listing.
- US: the fee is charged on the original listing and each relist; Good 'Til Cancelled listings renew once a calendar month, charged at each renewal, and renewals also use the free batch.
Decision rule: before delete-and-repost becomes a habit, check which kind of relist your account performs — one is free, the other a fee every time.
Duplicates and relisting: the cost trap
eBay's duplicate policy sets the rules fee maths then enforces: no more than one fixed-price listing of an identical item at a time from the same seller, including in different categories; identical auctions only when start price, reserve, title and description match with no Buy It Now. The exception: up to five fixed-price listings for items fitting several devices, each naming its model.
The fee side is less forgiving: on eBay US, duplicate auction-style listings are charged an insertion fee per listing, and every relist of the same object is charged again. Extra copies cost money each and can still end in removal — eBay's own advice is one multi-quantity listing or one listing with variations.
Folding it into your profit maths
A worked eBay.pl example: an item that cost 85 zł sells for 200 zł, your allowance is used up, postage you pay is 12 zł. Fees: 1.50 zł insertion + 22 zł final value (11%) + 1.35 zł per order. Left: 78.15 zł.
- Item cost85 zł
- Insertion fee1.5 zł
- Final value fee, 11%22 zł
- Per-order fee1.35 zł
- Postage you pay12 zł
- Net profit78.15 zł
Absolute terms flatter the fee: 1.50 zł is 0.75% of a 200 zł sale, 7.5% of a 20 zł one.
It returns total fees and your payout from sale price, percentage fee, fixed fee and shipping you pay. It has no allowance field: once the free listings are gone, add the insertion fee to the fixed-fee box so it never goes missing. Presets sit in the marketplace fee calculator, and where fees fit in the wider ledger is in the resale profit guide. Polish-market fee lines, including Allegro and OLX, are gathered in Poland marketplace fees.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What is an insertion fee?
Do you pay an insertion fee if the item does not sell?
Does eBay charge insertion fees for every duplicate listing?
Which marketplaces charge listing fees?
Sources
- eBay US Help: Selling fees checked 13 Sept 2026
- eBay UK Help: Fees for private sellers checked 13 Sept 2026
- eBay UK Help: Fees for business sellers (last updated 4 August 2026) checked 13 Sept 2026
- eBay.de Hilfe: Gebühren für private Verkäufer checked 13 Sept 2026
- eBay.de Hilfe: Gebühren für gewerbliche Verkäufer checked 13 Sept 2026
- eBay.pl: Opłaty dla prywatnych sprzedawców checked 13 Sept 2026
- eBay US Help: Duplicate listings policy checked 13 Sept 2026
- Vinted UK: Our platform (selling free for individuals) checked 13 Sept 2026
- Allegro help: fees on Allegro Lokalnie checked 13 Sept 2026
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