Short answer: if you sell as a private seller on eBay.de and your buyer is in Germany, you pay eBay nothing — no final value fee, no per-order fee. If the buyer is abroad, eBay charges a 5% international fee. Business sellers pay a category-based fee of 5% to 16% plus €0.35–€0.45 per order. Here are the official 2026 rates and how to decide which account type fits you.
Fees verified against eBay's official Germany fee pages on 19 October 2026. Checked daily for changes (fee change tracker). Source: eBay eBay.de fee page.
eBay Germany fees at a glance
| Seller type | Final value fee | Per-order fee | Regulatory fee | International fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private seller | None | None | None | 5% |
| Business seller | 6.5%–16% by category | €0.35 (orders ≤ €10) / €0.45 | None | 0%–3.3% |
Private seller fees on eBay.de (Privatverkäufer)
eBay.de says it plainly: selling within Germany is free for private sellers. Here's what that covers — and the few things that still cost money.
- Final value fee: none on domestic sales.
- International fee: 5% of the total sale when the delivery address is outside Germany. A €100 sale to a buyer in Austria costs you €5.00.
- Listing fees: 320 free listings per month, then €0.50 per listing. On top of that you get 2,500 free auctions per month that start at €1 and run for at least 5 days.
- Optional extras: Galerie Plus €0.75, subtitle €0.50, second category €0.50, reserve price 3% (max €150). Promoting your listings with ads is optional and paid only if you choose it.
There's no payment processing fee either — eBay handles payments itself, so the PayPal-style 2–3% charges older guides mention don't apply. The free deal is for private sellers living in the EEA; private sellers outside the EEA pay different fees. For more on who qualifies and how the free deal works, see our guide to eBay Germany's C2C free selling rules.
Watch the 5%. A private seller shipping to Austria pays €5.00 on €100. A business seller selling the same €100 jacket to Austria pays €12.45 — but no international fee, because sales into the eurozone are free for business accounts.
Business seller fees on eBay.de (gewerbliche Verkäufer)
Business accounts pay a final value fee that depends on the category, plus €0.35 per order up to €10 and €0.45 above. The fee is calculated on the total the buyer pays, including postage. Germany doesn't charge business sellers a regulatory operating fee, and all business fees are quoted excluding VAT.
| Category | No store | Basis-Shop store or higher | Used / refurbished |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard categories | 14% | Same | 5% |
| Electronic devices | 7% | Same | 5% |
| Electronics accessories | 12% | Same | 5% |
| Clothing & accessories | 12% up to €990, 3% on the rest | Same | — |
| Sneakers | 12% if the item price is up to €100; 7% up to €990, 3% on the rest above €100 | Same | — |
| Watches & jewellery | 16% up to €990, 3% on the rest | 16% up to €500, 3% on the rest | — |
| Wristwatches & pocket watches | 11% up to €990, 3% on the rest | 11% up to €400, 3% on the rest | — |
| Coins | 6.5% up to €990, 3% on the rest | Same | — |
| Books, films, music & video games | 12% up to €990, 3% on the rest | Same | — |
| Collectibles, toys, antiques & beauty | 12% up to €990, 3% on the rest | Same | — |
| Trading cards, TCGs & model making | 11% up to €990, 3% on the rest | Same | — |
| Car & motorcycle parts | 12% up to €990, 3% on the rest | Same | — |
| Car electronics & sat navs | 6.5% up to €990, 3% on the rest | 6.5% up to €300, 3% on the rest | — |
| Tyres, rims & wheels | 6.5% up to €990, 3% on the rest | Same | — |
| Garden & DIY | 13% | Same | 5% |
| Business, industrial & office | 14% | Same | 5% |
| Musical instruments | 11% | Same | 5% |
| NFTs | 5% | Same | — |
Two details are easy to miss. First, many categories drop to 5% for used and refurbished items — devices, accessories, garden, sport, home and more. Second, in a handful of categories (watches & jewellery, car electronics) the lower rate starts sooner if you have a shop.
Some worked examples for business sellers:
- €40 used smartphone: €2.45 in fees
- €100 jacket: €12.45
- €250 new laptop: €17.95
- €60 board game (standard category, new): €8.85
- €1,500 watch (no shop): €174.15
International fees
The two account types are charged differently when the buyer is abroad.
Private sellers (delivery outside Germany):
| Buyer's delivery region | International fee |
|---|---|
| Delivery outside Germany | 5% |
Business sellers:
| Buyer's delivery region | International fee |
|---|---|
| Eurozone & Sweden | Free |
| Rest of Europe, USA & Canada | 1.6% |
| United Kingdom | 1.2% |
| Rest of world | 3.3% |
Business sellers using eBay International Shipping don't pay the international fee on eligible listings. Note that US and Canada buyers fall into the same 1.6% band as non-euro Europe, not the "rest of world" rate.
For comparison, private sellers based in Austria still pay a final value fee on eBay.at — our eBay Austria fees guide breaks down what selling there costs.
Do eBay shops lower your fees?
Shops are for business sellers, and they mainly cut listing costs. The final value fee stays the same — the one exception is the Platin-Shop, which takes 10% off the whole fee.
| Plan | Monthly fee | Free listings | Effect on final value fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| No store | — | — | — |
| Basis-Shop | €39.95 | 400 | Lower category rates |
| Top-Shop | €79.95 | 2,500 | Lower category rates |
| Premium-Shop | €299.95 | Unlimited | Lower category rates |
| Platin-Shop | €4,999.95 | Unlimited | 10% off the whole fee |
Without a shop, business listings cost €0.35 each (fixed price) or €0.50 (auction). If you list a few hundred items a month, the Basis-Shop pays for itself through listing fees alone.
Performance surcharges
Business sellers whose account falls to Below Standard pay extra percentage points on the total sale:
| Seller status | Surcharge on the total sale |
|---|---|
| Top Rated / Above Standard | None |
| Below Standard | +6 points (+7 points after 4+ months) |
| Very high 'item not as described' rate | +4 points in the affected categories (+5 points after 4+ months) |
Private or business: which are you?
This isn't a free choice. Under German law you're a business seller (gewerblich) if you sell regularly with the intention of making a profit — buying items to resell is the clearest sign. There's no fixed number of sales that makes you a business; the tax office looks at the overall picture.
Separately, eBay has to report sellers with 30 or more sales or over €2,000 in a calendar year to the tax authorities under the EU's DAC7 rules. Being reported doesn't make you a business on its own, but it means the Finanzamt can see your activity.
- Stay private if you're clearing out things you owned and used yourself.
- Register as a business if you buy stock to resell, sell new goods regularly or run it as a side business. Business sellers need an Impressum, must offer the statutory 14-day right of withdrawal and handle VAT.
eBay business policies for German sellers
Once you register as a business seller on eBay.de, a few extra rules apply on top of the fees above. These are what people usually mean by eBay's business policy in Germany:
- Legal seller details (Impressum): your listings must show your full name or company name, a postal address and contact details, plus your VAT ID if you have one. eBay displays this on every listing once you enter it in your account.
- Right of withdrawal: consumers can cancel within 14 days without giving a reason. You need a withdrawal notice (Widerrufsbelehrung) in your listings, and your returns settings must offer at least 14 days.
- Statutory warranty: buyers get the legal two-year warranty (Gewährleistung) on new goods. For used items you can shorten it to one year, but only if you tell the buyer clearly before the sale.
- Business policies (Rahmenbedingungen): eBay's saved templates for payment, postage and returns. Set them up once in Seller Hub and apply them to every listing so your terms stay consistent.
- Prices include VAT: if you're VAT-registered, the price shown to consumers must include VAT. Small businesses using the Kleinunternehmer rule don't charge VAT but should say so.
eBay can also ask a private account to switch to business if its selling pattern looks commercial — for example lots of new, identical items. If that happens, the business fees in this guide apply from then on.
The bottom line
For genuine private sales within Germany, eBay.de is free. Sales abroad cost a private seller 5%. If you resell for profit you're a business seller, paying 5% to 16% depending on the category plus €0.35–€0.45 per order, with 5% on most used electronics and home goods.
Plug your own items into the eBay Germany fee calculator — switch between private and business, pick the category and tick "used" to see the exact fee and profit.
Selling across borders? See how eBay.de stacks up against other markets in our ranking of eBay fees by country.