A $100 Flip: Is It Best to Sell on eBay or Amazon?

For most thrift and garage-sale flippers, eBay is the better place to sell. A standard $100 sale costs $14.00 in fees on eBay and $15.99 on Amazon’s Individual plan. eBay also pays out within days, while Amazon holds your money until a week after delivery, and eBay is built for the one-off used items you pull off a shelf. Amazon is worth a look for new, sealed goods in categories where its referral rate is lower than eBay’s.

Flip math

*Assumption: $12 for postage, a box and tape. Your real cost depends on weight and distance. Fees come from eBay’s fee page (13.6% plus a $0.40 per-order fee) and Amazon’s pricing page (15% referral plus $0.99 per item). Neither row includes ads, Amazon FBA fees or your time.

A $1.99 gap won’t make or break your month. What really decides where your stock goes is the category rate, the extra costs, and how fast the cash gets back into your thrift budget.

Category Rates Flip the Winner

Both platforms charge different percentages depending on what you sell. Here’s the same math for things that turn up on a Saturday thrift run:

Clothing isn’t listed as an exception on eBay’s fee page, so we’ve used the standard 13.6% rate. A few eBay rates are especially friendly to resellers:

• Guitars and basses: 6.7% up to $7,500. A $400 guitar costs $27.20 in fees.
• Athletic shoes at $150 or more: 8%, and no per-order fee.
• Coins (non-bullion): 13.25%.

Amazon’s cheaper corners are clothing under $15 (5%), baby products up to $10 (8%) and electronics accessories, which are charged 8% on the part of the price above $100. One warning for thrifters: we couldn’t confirm from Amazon’s own pages which categories accept used items. Before you buy a rack of secondhand clothes for Amazon, check that category’s condition rules in Seller Central.

The Costs Behind the Headline Rate

On eBay:

• Insertion fees: 250 free listings a month. After that, most categories charge $0.35 per listing.

• Promoted Listings: with general campaigns you pick an ad rate from 2% to 100% of the sale. Since January 13, 2026, you pay the ad fee if the item sells within 30 days of any buyer clicking your ad, not just the one who bought it.

• International sales: 1.65% of the total sale. When eBay converts currency for you, it also charges a conversion fee, which went up to 3.25% for US sellers on October 14, 2026.

• Penalty fees: since July 1, 2026, Below Standard sellers pay an extra 6% (7% after four or more months in a row). Sellers with a “Very High” rate of not-as-described returns pay an extra 5% in the affected categories (6% after four months).

• Discounts: Top Rated Plus takes 10% off final value fees. To qualify you need:

  • an account at least 90 days old
  • 100 transactions and $1,000 in US sales over 12 months
  • same-day or 1-day handling
  • free 30-day returns

  A Starter Store costs $4.95 a month on a yearly plan ($7.95 month to month) and lowers your final value fee percentages.

On Amazon:

• Professional plan: $39.99 a month in place of $0.99 per item. Our math: $39.99 ÷ $0.99 is about 40, so on fees alone it only pays off at around 40 sales a month.
• FBA fees: if Amazon stores and ships your stock for you, fulfillment fees went up by an average of $0.08 per unit on January 15, 2026, according to Amazon’s announcement. Sellers in that thread say their own increases were bigger.
• Fuel surcharge: from April 17, 2026, Amazon added 3.5% of the FBA fulfillment fee (not of the sale price). Amazon says that averages about $0.17 per unit. Amazon called it temporary but gave no end date.
• New-seller perks: Amazon advertises “over $50,000 in credits, bonuses, and exclusive benefits,” including referral-fee waivers in your first year. Treat that as marketing until you’ve read the eligibility terms.

Cash Flow: Who Pays You Faster

When your inventory budget is a coffee can of cash, payout speed decides how often you can go sourcing.

eBay pays out daily by default. Money usually becomes available 1 to 2 days after payment is confirmed, then takes 1 to 3 business days to reach your bank. For $2.00, Express payout usually arrives within 30 minutes. There’s no minimum payout. Payouts go to a checking account or a Visa or Mastercard debit card, not to savings accounts or PayPal (eBay payouts help).

Amazon moved North American sellers to a “delivery date plus 7 days” hold on March 12, 2026. Amazon’s own example: a sale on January 1 that’s delivered January 3 is available on January 11. Money from this weekend’s haul can be stuck for well over a week before it pays for the next one.

Which Stock Goes Where

Send it to eBay when:

• It’s used, vintage or one of a kind: a single cast-iron pan, a band tee with a worn single-stitch hem, a boxed lot of film cameras
• It’s eligible for eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee, which is free for sellers: watches at $2,000+, handbags, jewelry and coins at $500+, apparel and trading cards at $200+
• It’s a trading card or coin under $20 that qualifies for eBay Standard Envelope, eBay’s cheap US-only shipping option
• It’s a guitar, or athletic shoes at $150+, where eBay’s rates are low
• You need the money back this week

Consider Amazon when:

• The item is new and sealed, like clearance-shelf finds still in shrink wrap
• It sits in a cheap Amazon category, such as clothing under $15 or baby products under $10
• You’ve checked the referral rate and the condition rules for that category before buying stock
• You’ve run the full math: the referral fee, $0.99 per item, the $1.80 closing fee on media, and FBA plus any surcharge if Amazon ships for you
• You can wait out the 7-day hold after delivery

Bulky finds like dressers rarely suit either site once shipping is added. Those usually work better locally, so see our Facebook Marketplace selling tips. If you make your own stock, compare eBay or Etsy instead.

Red Flags on Both Platforms

• Fakes and trademarks: never list a branded item you can’t stand behind. Check the stitching, logo spacing, serial stamps and hardware weight before you buy. Selling counterfeits can get your account shut down and bring trademark claims.
• Not-as-described fraud: a 2026 seller guide reports that buyers returning swapped or broken items is now a bigger threat than item-not-received claims. Photograph serial numbers, flaws and unique marks before you ship.
• Returns you didn’t offer: under eBay’s Money Back Guarantee, buyers can open not-received or not-as-described claims for 30 days even if you don’t accept returns. On not-as-described claims, you pay the return shipping.
• Big-ticket shipping: to be protected against item-not-received claims on eBay orders of $750 or more (including shipping and tax), you need signature confirmation and tracking from a carrier connected to eBay.
• Off-platform deals: common scams include overpayment by check, requests to pay outside eBay, “ship it to my cousin’s address” and fake eBay emails. eBay doesn’t protect deals made off the platform.

eBay Setup in Six Moves

For the full walkthrough, see how to sell on eBay for beginners. The short version:

1. Account: you must be 18 or older and give your full 9-digit SSN, ITIN or EIN. Without it, eBay can hold your payouts and withhold tax.
2. Limits: new accounts have monthly selling limits. eBay raises them as you build sales and feedback, and you can ask for an increase. A Store subscription doesn’t raise them.
3. Pricing: filter to sold items so you see what buyers actually paid.
4. Photos: plain background, daylight, no filters. Show the tag, the seams, any maker’s stamp and every flaw.
5. Titles: brand, item, model, size, color. Fashion categories now require standardized sizes.
6. Format: since May 13, 2026, auction wins on eBay.com are final. A winning bidder can ask you to cancel, but it’s your call. Buyers should pay within 4 calendar days. After that you can cancel any time up to 30 days.

The Tax Side

Payment platforms report you to the IRS when you receive more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions in a year (IRS 1099-K guidance). eBay says ten jurisdictions use lower thresholds: Arkansas, DC, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia. Resale profit is taxable whether or not you get a form. If you sell personal items at a loss, you can’t deduct the loss, but you still report the sale so you aren’t taxed on it. This is general information, not tax advice, so check your own situation with a tax pro.

FAQ

Can I sell used clothes on Amazon? We couldn’t confirm it from Amazon’s own pages. Check the condition rules for the category in Seller Central before you buy any stock for it. eBay is the safe home for secondhand clothing.

Do I need Amazon’s Professional plan? Not at first. On fees alone, the $39.99 plan beats $0.99 per item only once you’re selling about 40 items a month.

Can an eBay auction winner back out? Since May 13, 2026, winning bids on eBay.com are final. The buyer can ask you to cancel, but you decide.

Do I have to collect sales tax myself? No. eBay calculates, collects and sends sales tax to the states that require it, at no cost to you.

Your First Flip

Start with nonfiction hardcovers on eBay: cookbooks, field guides and craft books with tight bindings, clean spines and no water stains. Look up the sold price on your phone in the aisle. Buy only if the shelf price is under a quarter of that sold price. After eBay’s 15.3% plus $0.40 and your postage, that leaves enough room for a real profit. Then run the same book through Amazon’s math, including the $1.80 closing fee, and you’ll see why we send most used stock to eBay.