Etsy vs eBay: which one should this item be listed on?
By Oleksandr Shaniuk · founder of Sellura · Updated October 3, 2026
Sell it on Etsy if you made it, designed it, or it is vintage or a craft supply. Sell it on eBay if it is anything else, new or used. Etsy's rules admit only items made, designed, handpicked or sourced by the seller, and its vintage starts at 20 years old, so a resold item younger than that has no place there. eBay says you can sell almost anything. Where both accept the item, Etsy takes less per sale and eBay charges nothing to list until you pass 250 listings a month.
- Etsy per sale: transaction + US processing
- 6.5% + 3%
- + $0.25 an order. Read 3 Oct 2026
- eBay per sale, most categories
- 13.6%
- + $0.40 an order ($0.30 at $10 or less)
- eBay listings a month, then $0.35 each
- 250 free
- Etsy: $0.20 a listing, for 4 months
- Title characters, Etsy vs eBay
- 140 vs 80
- Etsy adds 13 tags. eBay has none
Take a $40 item with $6 shipping, at the rates each marketplace publishes, read on 3 October 2026. Etsy takes $4.82: 6.5% of item and shipping, 3% + $0.25 payment processing and a $0.20 listing fee. eBay takes $6.66: 13.6% in most categories plus $0.40 per order, with payment processing included. The sections below run your own price, your catalog size and both ad programs, then show why one item needs two different listings.
The short answer, by item type
What the item is settles more than the fees do. Etsy's Creativity Standards admit four kinds of item: made by the seller, designed by the seller, handpicked by the seller (vintage at least 20 years old, items from nature, themed gift baskets) and sourced by the seller (craft and party supplies, items personalized for the buyer). Resold items newer than 20 years are out, even when they look vintage.
eBay's selling page says you can sell almost anything, from homemade goods to used or unused items from your closet, and restricts what breaks the law or infringes intellectual property. So the split comes down to one question: did you make, design or curate it, or are you reselling something recent?
| What you sell | Etsy | eBay |
|---|---|---|
| Made by you, by hand or with your own tools | EtsyYes | eBayYes |
| Your own design, produced by a partner | EtsyYes, if you disclose the partner | eBayYes |
| Vintage, 20 years old or more | EtsyYes | eBayYes |
| Craft or party supplies | EtsyYes | eBayYes |
| Other goods under 20 years old that you did not make, new or used | EtsyNo | eBayYes |
From Etsy's Creativity Standards and eBay's selling page, both read 3 October 2026.
- Handmade or your own designs: Etsy first. It takes less per sale (next section), and it describes its buyers as looking for something with a human touch.
- Vintage: either. Etsy counts it from 20 years old, eBay takes any age.
- Resale of anything newer: eBay only.
- Hundreds of low-priced listings: check the listing-fee table below before you choose.
Vintage on Etsy, eBay and Depop: the same piece, three listings →
Sources: Etsy's Creativity Standards (made, designed, handpicked, sourced, vintage is 20+ years), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: Selling on eBay ("You can sell almost anything"), checked 3 October 2026 · About Etsy (buyers looking for something with a human touch), checked 3 October 2026
What one sale costs on each
eBay charges one final value fee when the item sells: 13.6% of the total sale in most categories (15% for jewelry), plus $0.40 per order, or $0.30 on orders of $10 or less. Payment processing is included. Etsy charges in three parts: a 6.5% transaction fee on item and shipping, 3% + $0.25 payment processing for a US bank account, and the $0.20 listing fee, which a listing with more stock pays again after each sale.
At eBay's most-categories rate and with no ads on either, Etsy takes less at every item price from $4 to about $11,800, and the gap widens as the price rises: $0.81 on a $15 item, $5.12 on a $120 one (our calculation, below). Change the numbers to try your own sale.
Run your own numbers
The postage label is left out on purpose: it costs the same whichever marketplace the order came from, so including it would subtract one number from every row and tell you nothing. Each marketplace's own calculator takes the real label cost.
| Marketplace | Fees | Take rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| EtsyUS seller, no Offsite Ads on this order (an Offsite order adds 15%). Rates verified 2026-10-03. | $4.82 | 10.5% | $29.1863.4% margin |
| eBayThe “most categories” rate, no store subscription, payment processing included. Rates verified 2026-10-03. | $6.66 | 14.5% | $27.3459.4% margin |
The spread between the cheapest and the dearest row on this sale is $1.84. That is the fee difference and nothing else: it does not say the item will sell on any of them.
| Item price | Etsy fees | eBay fees | eBay costs more by |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | Etsy fees$2.45 (11.7%) | eBay fees$3.26 (15.5%) | eBay costs more by$0.81 |
| $40 | Etsy fees$4.82 (10.5%) | eBay fees$6.66 (14.5%) | eBay costs more by$1.84 |
| $120 | Etsy fees$12.42 (9.9%) | eBay fees$17.54 (13.9%) | eBay costs more by$5.12 |
Our calculation with the fee models behind our calculators. Rates re-read on etsy.com and ebay.com on 3 October 2026. US seller and buyer, eBay's most-categories rate, no ads. Percentages are of item plus shipping. Sales tax is left out: eBay's 13.6% and Etsy's 3% processing are also charged on it, Etsy's 6.5% is not.
eBay fee calculator: your price, your shipping, your profit → · Etsy fee calculator, with Offsite Ads on or off →
Sources: eBay: Selling fees (13.6% most categories, 15% jewelry, $0.30 or $0.40 per order, processing included, tax in the total), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (6.5% transaction fee, $0.20 listing fee, renewal after each sale), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Payments Policy (US processing 3% + $0.25, on delivery and tax), checked 3 October 2026
Listing fees: 250 free a month against $0.20 each
Etsy charges $0.20 for every listing, sold or not, and a listing lasts four months. With automatic renewal on, it renews at $0.20 each time. eBay gives every account up to 250 zero insertion fee listings a month, then charges $0.35 a listing in most categories. The catch is renewal: a fixed-price Good 'Til Cancelled listing renews every calendar month, and each renewal counts against the 250 again.
So the cheaper place to keep a catalog online depends on its size. Up to 250 listings, eBay costs nothing and Etsy $0.05 a listing a month. From about 292 listings eBay costs more, and at 1,000 it is $262.50 a month against Etsy's $50 (our arithmetic). That is what an eBay Store is for: eBay says a Basic or higher Store gets "more zero insertion fee listings per month" than an account without one, for a monthly subscription.
| Listings kept up | Etsy | eBay, no Store |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | Etsy$2.50 ($10 every four months) | eBay, no Store$0 |
| 300 | Etsy$15 ($60 every four months) | eBay, no Store$17.50 (50 × $0.35) |
| 1,000 | Etsy$50 ($200 every four months) | eBay, no Store$262.50 (750 × $0.35) |
Our arithmetic at the rates read on 3 October 2026: unsold listings on automatic renewal on Etsy, fixed-price Good 'Til Cancelled listings in most categories on eBay. Etsy may also charge a one-time set-up fee when you open a shop, shown during set-up.
Sources: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy ($0.20 listing fee, four months, automatic renewal, set-up fee), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: Selling fees (250 free listings a month, then $0.35, Good 'Til Cancelled renewals), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: Zero insertion fee listings (monthly renewals count, more with a Basic or higher Store), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: Selling limits, checked 3 October 2026
Who shops where, in each marketplace's own words
Neither gives a buyer count on the pages we read. Both say millions. Etsy calls itself the global marketplace for unique and creative goods, from handcrafted pieces to vintage, and says its buyers are looking for something special with a human touch. eBay's selling page opens with cashing in on pre-loved pieces, and its page title names electronics, fashion and home & garden.
The search engines read different parts of a listing. Etsy matches a shopper's words against your titles and tags, and against the category and attributes you choose. eBay's system finds the titles that closely match, and buyers can then filter by item specifics: a listing without the matching specific is left out of the filtered results. In our reading, that suits browsing for something unusual on Etsy and narrowing down a known item on eBay.
eBay item specifics: the fields buyers filter by → · Etsy tags: how to spend all 13 →
Sources: About Etsy ("the global marketplace for unique and creative goods"), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: Selling on eBay (pre-loved pieces, millions of buyers), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Seller Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Etsy Search (tags, titles, categories, attributes), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Help: How to Use Tags to Get Found in Search, checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Seller Center: Create great listings (titles that closely match), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Seller Center: Item specifics (filtered search results), checked 3 October 2026
The same item needs two different listings
Etsy's title can run to 140 characters, but Etsy suggests fewer than 15 words with no repetition, and gives you 13 tags of up to 20 characters each for the other words buyers search with. eBay's title stops at 80 characters, and eBay tells sellers to use as many as they can. It has no tags, so the other phrasings go into the title and into item specifics.
So one mug comes out in two shapes. The Etsy title is the longer one, 80 characters in 11 words with commas, because Etsy's limit leaves room to read naturally. The eBay title packs its keywords into 71 of 80 characters without commas, and details such as brand, color and size go into item specifics, where eBay buyers filter.
| Field | Etsy | eBay |
|---|---|---|
| Title limit | Etsy140 characters, fewer than 15 words suggested | eBay80 characters, use as many as you can |
| Other phrasings | Etsy13 tags, up to 20 characters each | eBayNo tags field: the title and item specifics |
| Structured details | EtsyAttributes, such as color, material and size | eBayItem specifics, such as brand, color and size. Buyers filter by them |
| The real title | EtsyHandmade Ceramic Coffee Mug, Wheel-Thrown Stoneware, Speckled White Glaze, 12 oz | eBayHandmade Ceramic Coffee Mug 12 oz Wheel-Thrown Stoneware Speckled White |
| Its length | Etsy80 characters, 11 words | eBay71 characters, 10 words |
Titles: real Sellura output, 3 October 2026, for one 12 oz speckled stoneware mug. Both scored 100 out of 100. Limits read on Etsy Help and eBay Seller Center the same day.
Cross-listing SEO: what to rewrite when a listing moves to another marketplace →
Sources: Etsy Help: How to Create a Listing (140 characters, fewer than 15 words, attributes), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Help: How to Use Tags to Get Found in Search (13 tags, 20 characters each), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Seller Center: Create great listings ("You've got 80 characters"), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Seller Center: Item specifics (brand, size, color, used as search filters), checked 3 October 2026
Etsy Offsite Ads vs eBay Promoted Listings
Etsy buys ads for its sellers' listings on other sites. When a shopper clicks one and orders from your shop within 30 days, Etsy charges 15% of that order, capped at $100. You can opt out while your shop is under $10,000 in sales over 365 days. From $10,000 the fee drops to 12% and becomes compulsory for the life of the shop, even if sales fall back.
eBay's Promoted Listings run only if you set up a campaign, from Seller Hub or while you list. On the $40 sale above, an Offsite Ads order takes Etsy's fees from $4.82 to $11.72 at 15%, or $10.34 at 12%. eBay's stay at $6.66 plus whatever ad rate you choose, and only if you choose one.
- Etsy Offsite Ads: 15% of an attributed order, optional under $10,000 in sales over 365 days. From $10,000 it is 12% and compulsory for the life of the shop. Never more than $100 an order.
- Etsy Ads: ads inside Etsy, up to a daily budget you set.
- eBay general campaign: an ad rate of 2% to 100% of the total sale, charged only if the item sells within 30 days of a click on the ad.
- eBay priority campaign: you pay per click, up to a target daily budget.
eBay Cassini: how search ranks listings, and where promoted ones sit →
Sources: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (Offsite Ads 15% or 12%, 30 days, $10,000 threshold, $100 cap, Etsy Ads budget), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: Promoted Listings overview (priority and general campaign strategies), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: General campaign strategy (ad rate 2% to 100%, sale within 30 days of a click), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: Priority campaign strategy (pay per click, target daily budget), checked 3 October 2026
Selling on both
Nothing in the policies we read stops you listing the same handmade or vintage item on Etsy and eBay at once. What both forbid is finishing a sale off the platform: eBay charges a final value fee, even if the item does not sell, when you share or ask for contact details to sell outside eBay.
Decide where it goes first by item type
Made, designed, vintage or supplies: Etsy first, eBay second. Anything newer that you did not make: eBay only.
Write each listing for its own fields
A readable Etsy title with 13 tags, and a full 80-character eBay title with item specifics.
End the other listing when a one-off sells
A single piece live in two places can sell twice.
Listing converter: paste a public Etsy listing, see the eBay headline and score free →
Sources: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (Off-Platform Transactions), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay: Selling fees (buying or selling outside of eBay), checked 3 October 2026
What Sellura does, and what it doesn't
Sellura writes each marketplace's listing from one description of the product: for Etsy a title inside 140 characters plus 13 tags, for eBay a title inside 80 plus item specifics. The two mug titles above are what it returned on 3 October 2026, and both scored 100 on its 0 to 100 scale. The score is deterministic: the same listing always gets the same number, each point traces to a weighted factor, and each weak factor gets one written fix.
Free, no card: the title preview and score on every generation (15 before an account is asked for), the fee calculators, and the listing converter, which reads a public Etsy listing and writes the eBay headline. The Listing Grader is free to try (2 checks). A credit unlocks one finished listing with every field. Starter is $15 a month for 25 credits ($150 a year). Pro is $24 a month for 65 credits plus bulk ($240 a year).
- It does not list, publish or sync stock on Etsy or eBay. You paste the text or import the CSV.
- It does not choose the marketplace for you. The item type and the numbers above do.
- It has no keyword-volume database, no rank tracking and no ads analysis.
Describe one product, see the Etsy and eBay titles and scores free → · Plans and credits →
FAQ
Is it better to sell on Etsy or eBay?
It depends on the item. Etsy accepts what you made or designed, vintage of 20 years or more and craft supplies, but not resold items newer than 20 years. eBay accepts almost anything, new or used. For items both accept, Etsy's fees are lower: $4.82 against $6.66 on a $40 item with $6 shipping, at the rates read on 3 October 2026.
Are eBay fees higher than Etsy fees?
Per sale, yes: 13.6% plus $0.40 an order in most eBay categories, against Etsy's 6.5% plus 3% + $0.25 processing and a $0.20 listing fee. With $6 shipping that is $3.26 against $2.45 on a $15 item, and $17.54 against $12.42 on a $120 item. Listing works the other way, since eBay's first 250 listings a month are free. An Etsy order that comes through Offsite Ads adds 12% or 15%.
Can I sell the same item on Etsy and eBay?
Yes, if Etsy accepts the item. Nothing in either policy we read stops it, but neither lets you send a buyer off the platform to finish a sale. Write each listing for its own fields, and end the other one as soon as a one-of-a-kind piece sells.
Is eBay or Etsy better for vintage?
Etsy only counts an item as vintage at 20 years old or more, while eBay takes secondhand items of any age. For a piece both accept, you keep more of the sale on Etsy than in most eBay categories, at the standard rates. On eBay, buyers narrow results by item specifics, so fill in every one eBay lists for the category.
Which has free listings, Etsy or eBay?
eBay: up to 250 listings a month with no insertion fee, then $0.35 each in most categories, and a Good 'Til Cancelled listing uses one of the 250 again every month it renews. Etsy charges $0.20 for every listing, and a listing lasts four months. Past about 292 listings kept up, eBay without a Store costs more a month than Etsy, by our arithmetic.
Is Etsy's Offsite Ads fee mandatory?
Only once your shop reaches $10,000 in sales over 365 days. From then it is 12% of each order Etsy attributes to its ads, for the life of the shop, capped at $100 an order. Below that it is 15% and you can opt out. eBay's Promoted Listings are optional campaigns you create yourself.
Choose by item first: Etsy for what you made or designed, vintage of 20 years or more and craft supplies, eBay for everything newer that you did not make. Where both fit, Etsy takes less per sale and eBay costs nothing to list until you pass 250 listings a month. Then write two listings, not one. Run your price through the free fee calculators, and describe the product once to see both titles and their scores free before you spend a credit.