What is a good Promoted Listings ad rate on eBay?

There is no universal number. The workable ceiling is your margin per sale divided by the total sale price. If a sale nets $25.62 on a $55 transaction, any ad rate below roughly 47% still contributes — but only if the sale is incremental.

Is the ad fee charged on shipping too?

Yes. Promoted Listings Standard is charged as a percentage of the total sale, which includes the shipping the buyer pays.

How is Promoted Listings Standard different from Advanced?

Standard charges a percentage of the sale on sales attributed to the ad. Advanced uses a cost-per-click model, so you pay for clicks whether or not they produce a sale.

What is break-even ROAS on eBay?

Break-even return on ad spend is the reciprocal of your available margin per sale, expressed as a share of revenue. If about 47% of a sale is available margin before ads, break-even ROAS is about 2.2×.

Should I promote every listing?

No. Promotions work best on listings with healthy margin and weak organic visibility. Applying them to your best organic sellers usually means paying for sales you already had.

Does the ad fee replace the final value fee?

No. It is charged on top. A promoted sale carries the category final value fee, the per-order fee and the ad fee.

eBay Promoted Listings Calculator

Promoting a listing only works if the extra sales out-earn the ad fee. Set an ad rate and see where the line sits.

Short answer

Promoted Listings Standard charges your chosen ad rate — typically 2% to 20% — on the total sale price of every sale attributed to the ad, on top of the regular final value fee. Because the ad rate is charged on the whole sale rather than on profit, it eats margin much faster than sellers expect: at a 13.6% final value fee, a 10% ad rate leaves roughly 76% of the sale before product and shipping costs.

Your numbers

Item sale price

Shipping the buyer pays

What your label costs

What you paid for the item

Fee breakdown

Final value fee · Most categories13.60% × $55.00−$7.48
Per-order fee$0.40−$0.40
Promoted listings10% × $55.00−$5.50

Total fees$13.38

The ad rate applies to the sale, not the profit

This is the whole problem with promoted listings in one sentence. Your ad rate is a percentage of the total the buyer pays. Margin is what is left after fees, postage and product cost — usually a much smaller number than the sale price.

On a $55 sale that nets $25.62 after the final value fee, postage and product cost, a 10% ad rate costs $5.50. That is not 10% of your profit; it is about a fifth of it.

Break-even advertising cost of sale

The useful question is not "which ad rate should I set" but "what is the most I can pay and still make money". That ceiling is your available margin per sale.

On the same $55 sale, $25.62 is available before advertising. An ad fee above that turns the sale into a loss, which happens at an ad rate of about 47% ($25.62 ÷ $55). Anything below that still contributes — but only if the promoted sale is genuinely incremental.

The incrementality trap

Every promoted sale is charged the ad rate, whether or not the promotion caused it. Sellers who promote their best-selling listings often pay for sales they would have made anyway.

The honest test is comparative: run a promoted and an unpromoted period with the same inventory and compare total profit, not total sales. If promoted revenue is up but profit is flat, you bought sales you already had.

Rate table

Most categories	13.6% up to $7,500.00, then 2.35%
Books, movies & music	15.3% up to $7,500.00, then 2.35%
Trading cards	13.25% up to $7,500.00, then 2.35%
Jewelry & watches	15% up to $1,000.00, 6.5% to $7,500.00, then 3%
Women's bags & handbags	15% up to $2,000.00, then 9%
Athletic shoes $150+ (authenticated)per-order fee waived	8%
Guitars & basses	6.7% up to $7,500.00, then 2.35%
Motors parts & accessories	13.6% up to $7,500.00, then 2.35%
Per-order fee	$0.30 on orders up to $10.00, $0.40 above
Promoted Listings (standard)charged only on sales attributed to the ad	your chosen ad rate, 2%–20% of the sale
International sale	about 1.65% of the total transaction
Currency conversiontypically 2–3% worse than mid-market, never shown as a fee	embedded in the exchange rate

Source: the marketplace's own fee page
Rates last verified: 2026-09-20

Formula

ad fee = (item price + shipping) × ad rate   ·   profit = sale − final value fee − per-order fee − ad fee − postage − product cost

What each term means

ad rate: your chosen percentage, typically 2%–20% for standard campaigns
sale: item price + shipping the buyer pays — the base for both the final value fee and the ad fee
break-even ad rate: profit before the ad fee ÷ total sale. Above this, the promoted sale loses money

Assumptions

Promoted Listings Standard (percentage of attributed sale), not Advanced (cost per click).
The ad fee is modelled on the full sale, which matches how standard campaigns are charged.
Assumes the promoted sale is incremental. The calculator cannot tell you whether it was — that needs a before/after comparison.

Worked examples

$50 item, $5 shipping, $15 product cost, 10% ad rate

Buyer pays: $55.00
Total fees: $13.38
Effective rate: 24.3%
Net profit: $20.12

Fee breakdown

Final value fee · Most categories13.60% × $55.00−$7.48
Per-order fee$0.40−$0.40
Promoted listings10% × $55.00−$5.50

Total fees$13.38

Compare the total fees against the same sale with the ad rate at zero. The difference is what the promotion has to earn back.

The same sale at a 20% ad rate

Buyer pays: $55.00
Total fees: $18.88
Effective rate: 34.3%
Net profit: $14.62

Fee breakdown

Final value fee · Most categories13.60% × $55.00−$7.48
Per-order fee$0.40−$0.40
Promoted listings20% × $55.00−$11.00

Total fees$18.88

At the top of the usual range, the ad fee alone approaches the size of the final value fee. On thin-margin inventory this is where promotions stop being profitable.

Every figure above is computed from the rate schedule on this page for eBay (US), using the same engine as the calculator — not typed in by hand.

Common mistakes

Reading the ad rate as a share of profit

It is a share of the sale. A 10% ad rate on a sale with a 20% net margin consumes half your profit, not a tenth of it.

Promoting listings that already sell

If a listing ranks well organically, promoted sales are frequently not incremental — you pay the ad rate on revenue you already had.

Judging success on revenue instead of profit

Promoted periods almost always show higher sales. The only meaningful comparison is total profit before and after the promotion, on the same inventory.

Leaving the ad rate untouched for months

The profitable ceiling moves with your purchase costs and your category rate. Re-check it whenever either changes.

Ignoring that the fee base includes shipping

Both the final value fee and the ad fee are charged on the total the buyer pays, so a generous postage charge inflates both.

Questions

What is a good Promoted Listings ad rate on eBay?: There is no universal number. The workable ceiling is your margin per sale divided by the total sale price. If a sale nets $25.62 on a $55 transaction, any ad rate below roughly 47% still contributes — but only if the sale is incremental.
Is the ad fee charged on shipping too?: Yes. Promoted Listings Standard is charged as a percentage of the total sale, which includes the shipping the buyer pays.
How is Promoted Listings Standard different from Advanced?: Standard charges a percentage of the sale on sales attributed to the ad. Advanced uses a cost-per-click model, so you pay for clicks whether or not they produce a sale.
What is break-even ROAS on eBay?: Break-even return on ad spend is the reciprocal of your available margin per sale, expressed as a share of revenue. If about 47% of a sale is available margin before ads, break-even ROAS is about 2.2×.
Should I promote every listing?: No. Promotions work best on listings with healthy margin and weak organic visibility. Applying them to your best organic sellers usually means paying for sales you already had.
Does the ad fee replace the final value fee?: No. It is charged on top. A promoted sale carries the category final value fee, the per-order fee and the ad fee.

Related calculators

These calculators apply published marketplace fee schedules. They are general information tools, not tax, legal, accounting or financial advice — check your own payout statement and speak to a qualified professional where it matters.

eBay (US) — 13.6% + $0.40. Rates last verified: 2026-09-20. the marketplace's own fee page.