eBay Promoted Listings: what an ad rate really does to profit
The ad rate looks small next to the final value fee — but it comes straight out of a margin that fees, VAT and postage have already squeezed. Here's the same listing with and without promotion.
Published 29 July 2026 · Rates last checked 18 August 2026 · Worked examples computed by the live calculation engine
The problem
eBay quotes ad rates against the sale price, but you experience them against your profit. A "3%" ad rate on a listing with a 15% true margin is a 20% profit cut. Suggested ad rates don't know your margin — they can't tell you whether promoting is affordable.
The same listing, promoted and not
A £24.99 clothing item (cost £9.50, £2.70 postage, business seller, 3% ad rate when promoted):
- Profit — organic sale
- £6.80
- Profit — promoted sale
- £6.05
- Ad fee at 3%
- £0.75
- Profit given up
- 11%
A 3% ad rate costs £0.75 on this sale — 11% of the listing's profit. Margins are 32.6% organic vs 29.0% promoted.
The rule of thumb
profit cut % ≈ ad rate ÷ true margin × 100
e.g. 3% ad rate ÷ 15% margin ≈ 20% of profit gone per promoted saleAssumptions
- Standard (cost-per-sale) Promoted Listings; the ad fee applies to the attributed sale shown.
- Clothes, Shoes & Accessories category, VAT-registered business seller, domestic sale, verified UK rate card.
- The ad fee is charged on the total sale amount, consistent with the final value fee base.
Frequently asked
- How is the Promoted Listings fee calculated?
- For standard promoted listings you set an ad rate as a percentage of the sale. When a sale is attributed to the ad, that percentage of the total sale amount is charged on top of your normal fees.
- What ad rate should I set?
- Work backwards from margin, not from eBay's 'suggested' rate. If your true margin is 12%, a 5% ad rate hands over nearly half your profit. Run your listing through the calculator with the ad rate on and see what's left — that's the only honest answer.
- Do I pay the ad fee on every sale?
- Only on sales attributed to the promotion (typically a click on the promoted placement within the attribution window). Organic sales of the same listing don't carry the ad fee — which is why blended ad cost per order is worth tracking separately.
- Is promoting worth it?
- It can be — extra volume at a thinner margin can beat no volume. The failure mode is promoting a listing whose margin was already thin, where the ad rate takes it negative. Check the margin first, then decide.
Every rate used on this page is public: see the Rate Centre for the exact cards and verification dates, and how we keep the numbers honest.
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