Selling on eBay, Marketplace or Gumtree? What a $50, $300 and $1,500 item nets on each

Most clear-outs end up as three piles. There’s the stuff worth a bit, the stuff worth a fair bit, and the bulky stuff you mostly want gone. Then there are three apps on your phone, and for years the decision came down to one line everyone knew: eBay takes about 13 per cent, so use it only when you have to. That line stopped being true on 12 May 2026.

If you’re a private seller in Australia, you now keep the full item price on eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree alike, before postage and any optional extras. So fees no longer pick the platform for you. What picks it now is the fee the buyer pays on top, and how big the thing is. Our short version: eBay is the default for anything you can post, Marketplace wins for bulky local pickups at any price, and at the top end of a local sale, Gumtree Pay gets you a protected payment for a much smaller buyer fee than eBay’s. For the true leftovers, the ones no app will shift, a driveway morning still does the job, and our garage sale pricing guide covers that end.

Below are the actual sums for a $50, a $300 and a $1,500 item, worked from each platform’s published Australian fee pages.

What changed on eBay, and what didn’t

From 12 May 2026, eBay Australia stopped charging transaction fees to private sellers who meet three conditions. You need to be registered in Australia, you can’t be on a Pro plan, and your sales over the past 12 months have to total AU$25,000 or less. That total counts the item price, postage and tax, so it fills a little faster than you’d think. The free selling applies to sales to Australian buyers only.

Go over $25,000 and eBay moves you to its Pro Starter plan from the first of the following month. From then on, transaction fees apply. eBay’s own table puts those at 13.4 per cent on the first $4,000 of a sale, 2.5 per cent above that, plus $0.30 per order. That’s where the old 13 per cent number comes from, and it’s still real. It just belongs to a different kind of seller now.

A few things still cost money, even for free sellers. The paid listing upgrades haven’t gone anywhere: a subtitle is $2.20 and a second category is $1.00. Postage is still postage. eBay says free sellers will “generally” buy their shipping labels through eBay, with the label cost taken out of what you receive. There are exemptions for items under $20, envelope-sized items, parcels over 22kg and anything longer than 104cm. So the sofa and the kayak aren’t caught by the label rule, which is handy, because they weren’t really eBay items to begin with.

Two dates are worth having in your diary. From 3 November 2026, eBay says proceeds from free selling go into an eBay balance. From 11 November 2026, prepaid labels roll out for eligible items. Neither one changes what you net, but both change how the money and the parcel move, so it’s worth checking your account settings before you list anything big.

The fee the buyer pays

What eBay did was move the fee to the other side of the counter. It now charges buyers a Buyer Protection fee, GST included, and it’s built in layers:

• $0.30 per item
• 8 per cent of the price up to $20
• 6 per cent of the part between $20 and $500
• 4 per cent of the part between $500 and $5,000
• nothing on any amount above $5,000

Vehicles and classified ads are excluded. eBay is clear that this fee doesn’t reduce your payout. You list at $300, the buyer pays $300 plus their fee, and you get $300.

Here’s the catch, and it’s a fair one. The buyer sees the total, not your price. A $300 listing on eBay costs the buyer $318.70 before postage. The same $300 couch on Marketplace costs them $300. When a buyer is scrolling two apps side by side, your eBay listing looks about 6 per cent dearer, even though you’ve priced it identically.

That’s what sits behind a common complaint among sellers online, that free selling isn’t really free because buyers balk at the total and sellers feel pushed to cut their price. They’re half right. You pay nothing, and eBay’s fee pages say so plainly. But the buyer pays 7.4 per cent extra at $50 and 6.2 per cent extra at $300, by our sums, and that’s a pricing problem worth taking seriously. It just isn’t a deduction from your sale.

Marketplace and Gumtree in one breath

Facebook Marketplace is free to list on, with no fee on a local sale. In Australia, Marketplace sales are local pickup, and the money changes hands between you and the buyer, usually cash or a PayID transfer by arrangement. There’s no platform sitting in the middle of the payment. That keeps it simple and free, and it also means there’s no platform protection for either side.

Gumtree only charges listing fees in a handful of categories: cars, vans and utes, caravans, and pets. For everything else, listing is free. Gumtree also runs its own payment option, Gumtree Pay, which is free for sellers. The buyer pays a fee instead: 3 per cent by card, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay, with a $1 minimum and a $200 cap, or 0.3 per cent by PayTo, with a $1 minimum.

The protection side matters here. Gumtree’s protection only covers sales made through Gumtree Pay with its in-app shipping. You have to provide tracking within three days, and the payout lands after a three-day inspection period for the buyer. That’s slower than cash in hand, but it’s a protected payment on a platform that otherwise runs as a classifieds board. A common view among sellers online is that Gumtree is quieter than Marketplace these days but still works well in regional areas and in Perth, which is worth knowing if that’s where you are.

The $50, $300 and $1,500 sums

These are our own sums for an Australian private seller under the $25,000 line, worked on the item price alone. Postage and listing upgrades sit outside the table, because they depend entirely on what you’re selling and where it’s going.

Our sums from eBay Australia’s and Gumtree Australia’s published fee pages, October 2026. Item price only; postage and upgrades excluded.

For context, a Pro seller paying 13.4 per cent plus $0.30 on the item price would hand over $7.00 on the $50 item, $40.50 on the $300 item and $201.30 on the $1,500 one. That’s the number most people still carry around in their heads. For a casual seller, it’s now zero.

At $50. Take a hypothetical pair of near-new runners. Every platform hands you $50. The difference is the buyer’s $3.70 on eBay, which looks like a lot next to a $50 price tag. But at this price, small and light, the real question is whether you’ll post it or meet someone. If it fits in a satchel, eBay’s reach across the country usually beats waiting for one local buyer. If you’d rather not deal with postage, Marketplace is the low-effort option.

At $300. Say it’s a road bike or a decent bar fridge. You net $300 everywhere. On eBay, the buyer’s total climbs to $318.70; on Gumtree Pay it’s $309 by card or $301 by PayTo; on Marketplace it’s $300. If the item posts easily, eBay is still the default, because more buyers will see it. If it doesn’t post easily, the bar fridge being a good example, Marketplace gets you a local buyer at no extra cost to them.

At $1,500. Picture a hypothetical three-seat couch, the kind that doesn’t fit in a hatchback. You net $1,500 on all three. On eBay, the buyer pays $1,570.70. On Gumtree Pay, it’s $1,545 by card or $1,504.50 by PayTo. On Marketplace, it’s $1,500 in cash or by transfer. At this price, how you get paid matters as much as who sees the listing. Handing over a $1,500 couch for a promise is a big call. Gumtree Pay gives you a protected payment for a buyer fee well below eBay’s, and the PayTo option barely moves the buyer’s total at all. If you’re happy to take cash at the door, Marketplace remains the cheapest route for the buyer.

The “match the price” sum

The middle column of the table answers a question the top fee calculators skip. If you want an eBay buyer’s total to land exactly where a Marketplace buyer’s would, what do you list at?

For a $300 item, the answer is $282.36. At that price, the buyer’s fee comes to $17.64, and their total is $300.00. You’d be giving up $17.64 to make your listing sit level with the same item on Marketplace. At $50, the matching price is $46.51, a cut of $3.49. At $1,500, it’s $1,432.02, a cut of $67.98.

Whether the cut is worth making comes down to what eBay’s reach buys you, and you can judge that item by item. If your item is niche, a specific camera lens or a particular model of something people search for by name, the national audience is worth more than the $17.64. A buyer in Townsville who wants exactly that lens is unlikely to quibble over the fee. If your item is generic and heavy, the cut buys you very little, because the buyer was always going to be someone nearby.

There’s a middle path too. Plenty of sellers list on eBay at their normal price and let the photos and description do the work, rather than shaving the price. A good listing earns more than a few dollars of discount, and our step-by-step on writing a listing that sells covers the title, photos and price that get there.

Where the calculators go wrong

Search “ebay fee calculator” and you’ll find plenty of tools and articles still quoting 13.4 per cent for every eBay seller. That rate is real, but in Australia it now applies to Pro sellers, and to private sellers who’ve gone over the $25,000 line. If you’re a casual seller clearing out a spare room, plug your numbers into one of those calculators and it’ll tell you you’re losing $40.50 on a $300 sale. You aren’t. eBay’s own fee page for sellers without a Pro plan is the one to trust, and it was updated as recently as 9 October 2026.

The second mix-up is Marketplace shipping. Many guides are written for the United States, where Marketplace offers shipping and charges sellers a percentage on shipped sales. You’ll see 5 per cent or 10 per cent quoted. An Australian local Marketplace sale pays no fee at all. If you read a guide that tells you Marketplace takes a cut of your $300 couch, check which country it’s written for.

Our ruling, where the sources disagree: for an Australian private seller under $25,000, eBay’s seller fee is zero and a local Marketplace sale’s fee is zero. Anything quoting a percentage on either is either out of date or written for somewhere else.

Time, hassle and safety

Fees are only part of the cost. The other part is your time. Marketplace is where the crowd is, and sellers online say the same things about it again and again: a flood of “is this still available?” messages, low offers, and buyers who agree to a time and don’t turn up. Many sellers find Gumtree quieter, with fewer messages and fewer tyre-kickers. eBay does more of the sorting for you, because a Buy It Now buyer has usually paid before you ever talk to them.

Whichever platform you choose, the rule for a local sale is simple: get paid before the item leaves your hands. Cash counted at the door, a transfer that has landed in your account, or a protected payment through Gumtree Pay. Never a screenshot of a transfer, and never a promise to pay later. Our guide to Marketplace scams in Australia runs through the common tricks and how to spot them early.

One more thing, especially if you’re selling often or selling things you bought to resell. Free selling on eBay doesn’t change your tax position. Clearing out personal belongings is one thing; buying to sell is another. This isn’t tax advice, but our explainer on selling online and the ATO covers where the line usually sits.

Pick by size, then by price

Since 12 May, the seller fee is the same on all three: nothing, for a private seller under $25,000. So pick by size first. If it posts, start on eBay, where the national audience will usually find you the right buyer, and the buyer’s fee is a pricing question rather than a cost to you. If it’s bulky and local, Marketplace is the free and simple choice at any price. Then check the price. At the top end of a local sale, say $1,500 for a couch, Gumtree Pay gets you a protected payment for a buyer fee far below eBay’s. The critics have a point about the buyer’s total on eBay, and it’s worth pricing with that in mind. But your $300 is still $300.

Sources: eBay Australia, Selling fees without a Pro plan (https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees-managed-payments-sellers-without-ebay-store?id=4822); eBay Australia, It’s now free to sell (https://pages.ebay.com.au/sell-on-ebay/); Gumtree Australia, Gumtree Pay service fees (https://help.gumtree.com.au/AU/articles/en_US/KB_Article/Learn-more-about-Gumtree-service-fees-here)