Everything you need to know about eBay for Charity. It's all here.
eBay for Charity is an easy way for buyers and sellers on eBay.co.uk to support their favourite charities. Buyers can shop for items knowing they're supporting a good cause, be it an everyday bargain or a special auction. Sellers, whether they're individuals or businesses, can donate a percentage from any sale to a charity of their choice and add Gift Aid to their donations. Charities can also sell their own items directly on eBay.co.uk.
In addition, all eBay for Charity items will qualify for a fee credit on basic insertion and final value fees equal to the percentage donated.
MissionFish is a registered charity (No. 1110538) that helps other charities raise funds online. In late 2005, eBay invited MissionFish to help build a programme which could offer the eBay.co.uk community the chance to support charities when buying and selling on eBay.
MissionFish offers invaluable support to eBay in many areas: providing the technology that makes eBay for Charity possible, certifying charities to participate in the eBay for Charity programme, collecting donations from eBay sellers, claiming Gift Aid on those gifts, and distributing donations and Gift Aid to the benefiting charities. Learn more about MissionFish.
You can support a charity whenever you sell an item. When you're listing the item, just choose the charity you want to support and the percentage you want to give. You can support charities when shopping by buying items marked with the eBay for Charity ribbon, or by making a donation to a featured charity when you pay for an item through eBay Checkout.
Yes, you can make a donation via PayPal to any charity registered with eBay for Charity. Search for a charity using the "Find your favourite charity" button on the eBay for Charity homepage. Visit the charity's page on eBay by clicking on the "View" button, then select the Donate Now tab. You can also find a charity's page by clicking on the charity name within any eBay for Charity listing.
Every eBay for Charity item is marked with a blue and yellow charity ribbon
in search results and in the item listing title. Within the listing, you will find the name of the benefiting charity and the percentage of the final sale price the seller is donating.

After an eBay for Charity listing ends, the seller receives payment from the buyer as normal. MissionFish will then collect the donation from the seller and pass it on to the seller's intended charity.
If the item is being sold by a charity, the charity simply keeps the money you have paid for the item.
eBay for Charity:
There are a few ways you can do this, just pick the best one for yourself. You could:

When you pay through eBay Checkout for an item you've won, you have the option to add a small donation to your purchase. By adding a little extra to your purchase, you can support a good cause when you shop on eBay.
If you choose this optional donation, your total transaction will increase by the amount you select.
To give from eBay Checkout:
You can choose which charity (or charities) you see in checkout on the My Favourite Charities page within your Donation Account.
Your donation will be collected and delivered by MissionFish, eBay's partner charity. Note that your donation will appear as a separate transaction, paid to MissionFish, in your PayPal account.
When you donate £1 through eBay checkout, 5p helps cover MissionFish's costs in paying the donations to charities, and providing the technology that makes collecting the donations possible. The charity will receive 95p from each donation.
Yes! Any eBay seller can choose to donate between 10% and 100% (5% minimum for eBay Motors) of their final sale price to a charity.
It's entirely up to you. You can choose to donate anywhere from 10% to 100% of your final sale price to a charity. For eBay Motors, the minimum is 5%.
The minimum donation is £1 and applies per listing, rather than per item.
The £1 minimum donation per listing ensures the charity receives a meaningful donation from every eBay for Charity listing. The £1 minimum applies to the total donations from each listing, including buy it now listings with multiple items for sale.
You can search for charities in the charity directory when you list your item.
There are thousands of charities registered with the programme, so we hope you'll find a charity you want to support.
If you don't see your favourite charity in the directory, you can recommend they join the programme.
All UK organisations with charitable status are welcome to participate in the programme. All participating charities are fully vetted, so you can be sure that any charity you choose to donate to is legitimate.
No, you can only support one charity per listing.
When listing an item, just choose a charity to support and the percentage you want to donate. Here's how:
You may be listing using the 'Quick Sell' form, which doesn't include the charity option.
To switch to the 'Advanced Sell' form, scroll to the bottom of the Quick Sell page and click on the link that says "To view all listing options, switch to the Sell Your Item form now, and continue listing your item". You will then be taken to the Advanced Sell form.
In future, when you sell an eBay for Charity item, click on the 'Sell' tab on the top of any eBay page, you can opt to go straight to the "Advanced Sell" form.
If you're still having problems, contact us.
Yes, you can add a charity to an existing listing through the "Revise your item", "Relist" or "Sell Similar" tools in My eBay.
You can also use "Revise your item" to add a charity to auction listings, fixed price listings, and shop listings that are live on eBay.
Choosing "Revise your item" will allow you to add a charity to a live eBay listing, or increase the percentage you wish to donate. You cannot remove a charity or reduce the percentage of your donation.
Please note: A listing must have at least 12 hours remaining in order to add a charity through "Revise your item". In addition, you cannot use Revise to add a charity to a listing if it is a multiple quantity or Dutch listing and one or more of your items from that listing have already sold.
Through Relist and Sell Similar, you can add a charity to support and percentage to donate to your new listing.
When you have sold your item and collected payment from the buyer, you have 2 options to pay your donation:
In both instances, the donation is paid to MissionFish, which then claims Gift Aid (where applicable) and redistributes the funds to your chosen charity.
Your benefiting charity can cancel your item once you have listed it if they consider it inappropriate for their charity.
If your listing is cancelled by a charity, you will receive an email with an explanation of why the charity cancelled it. You can:
Alternatively, your listing may have breached eBay's listing policies
You can manage all your donations from within your My eBay account. Simply look in the Donation Account section of My eBay under the My Account tab to see all past and pending donations.
If we have a problem delivering a donation to a charity, here's what we do:
If a seller has completed a Gift Aid declaration, we will still claim and deliver that Gift Aid to the charity that receives the original donation.
Gift Aid is one of the easiest ways to make your donation tax effective. Using Gift Aid means that for every pound you give, the charity will receive an extra 25p from the Government.
Simply tick the Gift Aid box when you first list an item for charity, so long as you pay more in UK income or capital gains tax than the charity's planning to claim back.
If you need to, you can update your Gift Aid declaration in your Donations Account in the My Account section of My eBay in each tax year.
Through Gift Aid, MissionFish (eBay's charity partner) can reclaim the basic rate tax from the government on every donation you make through eBay for Charity. MissionFish passes on the reclaimed tax to the charities you support, less a small deduction to cover its expenses in doing so.
If you are a higher rate taxpayer, in addition to the above, you can reclaim for yourself another 25p in tax from the government for every £1 you donate to charity. All you have to do is remember to include details of your charitable donations on your tax return.
Please note that to qualify for Gift Aid, you must pay as much tax (income or capital gains) as you are reclaiming on charitable donations. For example, if you wish to claim Gift Aid on donations that total £100 in one tax year, you will need to have paid at least £25 in taxes for that tax year.
To claim Gift Aid, the donation has to be made by an UK individual taxpayer, sole trader, or partnership. Gift Aid cannot be claimed by companies.
Gift Aid donations from the self-employed (sole traders) and partnerships are treated in the same way as Gift Aid by individuals. Your donation will be treated as paid out of taxed income and the charity will be able to reclaim 25p on each pound of the donation.
Sole traders that are higher rate taxpayers can also reclaim 25p for every £1 donated to charity. All you have to do is remember to include details of your charitable gifts on your tax return.
For more information, please visit the HM Revenue & Customs website.
If you are donating as a company, please do not tick the Gift Aid box. To receive tax relief, companies can deduct their donations from total profits prior to calculating corporation tax.
For more information, please visit the HM Revenue & Customs website.
To claim Gift Aid on your donations, all you need to do is tick the Gift Aid box when you first list an item for charity. We'll do the rest. If you need to, you can update your Gift Aid in the Donation Account section of My eBay, under the My Account tab.
eBay for Charity needs your name and home address in order to claim Gift Aid. This is so they can be confident that you are a UK taxpayer. Please update your profile in your Donation Account, which can be found in My eBay under the My Account tab, then contact us to say you've done so.
eBay for Charity collects your donation, then claims Gift Aid on top. The donation and the Gift Aid are then delivered to your chosen charity.
eBay will credit fees back to sellers when they sell through the eBay for Charity programme. Charities also receive fee credits when they sell items directly.
When you sell an eBay for Charity item, you are eligible for the eBay fee credit if the item sells. eBay's basic selling fees (basic insertion and final value fees) will be credited back to you according to the level of your donation.
For example, if you donate 50% of your item's sale price to charity, you will receive a credit of 50% of your basic selling fees.
The fee credit will appear automatically on your first eBay invoice after the item sells.
The donations are processed by MissionFish - UK, which makes a small deduction from each donation to offset some of the costs involved in developing and delivering some of the technical, legal and financial infrastructure behind eBay for Charity, and the support and advice MissionFish provides to charities and donors. As a registered charity (No. 1110538), MissionFish aims to cover its costs. The charity has no shareholders and any surpluses generated are reinvested in fulfilling its charitable purpose.
The MissionFish deductions are set out in more detail below. Please note that MissionFish does not charge:
Items sold by charities on eBay
MissionFish makes no deduction from any listings made by charities themselves ('direct selling'), and does not charge charities any fees for using eBay for Charity.
Cash donations via PayPal and other channels
For simple donations not connected with eBay transactions, we make a deduction of 3.75% of the total amount given. These donations are easier for us to track and deliver, so we have made our processing cost as low as possible.
Give at Checkout donations
MissionFish makes an all-inclusive deduction of 5p on £1 cash donations made through eBay Checkout. There are no additional deductions, such as processing charges or VAT, and no charge to the charities.
Donations from eBay sellers
When eBay sellers donate the proceeds of a sale, eBay will credit its basic selling fees (basic insertion and final value fees) back to the seller according to the level of the donation. For example, if you donate 50% of your item's sale price to charity, you will receive a credit of 50% on the basic selling fees.
MissionFish's deduction from the donation is 9% (up to a maximum £100), and reflects the greater costs involved in tracking item sales, managing seller relationships, and ensuring compliance with complex government regulations. They do not charge any additional processing costs or VAT to buyers, sellers or charities.
| eBay seller donation (20%) | |
| Final selling price | £10.00 |
| Percentage donated | 20% |
| Donation made | £2.00 |
| Gift Aid | £0.50 |
| Total donation | £2.50 |
| MissionFish deduction | -£0.22 |
| Charity receives: | £2.28 |
| eBay seller fees | |
| Basic Insertion Fee | £0.25 |
| Final Value Fee | £1.00 |
| Seller fee credits (20%) | -£0.25 |
| Total | £1.00 |
Example #1: donation made by an eBay seller (20% of sale price)
In this example a seller's donation of £2 means £2.28 for the charity.
The seller has:
eBay credits 20% of its basic selling fees back to the seller.
| eBay seller donation (100%) | |
| Final sale price | £5.00 |
| Donation percent | 100% |
| Donation paid | £5.00 |
| Gift Aid | £1.25 |
| Total donation | £6.25 |
| MissionFish deduction | -£0.56 |
| Charity receives: | £5.69 |
| eBay seller fees | |
| Basic Insertion Fee | £0.15 |
| Final Value Fee | £0.50 |
| Seller fee credits (100%) | -£0.65 |
| Total | £0.00 |
Example #2: donation made by an eBay seller (100% of sale price)
In this example a seller's donation of £5.00 means £5.69 for the charity.
The Community Seller has:
eBay credits 100% of its basic selling fees back to the seller.
| Charity sale | |
| Final sale price | £20.00 |
| MissionFish deduction | £0.00* |
| Charity receives: | £20.00* |
| eBay seller fees | |
| Basic Insertion Fee | -£0.25 |
| Final Value Fee | -£1.05 |
| Seller fee credits (100%) | £1.30 |
| Total | £0.00 |
Example #3: item sold by a charity
In this example the Charity Direct Seller earns £20.00 on the sale of a £20 item.
Since the item is sold by a charity, there is no charge from MissionFish, and eBay credits 100% of its basic selling fees back to the seller.
NB The charity may need to pay additional fees not calculated in this example such as fees to PayPal, credit card processors, third-party auction houses, etc.
Donations are sent to charities within two months. This is because MissionFish holds donations from eBay sellers for at least 45 days. This protects the seller in case the deal with their buyer falls through and they need to get their donation back.
It also protects the charity: MissionFish doesn't want to ask for a donation to be returned once they've paid a charity, so they hold onto it until eBay's refund period expires.
Sellers can speed up the payout to a charity by waiving their right to a refund when they proactively make donations through their Donation Account, under the Account tab in My eBay. Many sellers do this once they know that their deal with the buyer has been completed.
If a buyer has not paid you for their item, you have the right to request that your donation be refunded (if you've already made it), or waived by MissionFish (if you haven't).
You'll need to:
Once we verify with eBay that your final value fee credit was granted, we'll approve your donation refund.
If a final value fee credit is not issued, your donation refund request will be denied. Learn more about eBay's Unpaid Item process.
Note: You must submit your request using the Resolution Centre within 45 days of the end of your listing on eBay. If your request is submitted after 45 days, we will be unable to issue a donation refund.
If you ticked the Gift Aid box, you have the right to cancel your donation for any reason within 21 days after your item sells. To cancel your donation, you must contact MissionFish and state that you want to "cancel a Gift Aided donation". You may cancel a donation in this way whether you have waived your right to a refund or not.
Note: If you exercise the right to cancel, MissionFish will not charge you any fee, and will waive or refund your donation. To prevent abuse of the programme, eBay reserves the right to block donors who cancel donations from using eBay for Charity.
If you did not tick the Gift Aid box, you can only request a donation refund through an Unpaid Item Dispute.
If you're a charity, eBay for Charity can help you raise funds and boost your profile with well over 20 million eBay users in the UK, and 250 million worldwide. There are 3 main ways for you to get involved:
Registration is easy and free of charge. Once registered, you'll benefit from advantages that you can't get anywhere else:
To get started, you'll need to register with MissionFish (eBay's charity partner). MissionFish vets charities, processes donations and advises charities on how to raise funds on eBay.
If you'd like only to receive donations from eBay Community sellers, then this is all you need to do.
If your charity would like to sell its own goods, you'll need to set up an eBay account and add your eBay ID as a "Direct Seller" in your MissionFish account.
You can learn more about how to benefit from eBay for Charity by visiting the MissionFish website.
eBay may be able to give you some extra advice and support. You can learn more on our Special Auctions page.