The best place to buy and sell

Shop with peace of mind, knowing we've got you covered with our protections. Plus, it’s now free to sell for private sellers.

Introducing Buyer Protection

Discover the things you love through an enhanced shopping experience with Buyer Protection. A fee is included in the item price when purchasing from private sellers, so there are no surprises at checkout.

We’ve got you covered the whole way

A woman removing an item from a box linking to eBay Money Back Guarantee

Buy with peace of mind

Shop with ease, knowing Buyer Protection gives you support around the clock, secure transactions, and more. You’ll see the fee included in the item price when buying from private sellers, so there are no surprises at checkout.

Learn more

A man holding a box containing a watch linking to Authenticity Guarantee

Easily get your money back

As soon as you’ve made your purchase, your free eBay Money Back Guarantee coverage kicks in. If your item doesn’t arrive or match the description, or is faulty or damaged, you can request a refund within 30 days.

Learn more

Discover Authenticity Guarantee

Shop sneakers, watches, handbags and jewellery with confidence. Experts verify the authenticity of your item for free and carry out a multi-point inspection all at no extra cost.

Find the things you love, knowing we have your back

Free to sell. Easy to list.

No matter what you sell, we’ve got the perfect buyer for your perfect item.

It’s free

We've made it free to sell for private sellers in all categories, except Vehicles.

Business sellers not included

It’s easy

List your items in minutes with AI, find local buyers, or use our no-hassle Simple Delivery option.

It’s safe

You’re fully protected from events out of your control and if you need help, our customer service is there 24/7.

This is your setup for success

1 AI-powered listing tools List any item in minutes using AI-powered descriptions and photo-enhancing tools. Learn more

2 Local collection Offer local collection and the buyer can pick it up in person. Get started

3 NEW Simple Delivery Use the prepaid label and feel confident knowing your order is tracked and fully protected. Learn more

4 Get paid to your eBay balance after delivery Your funds will be added to your balance after successful delivery so you can use your earnings to easily and conveniently shop, pay for delivery labels and promoted listings, and more. Learn more

Find the things you love, knowing we have your back

Buying FAQs

When purchasing from UK-based private sellers, buyers will pay a fee which is already included in the item price.

The Buyer Protection fee will be calculated as:

  • A flat fee of up to £0.75 per item, and

  • 4% of the item price up to £300, and

  • 2% of any portion of the item price from £300 to £4,000

There is a cap on the total fee amount you’ll ever pay. Any portion of the item price over £4,000 will not incur any additional fee. When purchasing multiple quantities within a listing, the flat fee up to £0.75 is only charged once.

The minimum listing price will continue to be £0.99 for Buy-It-Now listings, and £0.01 for Auction listings.

Fee calculation examples:

The Buyer Protection fee isn’t an optional fee and is applied to all listings* by UK-based private sellers. 

*Excludes Vehicles, Classified Ads, and Property

We’ve made it free to sell for private sellers, so it’s easier than ever for more sellers to bring you a wider variety of things you love. To support this change, we’ll charge a buyer fee to cover Buyer Protection services and ensure a trusted experience when purchasing items from private sellers. For listings by business sellers, Buyer Protection is added at no extra cost, since business sellers already pay transaction fees with each item that sells.

Buyer Protection is included at no cost for purchases of listings from private sellers not registered in the UK.

Buyer Protection excludes Vehicles, Classified Ads, and Property.

Easily get in touch with us through this page, or by clicking “Help & Contact” on ebay.co.uk—we’re here to help. You’ll be able to connect with us by phone any time of day or night. Online chat with an agent during UK customer service business hours (8am - 10pm Monday to Friday, 8am - 9pm Saturday and Sunday). Automated agents will be available on chat outside of business hours.

Seller's funds will be made available to UK-based private sellers, to spend on eBay or withdraw, after the order is considered delivered or complete, which is determined by the delivery method. 

Find out more

With this update, UK-based private sellers have improved visibility into when their funds are made available, to help better manage their earnings.

If you request a return or if there’s a problem with the order, we’ll wait until the issue is resolved before we release funds to the seller. If funds have already been released before you request a return, and the seller offers returns, you can ask the seller for a refund. Payment holds may apply. Please go here for more details.

We’ve still got you covered with secure transactions, thanks to payments that are encrypted end-to-end and handled by our trusted payment partners, whose secure technology processes transactions safely and reliably.

Yes, Buyer Protection applies to purchases from business sellers on eBay.co.uk at no extra cost.

You can find if the item is being sold by a private or business seller from the item page. On the eBay app, you’ll see “Registered as a private seller” or “Registered as a business seller” under “About the seller”. From the website, you’ll see “Private” or “Business” next to the seller’s username.

Two containers depicting seller information

The Buyer Protection fee is included in every listing by a UK-based private seller (excluding Vehicles, Classified Ads and Property) and is calculated as:

  • A flat fee of up to £0.75 per item, and

  • 4% of the item price up to £300, and

  • 2% of any portion of the item price from £300 to £4,000

When purchasing multiple quantities of one listing, the flat fee up to £0.75 is only charged once.

For example:

If you purchase two different items from the same private seller, the flat fee is charged per item.

For example:

Buyer Protection is a new programme that applies to all purchases on eBay.co.uk, and includes 24/7 customer support. Additionally, when you buy from a UK-based private seller, seller funds are sent after an item is considered delivered and a Buyer Protection fee is included in the item price.

eBay Money Back Guarantee is an additional layer of protection on your purchase. If an item doesn’t arrive, is faulty or damaged, or doesn’t match the listing description, you can request a refund within 30 days of the delivery date. This service is free and applies to most items on our site.

Most purchases are covered by eBay Money Back Guarantee, our free protection programme that offers refunds if the item didn’t arrive, is faulty or damaged, or doesn’t match the listing. Learn more.

Buyer Protection gives you even more reassurance with your purchase, knowing private sellers are paid after delivery, and you can talk to a real person 24/7 if you have any issues or questions.

Of course! If the item is fully refunded, then the full Buyer Protection fee will also be refunded. If the item is partially refunded, the Buyer Protection fee will be partially refunded.

Where applicable, the Buyer Protection fee will always be included in the item price so there are no hidden fees. At checkout, you will see the fee amount underneath the item’s name.Click on Buyer Protection to see what protection is included and a detailed breakdown of the price.

Selling FAQs

Yes! UK-based private sellers pay no transaction fees for all categories, except Vehicles, and receive 300 free listings per month, so there are no hidden fees. The Buyer Protection fee is paid by the buyer to eBay.

While listing, you'll see that a Buyer Protection fee will be added to the listing price. You'll be able to review your listing price, the Buyer Protection fee, and the total item price the buyer will see before completing your listing.

The Buyer Protection fee will be calculated as: 

  • A flat fee of £0.75 per item, and

  • 4% of the item price up to £300, and

  • 2% of any portion of the item price from £300 to £4,000

To get your funds faster, we recommend using Simple Delivery or other eBay postage labels, which include tracking, and sending your order as soon as possible after the buyer pays. Your funds will be sent to your eBay balance after the order is considered delivered. 

Getting paid:

UK-based private sellers will have better visibility into when their funds are made available, to help manage their earnings. Funds will be made available, to spend on eBay or withdraw, after the order is considered delivered, which is determined based on the delivery method:

  • For tracked deliveries, funds will usually be available 2 calendar days after we receive confirmation from the tracked shipping service that the delivery was successful. Where available, we recommend using eBay postage labels which include tracking, to ensure you receive your funds as soon as possible.

  • For local pick-up, funds will be available when you exchange the 6 digit code or QR code with your buyer.

  • If the item includes Authenticity Guarantee, funds will be available after the item is successfully authenticated.

  • For items sent via Global Shipping Programme, funds will be available after the item is delivered to the UK Shipping Centre.

  • For untracked deliveries, or tracked deliveries with no delivery confirmation signal, funds will be available 14 days from the order date. 

Note: If the buyer requests a return or has a problem with the order, we’ll wait until the issue is resolved before we release seller funds.  Additional payment holds may apply. Please go here for more details.

The Buyer Protection fee is paid by the buyer to eBay on UK-based private seller listings. We recently changed our fee structure, so it's free for private sellers to sell, meaning there are no barriers for these sellers to list the items buyers love. For our business sellers, this fee is included as part of the transaction fees the seller pays with each item that sells.

When setting the item price, UK-based private sellers will see the Buyer Protection fee amount added to the total item price that buyers will see on the listing. Sellers will be able to see the fee amount before completing the listing.

When listing your item, you will see the Buyer Protection fee amount added to your listing price. You can also view the fee amount from your Active listings.

For UK-based private sellers, the Buyer Protection fee will immediately be added to all existing Buy-It-Now listings (excluding Cars, Motorcycle & Vehicles, Classified Ads, and Property). The fee will be added to Auction and Buy-It-Now listings created on or after 4 February, 2025, including relisted listings.

When you enter a starting bid, the Buyer Protection fee is added so you can see what the buyer’s minimum bid amount will be. As the Buyer Protection fee is variable, the fee amount that the buyer actually pays is calculated as part of the final auction selling price.

When a buyer sends a counteroffer, you’ll see the buyer’s price breakdown, including the amount you’ll receive and the Buyer Protection fee paid to eBay, so you’ll have all the information you need to accept or decline the counteroffer.

As a business seller, Buyer Protection is added at no extra charge to you or your buyers. We’ve kept things simple for you, so there’s nothing you need to do to access this protection.

With Buyer Protection, all buyers and sellers will now get 24/7 customer support where you can connect with a real person by phone whenever you need, or start a chat to get quick answers.

We’ve also still got you covered with secure transactions, thanks to payments that are encrypted end-to-end and handled by our trusted payment partners.

For private sellers, funds will be sent to your eBay balance when the order is considered delivered. You can then use your balance to shop, pay for postage, to promote your listings, and pay for other selling costs on eBay.co.uk. Private sellers can also request payouts directly from their balance to a linked bank account by selecting 'Withdraw' in the Payments tab.

If you don't use or withdraw your balance, the available funds will be automatically sent to your bank account on the first Tuesday of every January, April, July and October.

For business sellers, nothing will change and you can expect to receive your payouts on your usual schedule.

Until the order is considered delivered, you’ll see your order’s funds as pending. You can use your pending funds to buy postage labels and give refunds to the buyer.

Once available, you can use your balance to easily shop on eBay, pay for postage, Promoted Listings, and more. Plus, you can withdraw your funds when you need them.

If your buyer hasn't received their item and the estimated delivery date has passed, they'll let you know there's an issue by opening an “Item not received” request. If a buyer opens a request, we'll send a message with all of the details to your registered email address – it'll be available in your Messages too. Once a request is opened, you have 3 business days to resolve the issue. After that time, either you or the buyer can ask us to step in and help resolve the issue. Learn more.

We’ve learned through historical data that most packages are delivered within this timeframe, so it allows enough time for the buyer to receive their item. Learn more about when your funds will be available.