eBay Fees for Books, Movies and Music (2026)

Books, movies and music have one of the highest final value fee rates on eBay, and most media items sell for low prices, where fixed costs hurt the most. That makes getting the numbers right especially important for media sellers. Here's what you pay and how to keep more of each sale.

Rates are US (eBay.com) rates from our calculator, last checked on September 25, 2026.

Book, movie and music fees at a glance

Plus the per-order fee: $0.40, or $0.30 when the total is $10 or less. The rate is charged on the total amount of the sale, including shipping and sales tax. Some music categories are treated differently, so check eBay's fee table if you sell music.

Note that a Store doesn't lower the 15.3% rate. It only changes where the lower 2.35% tier starts.

What media sellers pay in practice

On cheap items, the per-order fee pushes the real cost toward 19% of the sale.

The low-price trap

Take an $8 book that cost you $1, with $4 postage and free shipping. After $1.52 in fees, you make $1.48. At $12, with $6.50 in costs, you make $3.26. Neither is much reward for the time it takes to list, pack and post.

Ways to improve it:

• Sell in lots: bundle books by author, series or subject. One order, one per-order fee, one package.
• Set a minimum price for single items, and donate or bulk-sell the rest.
• Use the cheapest suitable postage. In the US, USPS Media Mail is often much cheaper for books, DVDs and CDs, though it's slower and has content rules.
• Offer combined shipping so buyers add more items to an order.
• Check sold prices first. Many common titles sell for very little. Rare, out-of-print, signed or first-edition books are where the margin is.

Does a Store help media sellers?

For everyday media sales, no: the rate is 15.3% with or without a Store. A Store only saves money on media sales above $2,500 (for example, a $3,000 rare book costs $459.40 without a Store and $394.65 with one), or if you need the extra free listings. High-volume booksellers often do. If you list hundreds of items a month, compare the Store's free listing allowance with the insertion fees you'd otherwise pay. See our eBay Store guide.

Better ways to cut media fees

• Top Rated Plus: 10% off the final value fee. A $60 box set's fees fall from $9.58 to $8.66. See Top Rated Seller benefits.
• Raise your average order value with lots and combined shipping, so the per-order fee is a smaller share.
• Be careful with Promoted Listings. On top of 15.3%, ad fees can wipe out a thin media margin. Use our Promoted Listings guide to find your maximum ad rate.
• List items in the right category. Using a different category to get a lower rate breaks eBay's rules.

Selling media in the UK or Canada

• UK: business sellers pay a much lower 9.9% on books, films and music, plus VAT, the per-order fee and the regulatory fee. A £12 book costs £1.96 in fees. UK private sellers pay no final value fee on domestic sales. Try the UK calculator.
• Canada: the same 15.3% structure as the US, in Canadian dollars. Try the Canada calculator.

Check your own sale

Choose "Books, magazines, movies and most music" in the US eBay fee calculator to see your fees and profit. For how to price low-value items profitably, see how to price items on eBay for profit.