See whether free shipping still beats charging the buyer.
Free shipping is not the same decision as local pickup or
combined shipping. Pickup skips the label. Combined shipping
is two already-sold items. Here the item still ships. On
eBay, baking the exact shipping charged into the list leaves
the same leftover per completed sale. A 15-point sell-through
lift on that $46 list keeps $2.72 more. Leaving the list at
$40 loses $0.55.
Listing and free-shipping list
Free shipping vs buyer-pays
$—
extra kept by free shipping versus buyer-pays
Buyer-pays after sell-through
Free shipping after sell-through
If they keep a buyer-pays sale
If they keep a free-ship sale
Bake-in list
Sell-through that still ties buyer-pays
Free-ship list that still ties leftover
Monthly gap vs buyer-pays
Same SKU, two postage paths
Path
Buyer pays
Close rate
If they keep it
Expected after sell-through
vs buyer-pays
On eBay, folding the exact shipping charged into the item leaves the same leftover per completed sale. Rates are inputs — not eBay search ranking.
What this checks
Resellers search “should I offer free shipping on eBay”
because free-shipping badges look like a ranking cheat
until they leave the list at $40 and still buy the label.
On eBay, final-value fee sits on item plus shipping, so a
$46 free-ship list is cash-identical to $40 plus $6 on a
completed sale. Reverb is the opposite — marketplace fee
sits on the item only.
On the defaults — a $40 item, $6 shipping charged, 13.6%
final value fee, $0.40 fixed, $12 cost, $5 outbound, $1
pack, $5 return label, 10% returns, 55% buyer-pays
sell-through, 70% free-ship sell-through — buyer-pays
expects $9.96 and baked-in free shipping expects $12.68.
Free shipping keeps $2.72 more (+$2.72) on this listing
and +$108.66 across forty listings. Free shipping has to
convert about 55.0% of the time, or the free-ship list
has to stay at about $41.01, before it matches buyer-pays.
Leaving the list at $40 flips. Keep the 70% lift and still
buy the $5 label. Buyer-pays still expects $9.96; free
shipping expects $9.41 — $0.55 less. Sell-through then
has to reach about 74.1%. A $44 list still wins (+$1.63).
A 50% free-ship close rate on the baked-in $46 list
expects $9.05 — $0.91 less.
On eBay, final-value fee sits on item plus shipping. Folding the exact shipping charged into the item therefore leaves the same completed-sale leftover. The decision is sell-through versus an under-baked list. On the calculator defaults (a $40 item, $6 shipping charged, 13.6% final value fee, $12 cost, $5 outbound, $1 pack, 10% returns, 55% buyer-pays sell-through, 70% free-ship sell-through) buyer-pays expects $9.96 and baked-in free shipping expects $12.68. Free shipping keeps $2.72 more. Leave the list at $40 and free shipping expects $9.41 — $0.55 less. That is arithmetic on your inputs, not advice to offer free shipping.
Does eBay charge final-value fee on shipping?
This calculator treats final-value fee as a percent of item plus shipping charged, which is how eBay bills most categories. Baking $6 of shipping into a $46 list therefore leaves the same $18.11 leftover after a 10% return mix as charging $6. Reverb is different: marketplace fee sits on the item only, so folding postage into the list costs extra. Enter the blended rate from your last payout.
What if I offer free shipping and leave the list at $40?
You still buy the $5 label. Revenue drops from $46 to $40, so leftover after returns falls to $13.44. At 70% sell-through that listing expects $9.41 against $9.96 for buyer-pays — $0.55 less. Free shipping then has to convert about 74.1% of the time before it matches. The free-ship list that ties buyer-pays leftover at 70% sell-through is $41.01.