Which Platform to List On, by Item and Price
Fees checked on ; next check .
Updated
At a glance
- $10 eBayPer-order fee steps from $0.30 to $0.40 above $10
- $15 PoshmarkFlat $2.95 fee ends; 20% from $15
- $150 eBayAthletic shoes: lower rate and no per-order fee from here, tax included
- $2,000 eBayHandbags: one lower rate on the whole sale above this
- $2,500 eBayStore sellers: top rate band ends (most categories)
- $5,000 eBayJewelry: one lower rate on the whole sale above this
- $7,500 eBayNo store: top rate band ends (most categories)
eBay and Whatnot's own fee pages name the categories they price specially; Poshmark, Mercari and Depop don't carve out any. That split, plus a handful of price thresholds where a rate changes shape, is what this guide uses to narrow down where to list — then it hands off to the fee comparison itself.
- $10, eBay
- Per-order fee steps from $0.30 to $0.40 above $10
- $15, Poshmark
- Flat $2.95 fee ends; 20% from $15
- $150, eBay
- Athletic shoes: lower rate and no per-order fee from here, tax included
On this page
Crosslisting the same item everywhere and letting the sale decide is a reasonable strategy, but it isn't free — every extra listing is extra photos, extra description writing and extra inventory to keep in sync. This guide narrows the field first, using two things this site can actually evidence: which platforms single out your item's category for its own rate, and which prices sit right on top of a rate change. It ends at the same place either way — the fee comparison — rather than trying to replace it.
What each platform's own fee page says it prices specially
Two of the five name specific item categories in their own fee tables. eBay's final value fee table breaks out trading cards and comics, coins and paper money, bullion, women's bags and handbags, jewelry, watches, athletic shoes, guitars, musical instruments, cameras and electronics, computers and consoles, eBay Motors parts and stamps, each at its own rate. Whatnot's tiered commission is split across six named verticals: sports, trading card games, fashion, other collectibles, coins and everything else. Poshmark, Mercari and Depop's own fee pages don't name a single category anywhere — one rate (or one fee-free structure, for Depop's selling fee) applies no matter what you list. That doesn't say those three are wrong for a given item, only that their own pages give this site no category-specific rate to point to.
A short procedure
- Name the category. If it's one eBay or Whatnot singles out above, start with that platform's calculator — its rate was built for exactly this kind of item, and it may already beat a flat-rate platform's default.
- Check the price against a threshold. eBay's category rates and Whatnot's high-value promotion both change shape at specific prices, not gradually — see the table below.
- Compare with the tool, not by memory. Once you know the category and roughly the price, run it through Where to sell rather than trying to hold five fee schedules in your head.
- Anything that isn't a named category — general clothing, household goods, most everyday resale — has no platform-specific rate on any of these five pages, so start the comparison from all five and let the numbers sort it.
Price thresholds worth knowing before you list
| Item type | Where a rate is named | The threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Trading cards, comics | eBay (a dedicated rate); Whatnot's TCG vertical | A Basic Store or higher shrinks eBay's top-rate cap from $7,500 to $2,500 per item |
| Sports cards, memorabilia | eBay (a dedicated rate); Whatnot's Sports vertical | Whatnot's high-value promotion zeroes commission above $1,500 in the Sports Singles subcategories |
| Handbags | eBay, one rate for the whole sale | The rate on the entire sale drops once the total passes $2,000 — not just the portion above it |
| Jewelry (not watches) | eBay, one rate for the whole sale | Same whole-sale mechanic, at $5,000 |
| Watches | eBay, banded rates | The rate steps down at $1,000 and again at $7,500 |
| Athletic shoes | eBay | Both the rate and the per-order fee change at $150, and the total that decides it includes tax |
| Coins | eBay (a dedicated rate); Whatnot's Coins vertical | Whatnot's Coins vertical is the only one that opens under 8%, and its top tier alone reaches 3.5% |
| Anything else | No platform names it specifically | Poshmark's own $15 cliff is a threshold on its own, independent of category |
Fees only, not speed or audience
Everything above, and everything the linked calculators show, compares one thing: what each platform's own fee schedule would take from the identical sale. It says nothing about which app's shoppers are actually looking for your item, how fast a listing moves on one platform versus another, or what a live auction audience will bid compared to a fixed-price buyer. Where to sell makes the same narrow promise for a specific sale, ranks the five calculators by profit, and is the place to run your own numbers rather than re-deriving them here.
Sources
- eBay Help: Selling fees ebay.com
- Mercari Help Center: Fees on Mercari mercari.com
- Poshmark Fee Policy (version 1.7) poshmark.com
- Whatnot Help Center: Whatnot seller fees help.whatnot.com
- Depop Help: Seller fees and charges depophelp.zendesk.com