Flip Profit Calculator

Why the sticker price lies to you

A $40 tool that sells for $140 looks like a $100 win. It is not. After a roughly 13 percent eBay fee on $140 (about $18) and $15 in shipping, your real profit is closer to $67. That is still a good flip, but it is a third smaller than the number in your head. The mistake that costs new resellers the most is buying based on the gap between buy price and sold price, then being surprised when the deposit hits their account. This calculator does the fee and shipping math for you before you buy, so the number you decide on is the number you actually keep.

Every platform takes a different cut, and the cut changes the math on whether an item is even worth flipping. The same $140 sale nets you very different amounts on eBay, Reverb, Poshmark, or a local cash pickup. Selling local on Facebook Marketplace has no platform fee and no shipping, which is why heavy, bulky, or fragile items often make more sense sold local even at a lower price. The comparison rows above show you that trade-off at a glance.

The fees each platform actually charges

• eBay - roughly 13 percent final value fee on most categories, plus a small fixed per-order fee.
• Reverb - around 8 percent selling fee, which is why music gear resellers prefer it over eBay.
• Poshmark - a flat 20 percent on any sale over $15, which is steep but includes a shipping label.
• Mercari - around 10 percent selling fee, aimed at lighter, lower-value items.
• Facebook Marketplace local pickup - no platform fee at all when the buyer pays cash on pickup.
• Facebook Marketplace shipping - a smaller fee than eBay, useful for items that are easy to pack.

What a good flip actually looks like

There is no single magic number, but two simple floors keep you out of bad buys. First, a dollar floor: a flip that nets under $20 in profit usually is not worth the time to list, message buyers, pack, and ship - unless you can source it in volume. Second, a return floor: aim to at least double your money on the buy price. If you pay $40, you want to clear at least $40 in profit after fees and shipping. Items that clear a 200 to 300 percent return on the buy price are the ones worth building a category around.

Use it to set your buy ceiling at the source

The real power of this calculator is running it backwards while you are standing at a garage sale. You know the sold comp is $140 and you will sell on eBay with $15 shipping. You want to clear at least $50. Try different buy prices until the profit hits your number - that top buy price is your ceiling, and you should never pay more than it. The Buy Ceiling Calculator on this site does exactly this math from the other direction if you want the ceiling handed to you directly.

A note on comps

Every number this calculator gives you is only as good as the sold price you enter. Do not use the highest active listing you can find - that is a wish price nobody has paid. Use a real sold comp: on eBay, filter to sold listings and look at what identical items in similar condition actually closed for over the last few weeks. Take an average of several recent sales, not the single best one. Entering an honest comp is the difference between a plan and a fantasy.