eBay seller benchmarks
How eBay shops set up their listings, measured by grading real shops.
From 2,105 shops in the UK and 534 shops in the US graded with the eBay listing grader. Updated 12 November 2026.
eBay UK: 2,105 shops
- The average shop scores 65 out of 100. 38% reach a B or better; 4% score an E.
- 30% of shops offer free postage on none of their listings; 34% offer it on all of them.
- 45% of shops accept no returns at all.
- 28% of shops never take a Best Offer; 35% take offers on every Buy It Now listing.
- The average shop fills 64% of the item specifics eBay recommends for its category.
- Only 35% of shops show most of their listings to buyers on eBay Ireland, the best-reached site abroad.
- What separates the top quarter from the bottom most is returns accepted: 94 against 16.
The checks, one by one
Each check is scored 0 to 100 per shop. For free postage, returns, Best Offer and descriptions the score is the share of the shop’s listings that have it.
| Check | Average shop | Shops at zero | Shops at 95+ | Top quarter | Bottom quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item specifics filled | 64 | 0% | 4% | 73 | 56 |
| Photos | 60 | 2% | 11% | 81 | 41 |
| Titles | 86 | 0% | 47% | 97 | 69 |
| Free postage | 46 | 30% | 34% | 78 | 17 |
| Returns accepted | 52 | 45% | 50% | 94 | 16 |
| Best Offer | 50 | 28% | 35% | 52 | 52 |
| Descriptions of 200+ characters | 73 | 10% | 56% | 94 | 47 |
The typical title uses 70 of eBay’s 80 characters, the average listing has 6.2 photos of the 24 allowed, and the typical listing has been up for 29 days.
How the grades fall
A is 85 and over, B 70 to 84, C 55 to 69, D 40 to 54, E under 40.
By size of shop
| Live listings | Shops | Score | Free postage | Returns | Best Offer | Item specifics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 50 | 630 | 58 | 23 | 20 | 63 | 67 |
| 50–249 | 590 | 65 | 49 | 50 | 48 | 65 |
| 250–999 | 453 | 68 | 52 | 66 | 47 | 63 |
| 1,000+ | 432 | 70 | 72 | 88 | 37 | 59 |
Business and private sellers
| Seller type | Shops | Score | Free postage | Returns | Best Offer | Item specifics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private sellers | 1,231 | 58 | 26 | 19 | 61 | 65 |
| Business sellers | 872 | 73 | 75 | 100 | 35 | 62 |
By category
| Main category | Shops | Score | Free postage | Returns | Best Offer | Item specifics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Parts & Accessories | 146 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 53 | 56 |
| Home, Furniture & DIY | 419 | 71 | 78 | 83 | 30 | 60 |
| Antiques | 21 | 71 | 22 | 65 | 88 | 69 |
| Pet Supplies | 14 | 67 | 48 | 42 | 32 | 82 |
| Health & Beauty | 125 | 66 | 68 | 64 | 35 | 62 |
| Clothes, Shoes & Accessories | 257 | 66 | 41 | 35 | 66 | 69 |
| Mobile Phones & Communication | 45 | 65 | 64 | 56 | 34 | 68 |
| Toys & Games | 129 | 64 | 25 | 47 | 57 | 67 |
| Cameras & Photography | 34 | 64 | 31 | 41 | 59 | 68 |
| Jewellery & Watches | 43 | 64 | 41 | 46 | 57 | 60 |
| Collectables | 174 | 62 | 24 | 43 | 63 | 68 |
| Pottery, Ceramics & Glass | 35 | 62 | 28 | 30 | 62 | 62 |
| Business, Office & Industrial | 43 | 61 | 33 | 49 | 44 | 65 |
| Computers/Tablets & Networking | 40 | 61 | 36 | 33 | 61 | 69 |
| Sporting Goods | 47 | 61 | 33 | 39 | 56 | 69 |
| Garden & Patio | 23 | 61 | 54 | 59 | 35 | 56 |
| Books, Comics & Magazines | 82 | 60 | 37 | 45 | 48 | 59 |
| Art | 31 | 60 | 44 | 41 | 51 | 60 |
| Video Games & Consoles | 62 | 59 | 20 | 29 | 65 | 64 |
| Musical Instruments & DJ Equipment | 42 | 59 | 22 | 24 | 42 | 68 |
| Sports Memorabilia | 70 | 58 | 14 | 26 | 72 | 75 |
| Music | 72 | 58 | 34 | 49 | 47 | 63 |
| Crafts | 24 | 58 | 22 | 25 | 55 | 75 |
| Sound & Vision | 24 | 57 | 28 | 41 | 43 | 55 |
| Films & TV | 50 | 55 | 45 | 41 | 39 | 59 |
| Dolls & Bears | 39 | 55 | 7 | 11 | 58 | 63 |
How far listings reach abroad
A listing shows on another country’s eBay only when it offers postage there. This is how much of a shop in the UK a buyer on each site can actually see.
| Buyers on | Shops showing most of their listings | Shops showing none | Average share of a shop’s listings shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBay Ireland | 35% | 55% | 33% |
| eBay Spain | 34% | 56% | 33% |
| eBay Italy | 34% | 56% | 32% |
| eBay Australia | 32% | 56% | 29% |
| eBay Germany | 26% | 59% | 24% |
| eBay US | 9% | 64% | 12% |
| eBay Canada | 6% | 75% | 7% |
eBay US: 534 shops
- The average shop scores 67 out of 100. 41% reach a B or better; 2% score an E.
- 38% of shops offer free shipping on none of their listings; 31% offer it on all of them.
- 38% of shops accept no returns at all.
- 27% of shops never take a Best Offer; 36% take offers on every Buy It Now listing.
- The average shop fills 63% of the item specifics eBay recommends for its category.
- Only 65% of shops show most of their listings to buyers on eBay Canada, the best-reached site abroad.
- What separates the top quarter from the bottom most is returns accepted: 95 against 17.
The checks, one by one
Each check is scored 0 to 100 per shop. For free shipping, returns, Best Offer and descriptions the score is the share of the shop’s listings that have it.
| Check | Average shop | Shops at zero | Shops at 95+ | Top quarter | Bottom quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item specifics filled | 63 | 0% | 1% | 75 | 51 |
| Photos | 68 | 2% | 15% | 85 | 46 |
| Titles | 90 | 0% | 52% | 97 | 81 |
| Free shipping | 40 | 38% | 31% | 67 | 20 |
| Returns accepted | 56 | 38% | 50% | 95 | 17 |
| Best Offer | 54 | 27% | 36% | 62 | 46 |
| Descriptions of 200+ characters | 78 | 6% | 61% | 96 | 57 |
The typical title uses 72 of eBay’s 80 characters, the average listing has 6.8 photos of the 24 allowed, and the typical listing has been up for 21 days.
How the grades fall
A is 85 and over, B 70 to 84, C 55 to 69, D 40 to 54, E under 40.
By size of shop
| Live listings | Shops | Score | Free shipping | Returns | Best Offer | Item specifics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 50 | 81 | 59 | 24 | 19 | 64 | 66 |
| 50–249 | 104 | 63 | 26 | 36 | 62 | 64 |
| 250–999 | 102 | 67 | 30 | 51 | 60 | 66 |
| 1,000+ | 247 | 71 | 55 | 78 | 44 | 60 |
By category
| Main category | Shops | Score | Free shipping | Returns | Best Offer | Item specifics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eBay Motors | 30 | 82 | 85 | 94 | 44 | 67 |
| Business & Industrial | 24 | 75 | 83 | 91 | 16 | 54 |
| Consumer Electronics | 8 | 74 | 70 | 62 | 63 | 62 |
| Clothing, Shoes & Accessories | 97 | 71 | 8 | 55 | 79 | 73 |
| Home & Garden | 86 | 70 | 83 | 78 | 23 | 45 |
| Pottery & Glass | 8 | 69 | 0 | 29 | 64 | 72 |
| Jewelry & Watches | 19 | 69 | 57 | 64 | 64 | 63 |
| Computers/Tablets & Networking | 13 | 67 | 59 | 53 | 52 | 70 |
| Health & Beauty | 11 | 65 | 57 | 55 | 35 | 64 |
| Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop | 25 | 62 | 32 | 40 | 69 | 77 |
| Collectibles | 74 | 62 | 15 | 45 | 63 | 65 |
| Books & Magazines | 22 | 61 | 22 | 53 | 67 | 67 |
| Movies & TV | 10 | 60 | 12 | 20 | 56 | 68 |
| Toys & Hobbies | 27 | 58 | 29 | 27 | 69 | 65 |
| Music | 15 | 58 | 9 | 25 | 71 | 65 |
| Video Games & Consoles | 14 | 56 | 28 | 35 | 60 | 58 |
| Art | 11 | 52 | 33 | 18 | 44 | 45 |
How far listings reach abroad
A listing shows on another country’s eBay only when it offers shipping there. This is how much of a shop in the US a buyer on each site can actually see.
| Buyers on | Shops showing most of their listings | Shops showing none | Average share of a shop’s listings shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBay Canada | 65% | 32% | 59% |
| eBay Australia | 62% | 34% | 56% |
| eBay Ireland | 61% | 35% | 55% |
| eBay Spain | 58% | 36% | 53% |
| eBay Italy | 56% | 36% | 52% |
| eBay UK | 39% | 39% | 37% |
| eBay Germany | 1% | 97% | 1% |
How this is measured
Each shop is graded from its public listings: up to 1,000 live listings for titles, free postage and Best Offer, and 20 of them read in full for photos, item specifics, returns and descriptions. Shops are drawn evenly from the sellers of the newest listings in about 25 top-level categories, located in the site’s own country, so busy sellers are more likely to be picked than dormant ones and no category dominates. Shops graded by visitors are included. A row is kept for 120 days, so the figures move as sellers change. No shop is named; only a one-way fingerprint of the username is stored, to avoid counting a shop twice.
Use these numbers
FLUF, “eBay seller benchmarks”, 12 November 2026, https://fluf.io/tools/ebay-seller-benchmarks/
You are welcome to quote these figures with a link to this page.
Questions
Where do these benchmarks come from?
From the same public data the eBay listing grader reads: a shop’s live listings, as any buyer sees them. We grade a sample of shops drawn evenly from the newest listings in about 25 categories, add every shop a visitor grades, and keep only anonymous totals. No shop is named.
What is a good score?
The grader scores a shop out of 100 on item specifics, photos, titles, free postage, returns, Best Offer and descriptions, weighted by how much each moves a listing in eBay search. The tables on this page show the average and what the top quarter of shops do differently.
Why does it matter how many shops offer free postage or returns?
Both are Best Match signals and both change what a buyer is willing to pay. Knowing what most sellers in your category do tells you whether matching them is a requirement or an edge.
How do I compare my own shop?
Paste your shop link into the eBay listing grader. It scores the same checks and tells you which of your listings to fix first.
