Guide · Reseller margins
What Is a Good Profit Margin for Reselling?
A good profit margin for reselling is 40–60% after marketplace fees and shipping — that is, you keep $40–$60 of profit from every $100 sale once fees, item cost and shipping are paid. Below 30% is thin: one return or damaged item can wipe out several sales’ profit. Above 70% is possible on rare or local finds, but it is not a realistic target for everyday sourcing.
Fees checked October 2026 · US fee schedule
Margin, markup and ROI — do not mix them up
Resellers use three numbers that sound alike and mean different things:
- Margin = profit ÷ sale price. A $50 sale with $30 profit has a 60% margin. This is the number buyers and platforms care about, and the one this guide uses.
- Markup = profit ÷ total costs. That same sale (costs $20) has a 150% markup. Markup always looks bigger than margin — do not compare one seller’s markup with another’s margin.
- ROI = profit ÷ item cost only. $30 profit on a $10 item is 300% ROI. ROI is great for comparing sourcing deals, but it ignores fees and shipping, so it flatters expensive-to-ship items.
The margin calculator computes all three from your numbers so you can stop doing them by hand.
What margin do you actually get, by platform?
Same item, same costs ($10 item cost, $5 shipping), $50 sale — the platform alone moves your margin by nearly 16 points:
| Marketplace | Fees on $50 | Profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depop | $2.10 | $32.90 | 65.8% |
| TikTok Shop (6%) | $3.00 | $32.00 | 64.0% |
| Mercari | $5.00 | $30.00 | 60.0% |
| Etsy | $5.20 | $29.80 | 59.6% |
| Whatnot (Standard) | $5.75 | $29.25 | 58.5% |
| StockX (Level 1)* | $11.50 | $28.50 | 57.0% |
| eBay | $7.20 | $27.80 | 55.6% |
| Poshmark | $10.00 | $25.00 | 50.0% |
*StockX profit here is payout minus item cost only, because its $5 shipping fee is already inside the $11.50 — the same convention as the StockX vs eBay comparison. Even Poshmark, the most expensive here, still delivers a 50% margin on this example — which shows that sourcing cost matters more than platform choice. A $25 item sold for $50 on Depop earns only 35.8% margin ($47.90 kept, minus $25 cost and $5 shipping = $17.90 profit), worse than a $10 item on Poshmark.
Margin targets by what you sell
- Thrifted clothing and vintage (50–70%): low sourcing cost is the whole game. A $4 thrift find sold for $40 on Depop can clear 70% even after fees and shipping.
- Sneakers (20–35%): competitive, authenticated, and price-transparent. Sneaker resellers make money on volume and speed, not margin — a 25% margin on a $200 pair is still $50.
- Electronics (25–40%): higher prices, but testing, returns and defects eat margin. Never skip the return-cost math — see the return cost calculator.
- Furniture, local pickup (60%+): no shipping, no marketplace fee on local sales. The margin killer here is your time and transport, not fees — see where to sell furniture locally (coming with the Phase 2 guides).
- Trading cards (variable): grading, condition and hype swings dominate. A raw card flipped fast can be 30%; a graded hold can be 200% — or a loss. See best place to sell trading cards (coming with the Phase 2 guides).
What quietly eats your margin
- Returns. On eBay, a returned sale usually costs you both directions of shipping plus the time to relist. One return in ten at $10 shipping each wipes about 2 points off your average margin.
- Ads and boosts. Etsy’s Offsite Ads (12–15%) can cut a 60% margin to 45%. Depop Boosted and eBay Promoted do the same. Only pay for promotion on items that are not moving on their own.
- Your time. A $5 profit that took two hours to photograph, list, pack and ship is a $2.50/hour job. Margin per hour matters more than margin per item once you are sourcing at volume.
- Fees on shipping. If you charge the buyer $10 for shipping, eBay takes $1.36 of it. Price shipping honestly — see how much to charge for shipping (coming with the Phase 2 guides).
How to raise your margin without raising prices
- Source cheaper, not dearer. A $2 cheaper buy beats a $2 higher price every time — the price increase also raises your fee.
- Bundle slow items. One fee, one shipment, one listing for three items — the bundle profit calculator shows the per-item result.
- List where the fee is lowest for that item. Clothes on Depop, sneakers on StockX or eBay, local items on Facebook Marketplace — check the lowest fee marketplace ranking before you list.
- Track every sale. Sellers who do not track costs think they earn 60% and actually earn 35%. See how to track reseller inventory and profit (coming with the Phase 2 guides).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good profit margin for reselling?
40–60% after marketplace fees and shipping is good for most resellers. Below 30% is thin; above 70% is excellent but unusual outside thrifted or local finds.
Is 30% margin good for reselling?
It is workable on high-volume, low-effort items (like sneakers), but thin for anything with returns or slow turnover. One return in ten can erase it.
How do I calculate my reselling margin?
Margin = (sale price − fees − item cost − shipping) ÷ sale price. Use the margin calculator or the reseller profit calculator for the full breakdown.
What margin do I need to cover taxes?
That depends on your tax situation — this guide is not tax advice. As a rule of thumb, resellers who set aside 20–30% of profit for taxes find a 50%+ gross margin comfortable. See reseller taxes and the 1099-K explained (coming with the Phase 2 guides).
Does a higher price always mean a better margin?
No — fees scale with price, and higher prices sell slower. The best margin comes from the lowest cost base at a price the market actually pays, on the cheapest platform for that item.
Related tools & resources
- Margin calculator — margin, markup and ROI in one place
- Reseller profit calculator — full profit breakdown
- How to price items to make a profit — the fee-proof formula
- Lowest fee marketplace — ranked by what you keep
- All-platform fee comparator — rank 9 marketplaces on your sale
Estimate only — not tax or business advice. Fees checked October 2026. Platform names are trademarks of their owners. We are not affiliated with any marketplace listed here.