You can make money reselling sneakers only when the sale price clears the retail price plus fees, shipping and tax. As of 7 October 2026, StockX takes 12% of a Level 1 sale on our calculation and eBay takes 8% on athletic shoes sold at $150 or more, according to their fee pages.
According to Resell Calendar as reported by Newsweek on 7 December 2025, 47% of sneakers traded above retail in 2024, so 53% did not (100 minus 47).
- 12% of the sale price on our calculation: StockX takes a 3% payment processing fee plus a 9% transaction fee from a Level 1 seller on its Verified Marketplace, and says the transaction fee is calculated on the final sale price. Its page does not say what the 3% is applied to, so we applied it to the sale price too, according to StockX’s seller fee page.
- 8% of the sale: eBay’s fee on athletic shoes sold at $150 or more, with no per-order fee, according to eBay’s selling fees page.
- 47%: the share of sneakers trading above retail on secondary platforms in 2024, down from 58% in 2020, according to Resell Calendar as reported by Newsweek on 7 December 2025.
- Over $20,000 and 200 transactions: the level above which online marketplaces must send a Form 1099-K, according to the IRS, which also says gains from sales must be reported whether or not the form arrives.
How does sneaker and collectible resale work?
Resale is buying an item at its retail price and selling it to someone else at a different price, usually on a marketplace that handles payment and shipping. The difference between the two prices is the price gap, and it is the one number the whole activity turns on.
The price gap is not what the seller keeps. Marketplace fees, payout fees, the shipping label, sales tax and the cost of however the item was bought all come out of it, and a gap can be zero or negative on the day the item sells.
How much do StockX and eBay take from a sneaker sale?
StockX and eBay are two marketplaces with published seller fees, as of 7 October 2026, and they charge in different ways. StockX takes a 3% payment processing fee plus a transaction fee set by Seller Level, from 9% at Level 1 down to 7% at Level 5, with a $5 minimum in the US, according to its fee page.
eBay charges one final value fee and no separate payment processing fee. The table shows what each charges a US seller, and StockX lists different minimums in other regions.
At launch, according to the same StockX page, StockX does not charge sellers standard selling or processing fees on its Listings Marketplace or on StockX Live, which are open to select sellers for now, and penalty or return-related fees can still apply. Those sales are not verified by StockX in the same way.
| Marketplace and item | What the seller pays | Source |
|---|---|---|
| StockX, Verified Marketplace | 3% processing plus 9% (Level 1), 8.5%, 8%, 7.5% or 7% (Level 5); $5 minimum in the US | StockX seller fee page |
| StockX, payout | Debit card 2% (minimum $1.95, maximum $9.95); bank transfer about $2; PayPal, Venmo and StockX Balance no StockX fee | StockX payout fee page |
| eBay, athletic shoes | 8% of the total sale at $150 or more with no per-order fee; 13.6% below $150, plus the per-order fee | eBay selling fees page |
| eBay, collectible card games (one example) | 13.25% of the total sale up to $7,500, plus $0.40 per order over $10 | eBay selling fees page |
Other collectible categories on eBay have other rates, so check the category page. We have only quoted pages we could read. GOAT, Vinted and Depop have their own fees, so check their pages, and read the current page of whichever marketplace you use before pricing anything. Our list of sites like StockX covers more places to sell.
Is StockX or eBay cheaper for selling sneakers?
On fees alone, eBay is cheaper for a pair that sells for $150 or more: its 8% is below StockX’s 12% at Level 1 on our calculation, and below the 10% a Level 5 seller pays (3% plus 7%). Below $150 the order reverses: eBay’s 13.6% plus its per-order fee comes to more than StockX’s 12% for any sale over $50, which is our arithmetic from the table above.
That comparison covers fees only. Payout fees (see the table above), the extra eBay charges on shipping and sales tax, and who verifies the pair differ too, and the sections below cover the last two. The worked example runs the same three sales through both.
What does a worked example look like after fees?
This example comes from our Nike drop scenario guide, where our writer checked out three pairs on 19 March 2026. According to the guide, the purchase prices were $140 for each of two Fragment x Nike Book 2 pairs and $145 for one Nike Mind 002 Black. Some outlets list the Book 2 at $150, for example Nice Kicks on 17 March 2026, and Sneaker Bar Detroit on 18 March 2026 lists the Mind 002 at $145.
The resale prices stated in the guide, $240 for each Book 2 and $220 for the Mind, are not a market average, and we found no public page that confirms them.
| Line | StockX Level 1 (3% + 9%, both on the sale price) | eBay (8%) |
|---|---|---|
| Three resale prices: $240 + $240 + $220 | $700.00 | $700.00 |
| Fees on the three sales | $84.00 | $56.00 |
| Left after fees | $616.00 | $644.00 |
| Cost of the three pairs: $140 + $140 + $145 | $425.00 | $425.00 |
| Left after fees and cost | $191.00 | $219.00 |
Before fees the gap was $700 minus $425, which is $275. Fees took $84.00 or $56.00 of it, which is 31% or 20% (we worked out 84 ÷ 275 and 56 ÷ 275), and shipping labels, sales tax and the cost of running a bot, proxies and accounts come off what is left. Market prices move and are shown for reference, not as a promise.
We applied 8% to the item price only. eBay charges its fee on the total amount of the sale, which includes sales tax and shipping collected from the buyer (eBay lists exceptions, for example no fee on shipping for sneakers sold through its Authenticity Guarantee), so the real fee can be higher.
What does a pair have to sell for to break even?
Break-even is the sale price at which a seller gets back exactly what the pair cost, after the marketplace fee and before shipping, tax and payout fees. We worked it out by dividing the retail price by what is left of each dollar after fees: 0.88 on StockX at Level 1 and 0.92 on eBay for a sale of $150 or more.
We applied 8% to the item price only. eBay charges its fee on the total amount of the sale, which includes sales tax and shipping collected from the buyer (eBay lists exceptions, for example no fee on shipping for sneakers sold through its Authenticity Guarantee), so the real fee can be higher.
| Pair | Retail price | Break-even on StockX Level 1 | Break-even on eBay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nike Mind 002 | $145 | $164.77 | $157.61 |
| Air Jordan 1 High ‘Royal’ | $185 | $210.23 | $201.09 |
| Brain Dead x Adidas Bowling | $250 | $284.09 | $271.74 |
The retail prices come from Sneaker Bar Detroit for the Mind 002 and from Complex’s release guide of 6 October 2026 for the other two.
A pair that sells below its break-even figure leaves the seller out of pocket before shipping is counted. The next section looks at how often pairs sell below retail.
How often does a pair sell above retail?
The figures show fewer pairs selling above retail, not an empty market. According to Resell Calendar as reported by Newsweek on 7 December 2025, 58% of sneakers traded above retail on secondary platforms in 2020 and 47% did in 2024, a fall of 11 percentage points (58 minus 47). For what is selling now, see why sneaker resale isn’t dead.
The other side of that number is the risk. According to those figures, 53% traded at or below retail in 2024 (100 minus 47), and a pair that sells at or below its retail price cannot cover its fees. A seller who has not worked out the break-even price in advance is guessing which side of the line a pair will land on.
Do you pay tax on reselling sneakers?
A gain from selling goods has to be reported on a US tax return whether or not a Form 1099-K arrives, according to the IRS. An online marketplace must send that form when a seller’s payments for goods total over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, and the IRS page has the current thresholds.
Retailers set their own rules too. Nike’s US terms of sale, revised December 2025, say purchase for resale is “strictly prohibited” and list orders placed with automated ordering software among the reasons it may cancel an order. Our article on whether sneaker bots are legal covers the law, which is a separate question from a retailer’s terms.
Who checks that a pair or piece is real?
On StockX, authentication happens before the buyer gets the item: according to its verification page, new, unworn items are inspected at a StockX Verification Center or ship directly from a StockX Verified Seller. If an item fails, StockX says it will in most cases return it to the seller, but it has no obligation to return counterfeits or items that are not new and unworn, are the wrong size or lack the original box.
eBay’s fee page mentions an Authenticity Guarantee for some sneaker sales, but it does not say what is checked or which listings qualify, so read eBay’s own Authenticity Guarantee page before relying on it.
For collectibles, our guide to spotting a fake Labubu shows what to look for before buying or selling. Orders on StockX Live are, as of 7 October 2026, not eligible for StockX verification, according to the same page, and buyers on its Listings Marketplace may choose to send eligible purchases in, so the check depends on where the sale happens.
How much money do you need to start reselling sneakers?
A first purchase costs the retail price of one item, for example $145 for the Nike Mind 002 according to Sneaker Bar Detroit, and on StockX at Level 1 it has to sell for $164.77 to get that money back before shipping and tax.
For a fuller costs breakdown see how to become a sneaker reseller. A beginner’s first step is to work out the break-even price for one item before buying it, using the current fee page of the marketplace in question.
- Start with one item rather than a bulk order, because the first sale shows how fees, shipping and payout work in practice.
- Pick one marketplace and read its current fee page.
- Divide the retail price by what is left of each dollar after fees, as in the table above.
- Read the retailer’s terms of sale before buying, and keep the order confirmation.
- Record every sale price, fee, shipping label and tax amount, since the IRS tells sellers to use Form 1099-K together with other records.
- Compare your plan with our guide to where and how to resell sneakers, where to sell collectibles and how to become a sneaker reseller.
Where does NikeShoeBot fit in?
NikeShoeBot is a checkout bot for sneakers, retail drops and collectibles that runs on your own computer, on Mac and Windows. NSB Go is its phone app for controlling and fully managing the bot from anywhere. A bot changes how an item is bought, not what it sells for, so the fees, taxes and price gap above apply either way.
If you want to see what a checkout bot does with this, NikeShoeBot’s guides walk through it retailer by retailer, our explainer covers what a sneaker bot is, and the NikeShoeBot product page describes the bot itself. The bot does not replace the work above: pick a marketplace, check the terms of sale and keep your records.
Does eBay take a cut of shipping and sales tax too?
In most cases. eBay says the total amount of the sale includes the item price, any handling charges, any shipping costs collected from the buyer (some exceptions apply), sales tax and any other applicable fees, and the final value fee is a percentage of that total.
Is there a fee to list an item on eBay?
In most categories, according to eBay’s selling fees page, the first 250 listings a month are free and each one after that costs $0.35. For athletic shoes listed at $150 or more, the insertion fee is free.
