eBay payouts reconciled: reports for business sellers

As a business seller on eBay.de, your sales proceeds reach your bank account automatically, but rarely in the amount you expect from your sales. eBay deducts fees and selling costs before an amount becomes available for payout, holds some payments back and transfers according to your payout schedule. This guide shows how you trace a payout back to sales, fees and refunds. It applies to business sellers based in Germany. The fee rates themselves are in the guide to eBay fees for business sellers.

How eBay processes payments for business sellers

Buyers pay eBay, not you directly. According to its own help pages, eBay manages the entire payment process, credits the sales proceeds to your eBay payments account and transfers them from there to your bank account. eBay deducts selling fees and other costs automatically before the proceeds appear in the payments account. According to eBay's help on payouts, the path from a sale to a payout looks like this:

1. Processing: the buyer has paid and you can ship.
2. Available for payout: usually within 2 days of payment confirmation, unless eBay temporarily holds the payment.
3. Payout: according to your payout schedule or on demand, eBay transfers the amount to your bank account.
4. Arrival in your bank account: when the money arrives also depends on your bank. The payout's bank reference number helps you match it.

Fees that are not tied to a single sale are deducted by eBay at their own points in time, according to the help on the calculation of fees and selling costs: listing fees when you list, monthly fees such as the shop subscription at the start of the month, ad fees as they are incurred. If the available and processing amounts are not enough, eBay attempts to charge the payment method on file. For reconciliation this means: not every fee necessarily reduces a payout.

A note on the eBay balance for private sellers

Many search results for "eBay payout" concern the eBay balance (eBay-Guthaben). There, sales proceeds stay in the eBay account until the seller uses them or withdraws them. eBay describes this procedure for private sellers. According to eBay, business sellers receive their payouts automatically to the bank account on file. Private sales are not the subject of this guide.

Payout schedule: when eBay transfers

With a weekly, fortnightly or monthly schedule you can additionally withdraw available amounts on demand. If a scheduled payout falls on a public holiday, eBay sends it on the next available payout day. Each payout has a unique payout ID; the payout details in Seller Hub also show a bank reference number. These numbers link the credit on your bank account to the payout at eBay.

For reconciliation the schedule makes a difference: daily payouts generate many small transfers, a weekly payout combines the amounts of seven days. If you sell in a currency other than your payout currency, eBay converts. eBay fixes the exchange rate at the time of the sale, and it also applies to a later refund. For sellers with an address in Germany, eBay states a currency conversion fee of 3%.

Held amounts: why a payment is missing

If a sale is missing from the payout, it may be on hold. According to the help on payment holds, eBay distinguishes three types:

• Transaction level: for a specific sale, for example with high-priced items (up to 31 days), unusual selling patterns or a sharp increase in order volume. New or occasional business sellers usually receive their amounts within 31 days.
• Disputes and eBay Money Back Guarantee (eBay-Käuferschutz): with a return request, a case for an item not received or not as described, a chargeback or a returned direct debit, until the case is resolved.
• Account level: with discrepancies in registration details, for compliance reasons, with problems in service status or if eBay cannot collect fees via the payment method on file.

According to eBay, holds are usually lifted within 30 days. Tracking helps, because eBay uses it to check delivery. eBay can use held amounts for a refund to the buyer of the same transaction. In the Payments tab (Tab Zahlungen) you see the reason and, where possible, an estimated release date. For reconciliation this means: a held sale is missing from this week's payout and appears in a later one once eBay releases it.

Transaction report, Payout report and Statement

In the Payments tab in Seller Hub you find the areas Summary, All transactions, Payouts, and Reports and taxes. Under All transactions you find sales, refunds, cases, disputes, payment holds, shipping labels, transfers and payouts.

According to the help on reconciling your sales transactions, the transaction amount is the total payment for a transaction before fees and credits, and the net amount is the total payment after them. The transaction report only goes back 90 days; eBay recommends downloading it every quarter. eBay lets you know by email at the start of the month when the statement is ready.

Purchases with several items

For a purchase with several items, the transaction report shows the purchase details in the first row and the listing details in the following rows. So check which rows carry amounts before you total a column.

Bringing together sale, fees, refund and payout

1. Choose a payout: note the amount and payout ID from the Payouts view and match them with the credit on your bank account.
2. Assign transactions: in the transaction report, select the rows with this payout number.
3. Separate by type: sales, refunds, shipping labels, fees without a sale such as shop subscription, listings and ads, and credits.
4. Check the total: compare the net amounts of the assigned transactions with the payout. If a difference remains, look for transactions that eBay assigned to another payout and for fees that were charged to your payment method.
5. Re-sort for the item-level calculation: assign sales and refunds by order number, not by payout. Otherwise a refund ends up in the week it was booked instead of with the item it relates to.

Example: checking a weekly payout

The following example is fictitious and contains no customer data. A business seller with a Top-Shop and a weekly payout schedule sells a new item from the eBay.de category Möbel & Wohnen (furniture and home). The buyer pays EUR 59.50 including 19% VAT, with no separately charged shipping. The commission rate (eBay's final value fee) is 14% plus a fixed EUR 0.45 per order. This is the same order as in example 1 of the eBay fees guide, there with net fees.

For the payout, the booked amounts count. The fee table states the rates without VAT, but according to eBay's help on VAT on fees, fees for users based in Germany include German VAT. At 19%, the fixed fee of EUR 0.45 becomes EUR 0.54. The example therefore calculates every fee type with VAT and rounds to the cent. Whether you can deduct the VAT on fees as input tax is something to clarify with your tax adviser.

Further assumptions: during the week, buyers pay for seven orders. One of them is held because of an open case, the other six become available for payout. One order from the previous month is fully refunded; eBay credits the variable commission but not the fixed part. The shop subscription is deducted in this week.

The fees per sale

From the week's sales to the payout

Of EUR 416.50 in buyer payments, EUR 127.46 arrives this week. The difference of EUR 289.04 consists of EUR 59.50 for the held sale, which eBay pays out once the case is resolved or uses for a refund, EUR 62.70 commission, EUR 49.59 refund after credit, EUR 22.11 ads and shipping labels, and EUR 95.14 shop subscription. Without the shop subscription the payout would be EUR 222.60. That is why a weekly payout fluctuates more than revenue does.

The EUR 127.46 is neither revenue nor profit. It still contains the VAT from the sales, and purchase price and shipping costs outside eBay are missing. What a single item contributes after these costs is worked through in the eBay fees guide down to the contribution margin.

Typical differences and where to find them

According to the help on fee credits, eBay usually adds fee credits to the available payouts; the details are in the statement. When a credit is due is explained in the section Returns and fee credits of the fees guide, and the ad types in the section Ads.

Check the payout, analyse the contribution margin

The payout shows when which money arrives in your account. For decisions on pricing, range and advertising you need a different calculation: what an item contributes after fees, refunds and your own costs.

profitkonsole for eBay takes fee items from your eBay settlement data for this, broken down by fee type. For refunds it uses the credits booked by eBay, including for the fixed fee where eBay actually refunds it. Shop subscription and listing fees run as account costs. Sale-based ad fees are assigned to the item; costs of click-based campaigns come daily from your campaign reports and flow into the channel result. Purchase prices, your own shipping costs and additional expenses you enter yourself. Fees and credits can arrive with a delay; the analysis is updated when new bookings are available. You authorise access in your eBay account and can withdraw it there at any time.

A positive contribution margin is not yet company profit, because running costs also have to be covered. For your bookkeeping, the eBay statement remains authoritative.

Frequently asked questions

When does eBay pay out to business sellers?

Daily by default, to the bank account on file. You can switch to weekly, fortnightly or monthly. A sale usually becomes available for payout within 2 days of payment confirmation. When the transfer arrives in your account also depends on your bank.

Why is my eBay payout lower than my sales?

Because eBay deducts commission, the fixed fee, ad fees, shipping labels and monthly fees such as the shop subscription, offsets refunds and can hold individual payments. The example above shows how the difference is made up.

Where do I find the eBay payout report?

In Seller Hub under Payments, in the Reports and taxes area. The transaction report, invoices and the statement are there too. You see the individual payouts with their transactions in the Payouts area.

Why does eBay hold a payment?

For example with an open case, a chargeback, high-priced items, a sharp increase in order volume, or for new and occasional sellers. According to eBay, holds are usually lifted within 30 days.

How far back does the eBay transaction report go?

90 days. eBay recommends downloading it every quarter. The monthly statement is also available as a PDF.

Does the eBay balance also apply to business sellers?

eBay describes the eBay balance for private sellers. According to eBay, business sellers receive their payouts automatically to the bank account on file.

Conclusion: reconciling an eBay payout in three steps

1. Choose the payout and payout ID and pull the associated transactions from the transaction report.
2. Separate the transactions by type and explain missing sales via the status "On hold".
3. Check fees against the rates in the fees guide and take the VAT on fees into account.

Do you also sell on Amazon? There, Amazon holds proceeds until 7 days after delivery, see Reconciling Amazon payouts and settlements.