eBay knows what the buyer paid and every fee it charged. It does not know what you paid for the item. That one number — the cost of goods — decides whether an order made money, and it is the one most sellers track least.
What counts as cost of goods
The cost of goods for an order is what you paid to have that item to sell: the supplier's price for the units in it, plus anything paid to get them to you that you would not have paid otherwise. Postage to the buyer, packaging and eBay's fees are costs of the sale, not of the goods — keep them on separate lines so each can be watched on its own.
Three ways to record it
| Method | Suits | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Per order | Sellers whose supplier ships direct, or who buy each item after it sells | Enter what you paid for that order's items when you buy them. |
| Per stock batch | Sellers who buy stock in advance | Record each purchase — units and price — and each sale draws its cost from the oldest batch still holding stock (first in, first out). |
| Per product | A quick estimate | One standard cost per product. Simple, but wrong as soon as the supplier's price moves. |
Per order or per batch is what gives a true profit. A standard cost hides the moment a supplier puts their price up, which is exactly when you need to reprice.
Keep the history
When you correct a buying price, keep the old one rather than overwriting it. The history is how you notice a supplier creeping up, and how you can explain a month's profit after the fact.
Returns and supplier refunds
- A resaleable return goes back into stock at what it is worth now — rarely its original cost — and that value is credited back to the order that was refunded.
- A damaged return is written off: its cost stays on the order as a loss.
- A supplier refund — when your supplier refunds you for a faulty or undelivered item — reduces the cost of that order. Chase them: an unclaimed supplier refund is profit left on the table.
Orders without a cost are not zero-cost orders
An order with no buying price recorded has not made 100% profit; its cost is unknown. Leave it out of profit until it has one, rather than letting it flatter the month.
Open the eBay profit calculator Free, no sign-up — US and UK fees.
Baiord makes the buying price the only thing you type: per order with suggestions from your last price, in bulk for a backlog, or once per restock with stock batches that cost orders automatically, oldest stock first. Orders without a cost are held out of profit until they have one. Entering a buying price.