eBay has announced a big change to its selling fees from today (April 8) in an effort to keep pre-loved clothes out of landfill.

From Monday, the online marketplace has dropped fees for individuals to sell pre-owned clothing.

This means it is free to sell all second-hand clothing, including brand-new items with tags on that have never been worn.

But seller fees will still apply to trainers, watches, handbags and jewellery.

Existing individual fashion listings will also benefit from free selling, even if they were listed before April 8.

Why has eBay dropped selling fees for second-hand clothes?

It comes as a survey for eBay conducted in March found that 70% of Britons wear half or less than half of their wardrobe on a day-to-day basis, while 92% of consumers have more than one item of clothing they have not worn in the last 12 months.

However, just 25% sell their unwanted clothes, with the average consumer holding on to more than £400 worth of clothing that they do not wear, the poll suggests.

eBay said encouraging more people to buy and sell pre-owned clothing was essential for creating a circular economy for fashion.

It claims that it saved more than 1,600,000kg of waste going to landfill through sales of second-hand clothing last year.

News Shopper: Do you sell a lot of second-hand clothes on eBay?Do you sell a lot of second-hand clothes on eBay? (Image: Tim Goode/PA)

Kirsty Keoghan, general manager of global fashion for eBay, said: “Free fashion selling has come at the right time for a nation sitting on billions of pounds worth of unwanted clothes.

“We know selling clothes can sometimes feel like a chore, so free selling and new updates like new AI-powered listings will help more of us to sell clothes easily, putting more cash in pockets.

“By encouraging more people to buy and sell pre-loved clothing, we’ll keep more clothes out of landfill as we collectively enable a circular economy for fashion.”

How much are eBay selling fees in the UK?

eBay explains private sellers can list for free but after you've used your monthly allocation of 1,000 free listings (or more if you have an eBay Shop), "you'll be charged 35p for each new listing created".

You also pay one final value fee for items you sell on eBay.

The online marketplace adds: "The final value fee is calculated as 12.8% of the total amount of the sale (which includes the item price, postage, taxes and any other applicable fees), plus a fixed charge of 30p per order. If the total amount of the sale is over £5,000 for a single item, you'll pay 3% for the portion of the sale price above £5,000."

Sellers should also be aware that "your final value fees are automatically deducted from your sales proceeds and the rest paid out to your bank account" - find out more here.

More changes for eBay include AI-generated item descriptions being made available to all UK sellers.

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The new feature suggests “attention-grabbing” item descriptions, cutting down the time it takes to list an item.

Meanwhile, eBay Live, an interactive livestream shopping experience, will be piloted in the UK with select sellers in the coming weeks.

The feature allows users to attend live auctions, shop for exclusive deals and buy in real-time.

It has been successful in the US since launching in 2022.