Where to Sell Used Electronics in 2026: eBay, Mercari, Facebook or Swappa?

Profitvana Editorial Team · Updated November 9, 2026

Used electronics are high-value, easy to ship and the category with the worst return and fraud problems, so the right venue is the one whose protection you trust, not just the cheapest. eBay charges 9% in consumer electronics rather than its usual 13.6%; Mercari charges 10%; Facebook Marketplace is free locally and 10% shipped. On a $350 phone the fee gap between the paid options is only a few dollars; the gap in what happens when the buyer claims the item was not as described is much larger.

What you receive on each platform: $350 phone, buyer pays $15 shipping, insured label costs you $12

Computed from each platform’s verified fee schedule in our registry, on the same sale, ranked by what lands in your account after fees and the label. Costs the schedule does not carry (optional promotion, returns, your time) are in the notes and the text below.

#	Platform	Fees	Label you pay	You receive	Schedule used
1	Facebook Marketplace Local pickup, cash: no fee, no protection either way	$0.000% of price	$12.00	$353.00	no platform fee
2	Depop 3.3% + $0.45; small electronics audience	$12.503.6% of price	$12.00	$340.51	3.3% + $0.45
3	eBay 9% consumer-electronics rate + $0.40; charged on shipping and sales tax too	$33.259.5% of price	$12.00	$319.75	Final value fee (9.00%) + Per-order fee
4	Mercari 10% on item + shipping; buyer rates within 3 days	$36.5010.4% of price	$12.00	$316.50	10%
5	Facebook Marketplace 10% with checkout and shipping	$36.5010.4% of price	$12.00	$316.50	10%

eBay's electronics rate is the number most guides miss

Most fee articles quote eBay at 13.6%. For consumer electronics the final value fee is 9% plus the $0.40 per-order fee, charged on the total including shipping and the buyer's sales tax. On a $350 phone with $15 shipping that is about $33, within a few dollars of Mercari's 10% on item plus shipping. eBay's advantages are the audience for exactly this category, the ability to set a reserve or run an auction for a rare item, and a seller-protection record that, for electronics, favours sellers who ship signature-required with tracking and photograph serial numbers.

Mercari and Facebook: simpler, cheaper, less cover

Mercari's 10% is flat, there is no listing fee, and the buyer must rate within three days of delivery or funds release automatically. For a working mid-range phone it is often the fastest sale. Its downside for electronics is thin dispute handling: a 'not as described' claim on a $350 device is decided on photos, and sellers without their own unboxing-style evidence lose.

Facebook Marketplace has two modes. Local pickup for cash carries no fee and no platform protection in either direction; it is the best route for laptops and TVs that are awkward to ship and for anything a buyer wants to test first. Shipped sales with checkout cost 10% with a $0.80 minimum and go through Meta's purchase protection, which for electronics means tracking and a serial-number photo are the minimum evidence to keep.

Platforms we do not model here

Swappa (a flat buyer-paid fee plus PayPal processing on the seller) and Back Market (professional refurbishers only) are electronics-specific venues we do not yet track in the registry. Amazon's Renewed programme requires approval and invoices, and is not a route for a single personal device. Trade-in programmes from carriers and manufacturers pay less than any marketplace but carry no risk at all.

Verdict

Phone, tablet or camera worth $200+: eBay at the 9% electronics rate, shipped with tracking and signature; the audience and the protection record justify the few extra dollars over Mercari.
Laptop, monitor, TV or anything heavy: Facebook Marketplace local pickup, cash, no fee; let the buyer test it.
Low-value accessories and working older devices: Mercari for speed.

Frequently asked questions

Does eBay really charge only 9% on electronics?

Yes, for the consumer-electronics categories: 9% of the total the buyer pays (item, shipping and sales tax) plus $0.40 per order, instead of the 13.6% standard rate. Cell-phone accessories and some sub-categories are at the standard rate; check the category when listing.

Who pays when a buyer claims a used phone was faulty?

On eBay and Mercari the platform decides from evidence and usually refunds the buyer unless the seller can show the item's condition and serial number at dispatch; on a Facebook local cash sale, nobody arbitrates. Photograph the serial number and the screen on, and ship with signature confirmation.

How this page is computed

The table runs one realistic basket for this category through the fee schedule of each platform as held in our registry, where every schedule carries the official page it was read from and the date it was last checked; category-specific rates (eBay’s sneakers, electronics, clothing, books and guitars rates, StockX and Whatnot tiers, Grailed’s price bands) are applied where they change the result. Platforms not yet in the registry are discussed but not ranked. Rates move: the change log records each change and this table recomputes with it.