Reselling time
Reselling hourly rate calculator.
Most sellers count only the time spent packing a box. This adds every task, from the sourcing trip to the return, and divides weekly profit by all of it.
Enter minutes per task and weekly volume. Hours = sourcing + (photo + list time × items listed) + (pack + message time × items sold) + (return time × returns). Hourly rate = weekly profit ÷ those hours. The default example is an illustration; results vary with how fast you actually work.
Worked example
A seller sources and lists 30 items a week and 50% of them sell, so 15 sales. Time: 5 hours sourcing, 30 × (4 + 6) minutes = 5 hours of cleaning, photographing and listing, 15 × 8 minutes = 2 hours packing, 15 × 3 minutes = 0.75 hours of messages, and 0.75 returns at 20 minutes = 0.25 hours. That is 13 hours. Profit per sale is $16.74 before driving, so $251.03 less 30 miles at 76 cents ($22.80) is a weekly profit of $228.23, and the hourly rate is that divided by 13: $17.56 an hour. The calculator shows the exact figure and the profit per sale you would need to reach the hourly rate you compare against.
How the model works
Methodology. Items sold = items sourced × the sell-through you enter (a simplification that treats a week’s listings as selling in the same week). Returns = sold × return rate. Profit per sale uses the same formula as the income calculator: price less fee, order fee, shipping, supplies, cost and expected return cost. The profit needed per sale = (target hourly × total hours + mileage cost) ÷ items sold.
If you are comparing reselling with a job, the real hourly wage calculator shows the same idea for paid work. Time is the cost this page exists to make visible: a $5 profit per sale is a different business at 10 minutes per sale than at 40.
Reading the result
Sourcing is often the biggest block and the hardest to estimate, so measure it for a few weeks before trusting the output. Listing time per item is the most reducible: batching photos and reusing templates changes the inputs, not the formula. Higher-priced items spread the same minutes over more profit, which is why the hourly rate rises with price in the income calculator’s sensitivity table on the explainer page.
How to use it well
Time yourself for two weeks with a simple stopwatch note on your phone, one line per task, then enter the averages. People usually underestimate sourcing and messages and overestimate how fast they list. Run the calculator twice: once with your current minutes and once with the minutes you hope to reach, and see whether the improvement is worth chasing compared with raising prices or lowering cost per item. If the hourly rate is below the target you set, the last line shows the profit per sale that would close the gap at your current volume, which is a concrete number to test against your inventory.
What this tool does not cover
- Waiting time and unsold-stock costs, covered by the hold or markdown calculator.
- Unpaid time that does not scale with items, such as bookkeeping, learning a category or cleaning your workspace, unless you add it as sourcing hours.
- Taxes and benefits you would get from an employer; see the self-employment tax calculator. General information, not tax advice.
- Variation between items. Averages stand in for a mixed inventory.
Sources (retrieved October 2026)
- eBay fee tables: final value fee percentage and per-order fee used as the default inputs. Retrieved October 2026. Rates differ by category and change, so check the page for your category.
- IRS standard mileage rates: the business rate used as the default mileage input. Retrieved October 2026. You can enter any rate.
Every other number on this page is an input you type or an assumption labelled as an example. Results vary, and nothing here is an income claim.
FAQ
What is a good hourly rate for reselling?
There is no universal answer. Compare your computed rate with your alternatives, such as your state minimum wage or another job, using the target field on this page.
What counts as reselling hours?
Everything you do for the business: sourcing trips and browsing, cleaning, photographing and listing, packing and shipping, buyer messages and returns.
Why does sourcing time matter so much?
It is paid for every item you list, whether or not it sells, so a low sell-through multiplies it across the items that earn nothing.
How do I get a higher hourly rate?
The levers in the formula are profit per sale, sell-through and minutes per task. Change one input and watch the result; the page does not claim that any change will work for you.
Does this include driving?
Yes. Enter weekly miles and a rate per mile. The default rate is the IRS business mileage rate and you can replace it.
Estimate only
These pages are arithmetic on the numbers you enter. They do not predict what you will earn, and results vary widely with sourcing skill, category, season, platform rules and luck. This is not a promise of income. Fee defaults were read from eBay’s own pages in October 2026 and change. Not tax, legal or financial advice; see the IRS pages cited for your tax position.