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Selling to benefit nonprofits: eBay Giving Works

eBay Giving Works is the program that facilitates nonprofit listings on eBay, and is administered by the licensed nonprofit organization, MissionFish. Any eBay seller who has a current account in good standing can create an eBay Giving Works listing.

There are two types of sellers:

  • eBay Community Seller: Individual eBay sellers who want to donate 10% to 100% (5% for eBay Motors vehicle sales) of their final sale price to a certified nonprofit.  Learn about eBay Community Selling.

  • Nonprofit Direct Seller: Certified nonprofits can sell their own items on eBay and collect 100% of their final sale price. Nonprofit Direct Sellers create their eBay Giving Works listings with the same selling forms as a Community Seller. Learn more about Nonprofit Direct Selling.

Important: Nonprofit Direct Sellers must register with MissionFish before completing their listing.

Things to know before you list

eBay Giving Works has certain restricted categories

You cannot create eBay Giving Works listings in the Real Estate Classified Ads format or Adult Only categories, or offer items like raffle or lottery tickets. For a complete listing, please go to Restricted Items and Services.

Note: Because charitable fundraising is a highly regulated area, eBay has created a charity listing policy with very specific guidelines for allowing charitable activity.

The nonprofit you select must agree to be the benefiting organization for your listing. Because their logo will appear in your listing, they are able to control this implicit endorsement of you as a seller and your products. 

The nonprofit will ask eBay to cancel your listing if they do not want to be associated with it. If this happens, your insertion fee is credited back and you receive a brief explanation of why the listing was canceled. You may relist this item for another nonprofit, or list it outside of the eBay Giving Works program.

Paying and receiving credit for eBay fees

Sellers pay standard eBay fees for eBay Giving Works listings. To support your generosity, eBay gives a pro-rated fee credit to sellers who make a donation from an eBay Giving Works listing.

Note: MissionFish retains a small portion of each donation to offset some costs of their administration services.

Your minimum donation amount

If your eBay Giving Works item sells, you are required to donate either the percentage of the final sale price that you selected, or a $1 minimum donation, whichever is greater. The minimum donation ensures that the nonprofit you selected receives a meaningful gift. 

Note: The donation minimum may be different on other eBay (international) sites.

If you list for a foreign nonprofit on an international eBay site, your donation payment method must be PayPal, Visa, or MasterCard . This allows the nonprofit to receive your donation in their local currency. Some charges may apply to international transactions.

Ways to create an eBay Giving Works listing

Including Giving Works in your auction-style or fixed-price listing

Note: The "Keep it simple" form doesn't include the eBay Giving Works option.

As you create your listing in the "form with more options":

  1. In the "Create your listing" form, "Choose how you'd like to sell your item."

  2. Click Add or Remove Options.

  3. Under "Donate percentage of sale," choose "Give a percentage of the final sale price to a non-profit organization" and follow the instructions from there.

  4. Learn more about finding a nonprofit. Note: Didn't see the nonprofit of your choice? Learn how to invite a nonprofit to benefit from eBay Giving Works.

  5. Select the percentage of your final sale price that you would like to donate -- from 10% to 100% (5% for Motors) -- from the provided drop-down list. There is a $5 required minimum donation when the item sells.

  6. When you list your first eBay Giving Works item, read and agree to the eBay Giving Works Terms and Conditions. This authorizes the use of your automatic payment method for paying eBay fees as your donation payment method. You may also change your donation payment method at any later time. Note: If you have overdue donations or if your donation payment method has expired, you will not be able to create new eBay Giving Works listings until you resolve these issues.

  7. Complete and review the listing form, then click the Start selling button at the bottom of the form.

If you are creating your first eBay Giving Works listing from an eBay buyer account, you will be asked to provide a method of payment for eBay fees and donations at the end of this process.

Learn how to make donations, change your donation payment method, and get tax receipts and more in your Donation Account.

Using TurboLister, Blackthorne, and other selling tools

Check with your Selling Tool provider to see if your selling tool offers Giving Works.

To use eBay Giving Works through a selling tool:
  1. Go to the Donation Account section inside My eBay.

  2. Click the "Agree to eBay Giving Works Terms & Conditions" link. This will authorize the use of your eBay payment method as your donation payment method. You can change your donation payment method inside your Donation Account.

  3. Create your eBay Giving Works listing by following the instructions from your Selling Tool provider.

Once your eBay Giving Works listing is live, the charity icon will appear next to your listing's title in eBay Search and on the item page.

Information about the nonprofit you have selected and the amount you are donating will also appear in the listing. These features make eBay Giving Works listings stand out, and they may increase your bids and/or final sale price.

Finding a nonprofit

Thousands of nonprofits are certified to benefit from eBay Giving Works listings. You can find your favorite in the nonprofit directory by browsing or searching.  

Browse

Click any letter in the "Browse A to Z" bar to see an alphabetic list of all certified nonprofits whose name starts with that letter. Nonprofit names starting with a symbol or numeral are listed under "#". 

Search

You can search for a nonprofit using any of the fields below. Combine fields to narrow your search results.

  • Nonprofit name or keyword: Search the nonprofit's name and the keywords they chose to describe their work.

  • Search name, keyword, and mission statement: Each nonprofit has a short mission statement about what they do. Check this box to include the text of their mission statement in your search.

  • State: Find nonprofits based on where they are located (not necessarily where they serve).

  • Nonprofit type

  • Spotlight

Invite a nonprofit

Don't see your favorite nonprofit in the eBay Giving Works directory? Invite them to the program. Learn about the benefits of eBay Giving Works for nonprofits.  

To invite a nonprofit, enter your name and email, a contact name and email at the nonprofit, and the nonprofit's name. Then click the Invite This Nonprofit button. We’ll send an email on your behalf to your contact at the nonprofit. 

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