Amazon vs eBay: Which Is Actually Cheaper?

For brand-new electronics, Amazon is usually the cheaper place to buy, or close enough that its returns and shipping make it the better deal. For anything you’d accept used, open box, or refurbished, eBay is usually cheaper, often by a wide margin.

That’s the pattern we see most days. It breaks often enough that you should check before you buy, and the sticker price is only part of the comparison. Shipping, tax, return costs and timing all move the number you actually pay.

Where Amazon tends to win

Amazon is strongest on current, new, mass-market products: the latest earbuds, a popular game console, a mid-range TV. Those items sell in huge volume, and the price Amazon charges is often matched or undercut only briefly by other big retailers. On eBay, a sealed new unit of the same item frequently lists at or above Amazon’s price, because many eBay sellers are resellers who bought at retail and need a margin.

Shipping is the other reason. Prime members get free shipping on most items, and non-members get it on qualifying orders. If you already pay for Prime, a $3 difference in item price in eBay’s favor can disappear once an eBay seller adds a shipping charge.

Returns also favor Amazon for new goods. For most items sold and shipped by Amazon, you get 30 days after delivery to send it back, and the process is routine. That flexibility has real value when you’re not sure a pair of headphones will fit or a monitor will look right on your desk.

Where eBay tends to win

Once you’re open to something other than factory sealed, eBay pulls ahead. Used phones, last-generation consoles, older flagship headphones and refurbished laptops are where we see the biggest gaps. A phone that’s one or two generations old can sell used on eBay for a fraction of what a new unit cost, while Amazon may still list the same model new at close to launch price, if it lists it at all.

eBay also has supply Amazon doesn’t. Discontinued models, specific colors, region variants and storage sizes that retailers dropped are often easiest to find there. When there’s no new option left, the comparison is over before it starts.

Pricing formats help too. Auctions can end well below the going rate, especially for listings with vague titles or awkward end times. Many Buy It Now listings accept Best Offer, and a lot of sellers will take a reasonable offer to move the item this week.

If you’re weighing a new phone against a used one, our phone category shows both side by side, and the new vs used calculator puts the gap in dollars.

Shipping and sales tax

Always compare delivered prices. An eBay listing at $289 with $15 shipping costs more than an Amazon listing at $299 with free shipping. eBay search results show shipping, but it’s easy to skim past, and some sellers price low and recover the margin on shipping.

Sales tax rarely decides the comparison anymore. eBay calculates, collects and remits sales tax for items shipped to buyers in nearly every state that has a sales tax, and Amazon charges it at checkout as well. You’ll pay tax on both sides in most cases, so compare after tax, but don’t expect either site to hand you a tax advantage.

Tax is calculated on the item price, and often on shipping too depending on your state. A higher shipping charge on eBay can therefore cost you a little extra in tax on top of the shipping itself.

Returns change the math

A lower price with no returns is a different product from a higher price with free returns. On eBay, each seller sets a return policy. The options include no returns, 30 days, or 60 days, with either the buyer or the seller paying return shipping.

What protects you regardless of that policy is the eBay Money Back Guarantee. If an item doesn’t arrive, or arrives broken or different from the listing, you can get your money back even from a seller who says “no returns.” It doesn’t cover changing your mind. If you buy from a no-returns seller and simply don’t like the item, you’re stuck with it or you resell it.

So for something you might want to send back for fit or preference, give a few dollars of weight to Amazon or to an eBay seller with free returns. For a specific model you’ve already researched, a no-returns eBay listing can be fine. Our guide on buying used electronics on eBay covers how the guarantee works in practice.

Price swings and timing

Amazon prices move constantly. The same item can change price several times in a week, and third-party sellers on the same product page compete on price and shipping speed. A price that looks high today may be back down in a few days, so if you’re not in a hurry, check again.

eBay prices for used goods follow a different rhythm. They drop predictably when a new model launches, because people sell their old devices to pay for the upgrade. The weeks after a major phone or console release are usually a good time to buy the previous generation used.

Sales events matter mostly on the Amazon side. Prime Day and the run-up to Black Friday bring the lowest new prices of the year on a lot of electronics. eBay runs its own promotions and coupon codes at various points, and those can stack with an already low used price. Around holidays, Amazon also tends to extend its return window into January for purchases made late in the year, which makes early holiday shopping less of a gamble.

When each one usually wins

Refurbished is the closest contest, and the two programs make different promises. We break that down in Is Refurbished Worth It?.

How to compare total cost

Here’s the routine we use. Start with the exact model, storage size and color. A 128GB phone and a 256GB phone aren’t the same comparison, and neither are a carrier-locked unit and an unlocked one.

Then build the delivered price for each option: item price, plus shipping, plus tax. Next, assign a rough value to the return policy. If there’s a reasonable chance you’ll send it back, a no-returns listing should be cheaper by enough to cover that risk.

Then factor in condition. A used item with a scuffed case and a worn battery isn’t worth the same as a clean one, even at the same model number. Look at the photos and description, and decide what that wear is worth to you.

Tip: Run the model through our side-by-side search before you check out. It lines up Amazon’s new price against eBay’s new, used and refurbished listings, so you see the full spread in one place.

Finally, check the clock. If a new model is launching in a few weeks, or a big sale is coming, waiting can save more than any listing you find today.

Picking by category

Some categories lean one way more than others. Game consoles are a good example: new units on Amazon hold their price for long stretches, while used consoles on eBay are plentiful and often bundled with controllers or games. Browse our consoles page to see how wide that gap runs on current models.

Headphones split down the middle. New earbuds hit deep discounts on Amazon during sales, but premium over-ear headphones from a generation or two back are often a bargain used or refurbished. Our headphones page is a quick way to check where a given model stands.

Phones lean hard toward eBay for anyone willing to buy used or refurbished, simply because the depreciation is so steep. For the newest flagship in the first months after release, though, Amazon and other new-retail prices are often the floor.