Depop Raises Boosted Listing Ad Fees, eBay Gets The Blame
Depop is raising fees for Boosted Listings ads and some sellers are already pointing the finger at soon-to-be new parent company eBay. But with the acquisition not yet finalized, is it fair to lay the blame at eBay’s feet?
Sellers received notice this week that Boosted Listing fees will be going from 8 to 12% effective March 23, with a not so subtle nudge to take advantage of the lower rates to sell more items now.
We wanted to let you know that the fee for boosting will increase from 8% to 12% on March 23.
The increased fee will only apply to new boosts from that date onwards, so any listings boosted before March 23 will continue to be charged the current 8% fee.
As a reminder, boosting fees are charged on the item sale price (excluding taxes) and any shipping costs, if you arrange your own. You’ll only be charged if a buyer purchases your boosted item within 28 days of seeing your boosted listing on Depop. You can unboost your listings at any time.
The announcement comes less than 2 weeks after eBay announced their intent to purchase Depop from current parent company Etsy in a $1.2B cash deal.
Liz Morton
Sellers have taken to social media to air their frustration with the fee increase, with many putting the blame squarely on eBay.
For example, a few comments just from one Reddit thread:
And so it begins. Saw this coming from a MILE AWAY when eBay acquired them. Greedy.
it’s funny because they sent out the message when ebay acquired claiming things would stay the same and not even a whole week later there is already change lol
Ebay's strategy for the last 4-5 years has been to pit sellers against each other with promotional fees and programs. Theres zero transparency about how their ad processes work and you basically just take their word on it that the person clicked on it through a promotional ad.
If you look up the word "enshittification", its whats been happening at ebay and lot of other tech companies.
While comments about eBay's lack of transparency when it comes to their own Promoted Listings ads are absolutely on point, these sellers are missing one very important piece of information - eBay doesn't own Depop until the deal actually closes, which is expected to be sometime in the second quarter of 2026.
Assuming that timeline holds, that would mean the change in ownership will happen after the March 23 date for the Boosted Listing fee increase, making this still an Etsy decision, not an eBay one.
Some sellers acknowledged that timing, but still believe the policy change is ultimately being made because it's what eBay wants going forward, so Etsy made the change now to sweeten the deal.
However, Depop had already announced this same fee increase for the UK back in November 2025 and at that time, I surmised it was likely only a matter of time before it expanded to the US and Australia as Etsy had made it clear that both for their main site and Depop, increasing revenue through "seller services" (advertising and other offerings) was a high priority.
Liz Morton
Taking into account standard timelines for M&A negotiations and due diligence, it's likely that eBay and Etsy may have already been in talks about a potential deal for Depop at that time - but if so, that doesn't necessarily mean this fee increase was at eBay's request.
In fact, given Etsy's recent earnings reports where Depop was the lone bright spot, it would seem far more likely that Etsy decided to implement the fee increase (along with "sell now before the rates go up" messaging to create a sense of urgency) in an effort to try to squeeze as much additional revenue and Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) out of Depop as they can before the Q2 closing date.
Ultimately it may not really matter, as sellers who use Boosted Listings will be paying the higher fee regardless of which parent company gets to count it on their books, but the optics do put eBay in a difficult position with sellers who are already concerned about what the corporate shakeup will mean for Depop.
eBay could get an early goodwill win by putting the Boosted Listing fee back to 8% once they're really in charge, but that could set a precedent that would create problems for eBay when it comes to unpopular changes they've recently made to their Promoted Listings ads - and that's a can of worms eBay does not want to open any further than it already is.
Liz Morton
Regardless of whose call it was, both eBay and Etsy stand to benefit from the fee increase, so it's unlikely it will change either before or after the ownership change.
What do you think of Depop raising Boosted Listing Fees? Let us know in the comments below!
