Temu 0% Commission Fee vs. Amazon & eBay: Which One Should New Sellers Choose?
If you're thinking about starting an online store, you've probably already run into the same wall every new seller hits. Platform fees eat into margins before you even sell your first item.
Amazon takes a cut. eBay takes a cut. Even "free to join" platforms usually find a way to charge you somewhere: a subscription fee, a listing fee, a payment processing fee.
So when new sellers hear that Temu's Local Seller Program charges 0% commission, the first reaction is usually: what's the catch?
Let's break down how the numbers actually compare, so you can make a decision based on real costs, not marketing headlines.
What Amazon and eBay Actually Charge
Before comparing anything to Temu, it helps to know your baseline.
Amazon charges a referral fee on every sale, typically 8–15% depending on category, plus a $39.99/month Professional seller plan if you're selling more than a handful of items a month. Add in optional costs like FBA storage and fulfillment fees, and your effective cost can climb well past 20% before you've spent a cent on advertising.
eBay charges a final value fee around 12.9% for most categories, plus a per-order fixed fee. High-volume sellers may also pay insertion fees once they exceed their free monthly listing allowance.
Neither platform is bad. They both come with massive built-in customer traffic, which is worth something. But that traffic isn't free. You're paying for it through fees, whether you notice it or not.
What Is the Local Seller Program, Exactly?
Temu runs a few different seller models, and this is where a lot of new sellers get confused, because not all of them are fee-free.
The one worth paying attention to is the Local Seller Program. It's built for sellers who fulfill orders locally instead of shipping cross-border from overseas. That means there are two requirements you need to meet before you can register:
Have a registered local business entity. You need to be operating as a legitimate U.S.-based business, not shipping in from an overseas supplier chain.
Hold local inventory. Your products need to be warehoused and fulfilled from within the U.S., not drop-shipped from abroad.
Meet both of those, and you qualify for a seller model that looks very different from the "everything ships from overseas" version of Temu most people picture.
Temu's Fee Advantage: Listing Fee $0, Commission Fee $0
This is the part that makes new sellers do a double take. Under the Local Seller Program:
Listing fee: $0. List products without paying to put them on the platform.
Commission fee: $0. Temu doesn't take a cut of your sale price.
Compare that to what you're paying elsewhere.
Amazon can easily push past 30% in total cost. You've got the platform fee itself, FBA fees for storage and fulfillment, and paid traffic on top of that, since organic visibility is hard to come by without running ads. Stack those together and 30%+ isn't the worst case. It's the normal case.
eBay adds up in a similar way. There's a listing fee on top of your free monthly allowance, and a final value fee on every sale. Total cost typically lands around 20% or more once both are factored in.
TikTok Shop comes with a platform fee plus creator commission, since most sellers rely on creators to drive traffic to their listings. Between the two, total cost usually runs at least 35%.
Temu's Local Seller Program charges neither. No listing fee, no commission. Total cost: 0%.
For a new seller working with thin margins, this isn't a small difference. It's the difference between losing 20 to 35% of every sale before you've spent a cent on anything else, and keeping the full price you set.
Okay, But How Does Temu Make Money?
Fair question. If Temu isn't charging you anything, where's the money coming from?
Here's how it actually works: you set your price, and you receive 100% of that price. No commission deducted. Temu then adds a small markup on top before showing the final price to the shopper. Based on what sellers commonly report, that markup tends to land somewhere in the 5–10% range.
So the transaction breaks down like this:
You set your price and get paid that full amount. No commission taken out.
Temu adds a modest markup on top of your price.
The shopper pays your price plus Temu's markup at checkout.
In other words, Temu's cut comes from the buyer side, not the seller side. The shopper is the one financing the platform's margin, quietly, at checkout. You're not.
That flips the usual marketplace math. On Amazon or eBay, your price already has to absorb the platform's fee before you see a profit. On Temu's Local Seller Program, the price you set is the price you keep. Temu makes its money downstream of you, not out of your pocket.
A quick note for accuracy: Temu also runs consignment and semi-managed seller models outside the Local Seller Program, and those carry their own separate commission structures. Markup percentages and program terms can shift as Temu adjusts its strategy. Before you commit inventory or pricing, confirm current terms for your category directly in Temu's Seller Center. Treat any number here as a helpful starting point, not gospel.
So Which One Should You Choose?
Honest answer: it depends on what you're optimizing for.
Choose Amazon or eBay if:
You want access to a massive, built-in shopper base actively searching for products
You're prepared to factor platform fees into your pricing from day one
You're selling in a category where brand trust and reviews matter heavily
Choose Temu's Local Seller Program if:
You have, or can set up, a registered U.S. business entity and local inventory to qualify
You want to test a new product or category without commission eating into thin early margins
You're comfortable being on a newer platform with a different customer base and expectations
You want to diversify beyond Amazon/eBay and recruit new customers
For a lot of new sellers, the smartest move isn't either/or. Start where the barrier to entry is lowest, learn the mechanics of selling online without a 15% fee tax on every lesson, then expand once you understand your margins and operations.
The Part Nobody Tells You
Low fees don't automatically mean high profits. Temu's pricing environment is aggressive, competition is real, and the platform has its own rules around listings, compliance, and fulfillment that catch new sellers off guard. That's exactly why "0% commission" can still end with a seller losing money in their first few weeks.
Getting the fee structure right is step one. Getting your registration, setup, listings, and operations right is what actually determines whether that 0% commission turns into real profit.
Want the full step-by-step roadmap from registration to your first sale, without the costly trial-and-error? Check out Temu Quick Start, built to help new sellers get it right from day one.
Follow the complete Temu seller roadmap: Prepare, Register, Setup, List, Sell, Grow. No guesswork, no costly mistakes. Just clear, practical steps to get your store up and running the right way from day one.
