Selling
eBay Giving Works Items
Why sell an eBay Giving Works item?
Help your favorite cause
When you list an item on eBay Giving Works, your donation directly helps a worthy nonprofit continue their work. Nonprofits need every bit of support that they can get to deliver critical services in their communities and make life better for all of us.
Grow your business
Cause-marketing research demonstrates that when choosing between two similar products, shoppers prefer to buy the one that benefits a cause. On eBay, charity listings have tended to receive more bids and close at higher prices than the eBay average.
Make your listings more visible
The eBay Giving Works icon 
makes charity listings stand out from other listings. Plus, when you list
an item in eBay Giving Works, it's like getting three categories
for the price of one. Your item appears:
- In the category in which the item was listed
- On eBay Giving Works
- On the benefiting nonprofit's MissionFish home page
Offer confidence for buyers
It's easy for any seller to say that their listing will benefit a nonprofit. However when you list through eBay Giving Works, buyers can be confident that you will make a donation to a recognized nonprofit when your item sells. The oversight provided by MissionFish offers a "seal of approval" for all of your eBay Giving Works listings.
The MissionFish Guarantee
Get a tax deduction
Donations made through eBay Giving Works listings are completely tax-deductible
in accordance with IRS regulations.
Requirements for selling
PayPal and merchant credit cards
In order to list your item through our site, it is required that one of the following payment methods be accepted for each listing:
- PayPal (Learn More)
- Merchant Credit Cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover)
Buy It Now and Dutch auctions
MissionFish sellers can list items with the Buy It Now option, as well as list multiple quantities of items (also known as Dutch auctions). In order to list with multiple quantities or Buy It Now, you must:
- Be ID Verified
- Or have a feedback rating of 30 or above and be registered on eBay for 14 days or more
Choose an item to list
Nearly any item that is permitted by eBay can become an eBay Giving Works listing (click here to find out which categories are not). However, be sure that the item
you choose is appropriate for the organization that you want to support,
or they may decline it. For example, it is probably not a good idea to list
a cigarette lighter collection to support a cancer-research program.
Also, try to choose items that will sell above the donation
minimum of $5.
Restricted categories: There are special restrictions for sellers who want to list items in certain eBay categories. Violating these rules will prevent an item from being listed successfully through MissionFish, and may generate the following message:
"Item cannot be listed or modified because the title and/or description contains improper words."
Click here for more information on eBay category restrictions.
Create an eBay Giving Works listing through the Sell Your Item (SYI) process
Where to find eBay Giving Works
To select a nonprofit to benefit from your eBay listing:
- Go to the eBay sell page and select: List with all options (recommended for experienced sellers).
- Fill out the required information about your item and click “Start Selling.”
- On the next page choose a category and click “Continue.”
- On the following page, go to the "Choose how you’d like to sell your item" section of eBay's Sell Your Item process (see a screen shot).
- Look for "
 eBay Giving Works: Donate a percentage of your sale to your favorite cause."
- Select a nonprofit to support and the percentage of your final sale price to donate (please note: a $5 minimum donation is required if your item sells).
The two biggest differences between listing an item through eBay Giving Works and listing a regular eBay item are:
- You have to select a nonprofit to support and a percentage of the final sale price to donate to them.
- The nonprofit has the option of canceling your item after the auction opens on eBay.
Please note if you have sold less than five items on eBay, the eBay Giving Works option will not automatically appear. You can access it by:
- Going to the “Choose how you’d like to sell your item” area and clicking “Add or remove options”
- In the pop-up that appears, click the box beside “Donate a percentage of sale” and “Save”
- The eBay Giving Works will be visible in the Sell Your Item form
How to find a nonprofit to support
To list an item, start by picking an organization from the list of MissionFish nonprofits. If you don't see your favorite cause, you can Recommend a Nonprofit.
Find a nonprofit to support by:
- Browsing our entire list of organizations, in alphabetic order
- Search for your favorite cause by name, nonprofit type (in other words, the type of work a charity does), keyword and/or state
- Use a combination of the above fields to further refine your search, or choose from the list of nonprofits provided in your search results
Select a percentage to donate
As part of the listing process, you can designate from 10-100% (5% minimum for motors) of the final value of an item to donate to the nonprofit of your choice. Remember that once you submit the listing, you will not be able to decrease this percentage. You can, however, increase the percentage. Proceeds from a single listing can only benefit one nonprofit.
We set minimum percentage because the purpose of this service is to help participating organizations to get a reasonable donation for their involvement. We picked 10% (5% for motors) as that percentage based on the feedback of eBay sellers.
Regardless of the percentage you choose, every gift must at least meet the $5 donation minimum.
Complete the listing
Once you've selected your nonprofit and a percentage to donate, continue with your listing as normal. You'll have the opportunity to review the listing before you submit it, and may elect to remove the nonprofit donation before it goes live on eBay.
Create an eBay Giving Works listing through Turbo Lister
eBay sellers can also use Turbo Lister to create and upload multiple eBay Giving Works listings quickly and efficiently. All of the requirements and restrictions associated with placing an eBay Giving Works listing through the Sell Your Item process apply to items listed through Turbo Lister.
Please note: You should register as a seller with MissionFish before attempting to upload eBay Giving Works listings from Turbo Lister. If you are not registered, your listings will not upload successfully.
Learn how to use Turbo Lister for eBay Giving Works listings
Where to find eBay Giving Works
To add eBay Giving Works to your new Turbo Lister listing, go to the "Format Specifics" section of the Turbo Lister process and look for the new "Donate a percentage of sale" field. Click the Change button, and then select a nonprofit and the percentage of the item's final sale price you would like to donate. From there, continue the listing process as usual.
Take eBay's tour of selling in Turbo Lister
eBay Help: Turbo Lister Overview
Register with MissionFish
To sell eBay Giving Works items, eBay sellers must register with MissionFish. MissionFish seller accounts allow us to collect donations and guarantee that the nonprofit receives their money as promised, make it easy for sellers to track their items and generate reports that summarize your giving.
To register with MissionFish, a seller must be registered with eBay. Only sellers from the U.S. can currently use MissionFish, and only U.S. nonprofits can currently benefit from eBay Giving Works listings. Click here to learn more about optimizing your system for MissionFish.
There are two ways you can register for a MissionFish seller account:
- Register for your account directly on MissionFish
- Register for your MissionFish seller account while listing your item on eBay (click here to see what this looks like)
To register with MissionFish, start by logging in to your eBay account with your username and password, and then click "Sign In". Signing in through eBay is a way eBay protects your username and password. Only authorized eBay partners like MissionFish offer this special security feature.
To sign up with MissionFish, start by logging in to your eBay account with your username and password. To save you time, some of the information in our registration form is pre-populated data from your eBay account. However, making changes to your MissionFish registration will not change information in your eBay account.
Next, read and approve our seller user agreement, including our terms of service. You must approve our agreement to register with MissionFish.
Now, complete the registration form with the following information:
- Name and Billing Address - exactly as they appear on your credit card bill
- Phone Number - if we can't reach you by e-mail
- Credit Card Number - to collect your donations for listings that sell successfully
- Security Code - to prevent someone else from making donations on your credit card
- News from MissionFish - get occasional updates from MissionFish, like our newsletter for sellers. Your information is always protected by our Privacy Policy
- Share your contact information - lets us share your name and contact information with the nonprofits that you support. Your information is always protected by our Privacy Policy
We take the privacy and security of your personal information very seriously. We use secure socket layer (SSL) to protect your data, and adhere to a strict privacy policy.
New sellers! Register with eBay.
How to find a nonprofit to support
To list an item, start by picking an organization from the list of MissionFish nonprofits. If you don't see your favorite cause, you can Recommend a Nonprofit.
Find a nonprofit to support by:
- Browsing our entire list of organizations, in alphabetic order
- Search for your favorite cause by name, nonprofit type (in other words, the type of work a charity does), keyword and/or state
- Use a combination of the above fields to further refine your search, or choose from the list of nonprofits provided in your search results
Select a percentage to donate
As part of the listing process, you can designate from 10-100% (5% minimum for motors) of the final value of an item to donate to the nonprofit of your choice. Remember that once you submit the listing, you will not be able to decrease this percentage. You can, however, increase the percentage. Proceeds from a single listing can only benefit one nonprofit.
We set minimum percentage because the purpose of this service is to help participating organizations to get a reasonable donation for their involvement. We picked 10% (5% for motors) as that percentage based on the feedback of eBay sellers.
Regardless of the percentage you choose, every gift must at least meet the $5 donation minimum.
Complete and upload the listing
Once you complete your listings, upload them to eBay.
If there are problems with your MissionFish seller account, you will receive an alert message, and your eBay Giving Works listings will not be uploaded to eBay. Possible problems with your MissionFish seller account may include:
- You haven't registered with MissionFish
- Your American Express, Visa or Mastercard (credit or debit) on file with MissionFish has expired, or is about to
- You have overdue donations that have not been paid to MissionFish
If you encounter an alert, please correct the problem on MissionFish before attempting to upload your listings again.
Adding eBay Giving Works to a live listing (Relist, Sell Similar, Revise)
It is possible to add eBay Giving Works to an existing listing through the Revise, Relist or Sell Similar tools in My eBay. Through Relist and Sell Similar, you will have the option to add a nonprofit to support and percentage to donate to listings that you Relist or Sell Similar.
You can also use the Revise tool to add eBay Giving Works to auction listings, fixed price listings, and stores listings that are live on eBay. The Revise tool will allow you to:
- Add a nonprofit to support and select the percentage you wish to donate, to a live eBay listing
- Increase the percentage you wish to donate on an existing eBay Giving Works listing
Please note: A listing must have at least 12 hours remaining in order to add eBay Giving Works through Revise. In addition, you cannot use Revise to add eBay Giving Works to a listing, if it is a multiple quantity or Dutch listing and one or more of your items from that listing have already sold.
Revise Your Item
Relist Your Item
Sell Similar
MissionFish category restrictions
These categories are not currently available for charity listings. If you're interested in listing an item in one of these categories, please contact eBay Giving Works.
- Real Estate Ad Format listings
- Mature Audiences
Integrating these above categories into the program is a top priority for our product development team. If you're interested in listing an item in one of these categories, please contact eBay Giving Works.
eBay category restrictions
To list an item in one of the following categories, you must comply with special eBay restrictions:
- Liquor: You must be specially-licensed with eBay to list in this category. Learn more
- Mature Audiences: You must meet a number of requirements, and cannot offer PayPal. Learn more
- Medical Devices: You must include extra information in your listing, and follow special policies for this category. Learn more
- Sports Memorabilia: You must have feedback of 25+ AND be "authenticator pre-certified" to list in Sports Memorabilia. Learn more
- Travel: You must be a Square Trade certified seller to list in Travel. Learn more
eBay help for Choosing a Category
Selling raffle tickets
While the sale of raffle tickets is a popular fundraising option for nonprofits, please remember that the sale of raffle tickets is prohibited by eBay. If you list a raffle ticket through eBay Giving Works, your listings will be cancelled.
The nonprofit's decision
For every charity listing you post, the nonprofit you select must agree to be the benefiting organization.
Because the nonprofit's logo will appear with every item listed on its behalf, the ability to control this implicit endorsement of a seller and their products is crucial. For example, a cancer-research program might not want to be associated with a cigarette lighter collection.
A nonprofit can cancel a listing that has been listed on their behalf at any time.
If your item is cancelled
It's possible that a benefiting nonprofit will cancel your item once you have listed it. Some
of the reasons that an item might be cancelled include:
- It didn't fit within their mission area
- They didn't think that it would meet the donation minimum
If your item is declined you have four options. You can:
- Relist it as-is for a different nonprofit
- Make changes or add more information, and relist it for any nonprofit
(including the one you just picked)
- List it as a regular item on eBay
- Do nothing
While the listing is live
When your listing goes up on eBay, it will include an eBay Giving Works
icon to distinguish it from regular eBay listings. In addition, MissionFish
includes a special template in the item description section. This template creates, as part of your description, what we call the "Giving Bar". It includes:
- The percentage of the final value you've elected to donate to a nonprofit
- The logo, name and mission statement of the benefiting nonprofit
See an example of a Giving Bar.
For the most part, eBay Giving Works listings are like any other eBay listing. Any changes permitted during a listing by eBay can be applied to an eBay Giving Works item, with two important exceptions:
- You can never change the benefiting nonprofit.
- You can never decrease the donation percentage. You can increase the donation percentage, using Revise Your Item.
Please note: Though it is rare, occasionally nonprofits lose their tax-deductible status with the IRS. If we discover that the nonprofit you selected has lost their status while your listing is live, we will ask eBay to automatically cancel the listing. We will also contact you to let you know what happened.
Managing My Listings
You'll be able to manage all of your listings through eBay. This includes:
Please note: when you list an item, it can take up to 24 hours before that item appears correctly on MissionFish, both in your Seller My MissionFish account and on your MissionFish nonprofit home page (if you are a Nonprofit Direct Seller). This is not because there's anything wrong, but rather the result of a "lag" in comunication between eBay and our site.
An eBay Giving Works is first created in the eBay system, and then eBay notifies our system about it. When an item sells, or when there are revisions and other changes to a listing, the same process takes place. To make sure that we find out about everything happening on eBay, we have a daily automated "sweep up" in place. Unfortunately it sometimes takes up to a day or so for your item to appear in My MissionFish as a new listing, or as a donation due.
After the listing ends
When your eBay Giving Works listing closes successfully, the buyer should pay you as they would for any eBay item. You may accept any payment methods that you wish, and impose whatever terms of sale you deem appropriate.
eBay
help on Closing the Deal
If the buyer never pays you for your item, you may be eligible for a
donation refund.
Nonprofits as sellers
In addition to benefiting from items listed by other eBay sellers, nonprofits can also sell items on their own behalf through eBay Giving Works. Here's how to become a nonprofit seller:
- Register as a MissionFish
nonprofit (if you haven't already).
- Register as an eBay seller.
- Register as a MissionFish
seller.
- Add your eBay Seller ID as a Nonprofit Direct Seller in your Nonprofit My MissionFish account. Learn how
- List your items on eBay through the Sell Your Item process or Turbo Lister.
Learn more about:
How nonprofit selling works
eBay
help for Selling
eBay Help for Turbo Lister
Tools and Tips - tools for
MissionFish nonprofits
Our fees
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