eBay Glossary
Sell-through rate (STR) is the percentage of listed units that sell within a given time window: units sold ÷ units listed × 100. A listing with 10 views and 3 purchases in 30 days has a 30% STR. On eBay it's the clearest signal you have that your price is (or isn't) competitive. High STR means you're moving inventory; low STR usually means you're priced out of the market or the item has weak demand. Either way, STR tells you exactly when repricing will help—and when it won't.
The formula is simple: STR = (units sold ÷ units listed) × 100. Use a fixed time window—7 days, 30 days, or 90 days—and keep it consistent when comparing items or categories. On eBay, pull your sold and active listing counts from Seller Hub under Performance > Sales. For a category-level view, use the eBay Seller Hub research tab or Terapeak (free with a Store subscription). Example: you listed 40 pairs of sneakers in May and sold 22. Your 30-day STR is 22 ÷ 40 × 100 = 55%. One important nuance: multi-quantity listings count each unit individually, not each listing, so make sure you're dividing units sold by units available, not listing count.
There is no universal 'good' STR—it varies widely by category, condition, and how competitive the niche is. These are approximate ranges based on typical observed patterns; treat them as starting points, not hard targets. Electronics (phones, tablets, accessories): 30–60% monthly STR is normal; competition is fierce and prices move fast. Sneakers and streetwear: 20–50% depending on colorway demand; hyped releases can hit 80%+. Trading cards and collectibles: 10–30% is typical; niche items can sit for months at the right price. Home goods and tools: 15–40%; seasonal spikes are common. Used media (books, CDs, games): often under 10% per month at standard prices—volume and low handling costs make the model work. If your STR is consistently below 5% in a category where similar items clear at 25%, pricing is almost certainly the lever to pull first.
Price is the most controllable driver of STR on eBay. eBay's search algorithm (Cassini) factors price competitiveness into placement, so a listing priced 15% above comparable sold comps often ranks lower and converts worse—resulting in a low STR that looks like a demand problem but is actually a pricing problem. The relationship is not perfectly linear: dropping price by 5% rarely doubles your STR, but being within 3–5% of the lowest comparable listing tends to put you in contention for the sale. The risk is racing to the bottom: cutting price without tracking profit per unit means you can hit 100% STR while losing money on every sale. This is why a hard cost floor—your minimum acceptable net after eBay's ~13.6% final value fee, the $0.30–$0.40 per-order fee, and your cost of goods—should be set before any repricing decision. Undercut enforces this floor automatically so you never reprice below break-even.
STR gives you a trigger, not a magic answer. A practical decision tree: if STR is above your category benchmark, hold price or test a small increase—you're clearing inventory fast enough. If STR is 50–75% of benchmark, run a modest reprice down to the lowest comparable active listing and monitor for 7 days. If STR is below 25% of benchmark for 14+ days and comps are moving, your price is almost certainly too high—reprice to the lowest comp or slightly below and set a floor to protect margin. If STR is low and comps aren't moving either, the issue is demand, not price; repricing won't help much. Automated repricers like Undercut handle the middle case continuously: they watch for a new lowest competitor, undercut by your configured amount, and stop at your floor—doing in seconds what a manual check takes hours. Free plan covers 25 listings with hourly checks; Pro ($79/mo) covers 1,000 listings with 15-minute intervals.
Sell-through rate is a diagnostic, not a cure. Several situations make repricing ineffective or harmful. First, if you have a niche item with fewer than 5 sold comps in 90 days, STR data is too thin to act on—you're guessing, not measuring. Second, condition mismatches: a 'Good' condition item priced the same as 'Very Good' will have low STR regardless of price because buyers can read condition grades. Third, poor listing quality—blurry photos, sparse titles, missing item specifics—suppresses clicks before price is even a factor. Fix the listing first. Fourth, if repricing to the market floor puts you below your cost floor, the right answer is to stop selling that SKU, not to eat the loss. Undercut's floor-first design means it will simply stop repricing rather than push you below break-even, which is the correct behavior when margins compress.
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What is a good sell-through rate on eBay?
It depends heavily on category. Electronics typically clear at 30–60% monthly STR; collectibles and trading cards often run 10–30%; used media can be under 10% and still be profitable at volume. The more useful question is: how does your STR compare to similar sold comps in your specific niche? If category peers are clearing at 40% and you're at 8%, pricing or listing quality is holding you back.
Does eBay show sell-through rate anywhere in Seller Hub?
Not as a single labeled metric, but you can calculate it yourself. Seller Hub > Performance > Sales shows units sold per period. Compare that to your active listing quantity for the same window. Terapeak (free with any eBay Store subscription) goes deeper—it shows historical sold volume and listing counts for specific keywords, which lets you benchmark your STR against the broader market for that item.
Can I improve STR without lowering my price?
Yes, in some cases. Better photos, a keyword-rich title, complete item specifics, and competitive shipping speed all influence click-through and conversion rates independent of price. If your listing quality is below average for the category, fix that first—lowering price on a poorly optimized listing often doesn't move the needle enough to justify the margin hit. Once listing quality is solid, price becomes the primary remaining lever.
How does Undercut use sell-through rate signals to reprice?
Undercut doesn't directly ingest your STR as an input today—it monitors the lowest competitor price in real time and adjusts yours automatically, stopping at the floor you set. You bring the STR analysis: if your STR is low and you've confirmed competitors are moving, lower your floor slightly and let Undercut chase the market. The 14-day free Starter trial (no card required) lets you test this on up to 100 listings before committing.
What's the difference between sell-through rate and conversion rate on eBay?
Conversion rate is views-to-purchases: how many people who saw your listing actually bought. STR is listings-to-sales: how many of your available units sold in a period. Both matter but measure different things. Low conversion rate with decent STR usually means a listing visibility problem—you're getting found but not clicked. Low STR across the board usually points to pricing or demand. Use both together for a full diagnosis.
Related: eBay Pricing Strategy Guide · How to Reprice Without Losing Margin · How to Avoid Selling Below Cost on eBay · What Is Repricing?