Using Ebay in Portugal

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Written by: | Last updated on February 29, 2024 | Est. Reading Time: 4 minutes

EBay isn’t used much in Portugal. You won’t find many Portuguese sellers on there, you won’t find many Portuguese buyers, and there isn’t a Portuguese version of eBay (eBay.pt): you’ll have to use eBay.com and filter by sellers who ship to Portugal.

That doesn’t mean it’s not worth using eBay — it can be useful — but, generally, there are better options.

Ebay as a shopper

For online shopping, most people, expats and Portuguese alike, go directly to Amazon. Amazon.es is normally the best option for people living in Portugal but, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, Amazon.de is worth looking at to. (A full article on shopping at Amazon from Portugal can be found here.)

However, if you can’t find what you’re looking for on Amazon.es or Amazon.de, eBay can be worth exploring. It’s particularly useful if you’re looking for something unique and specific, like a computer part, and you can’t seem to find it in Portugal.

It’s essentially another Amazon: although you will find some second-hand items on there, a lot of the listings are for small companies that probably exist on Amazon as well. EBay isn’t particularly popular in Spain either, and since the UK has now left the EU, most of the EU-based sellers you’ll come across will be based in Germany. If you’re specifically looking to buy second-hand items from Portuguese sellers, you are probably better off looking at Facebook Marketplace, which is used a lot in Portugal, or one of the many classifieds websites that exist in Portugal like OLX.

EBay is probably most popular in the US and UK and, unfortunately, both of these countries are outside of the EU. That means you’ll most likely pay import taxes on anything you buy that gets shipped to Portugal. But, if the item you’re looking for is only available in either of those two countries, it may be worth it.

EBay does have a ‘Global Shipping Program’ where you can prepay the import charges, however, doing this doesn’t mean your item won’t slide through customs effortlessly. You’ll still get a phone call or email and be asked to produce paperwork showing the item’s value and whether or not the customs charges have been paid.

Regardless of which eBay site you’re using (eBay.co.uk, eBay.de, eBay.es, etc), what you want to be able to see is the cost of the product (including postage) to Portugal. The easiest way to do this is to create an account and register your Portuguese address. Then, when you’re logged in eBay will show you 1) listings that can be sent to Portugal and 2) the final cost, including postage costs.

Tip: if you already have an eBay account, make sure your primary address is your Portuguese address. 

EBay as a seller

As mentioned, eBay isn’t that popular in Portugal. Here, people tend to use OLX or Facebook Marketplace much more and, if you want to sell a second-hand item, you’ll have a much better chance of selling it on there. Plus, eBay charge a commission and sites like Facebook Marketplace and OLX don’t.

If you do list on eBay, the majority of your buyers will probably be in Germany. Previously, you would have had a few buyers in the UK as well, but, because of Brexit, most will only buy from UK-based sellers. However, if you’re selling something unique that they can’t find in the UK, there’s a chance they may buy from you.

Selling on OLX or Facebook Marketplace isn’t much fun. You’ll get a lot of messages, and a lot of people low-balling you, but very few people turning up to actually buy the item. Even though eBay take a cut, at least it only attracts serious buyers (although you do have to watch out for scammers).

Because there isn’t a Portuguese eBay, you will need to pick which eBay site to sell through, and using the eBay.com site seems to be the best option. Happy eBaying!

Written by

James Cave is the founder of Portugalist and the author of the bestselling book, Moving to Portugal Made Simple. He has visited just about every part of Portugal, including Madeira and all nine islands of the Azores, and lived in several parts of Portugal including Lisbon, the Algarve, and Northern Portugal.

You can contact James by emailing james@portugalist.com or via the site's contact form.