GovDeals fees explained: the real cost of a bid

What you bid on GovDeals isn't what you pay. A winning bid picks up a buyer's premium, usually sales tax, sometimes a payment fee, and always the cost of getting the item home. The premium and tax alone add about 20% to most bids. On a cheap lot that has to be shipped, the total can come to 50% or more above the winning bid.

The fees, one by one

1. Buyer's premium

The buyer's premium is a percentage added to your winning bid. The seller sets it, not GovDeals, so it can differ from one listing to the next. In practice it's 12.5% on most lots. When we sampled listings while signed in to GovDeals, 12.5% was by far the most common rate, and the few lower ones (5% to 11.5%) were on unusual lots. It isn't always lower, though: on listing pages our Chrome extension has read rates of 10%, 12%, 13.5%, 15% and 18%, and New York's Office of General Services said in 2024 its online vehicle auctions would charge 8%. Some sellers also cap the premium at a dollar amount. The rate and any cap are in each listing's terms, so check before you bid, and screenshot them on anything expensive. If your invoice shows a premium the terms didn't, take it to GovDeals support before you pay.

2. Sales tax

Sales tax usually applies, based on where the lot is located, and it's normally charged on the bid plus the premium. If you're a registered reseller, many sellers will accept a resale or tax-exemption certificate and drop the tax. If you buy often, it's worth setting up. If not, budget for it. It shows up at checkout.

Yes, the premium usually gets taxed too. States generally treat it as part of the sale price; California's tax agency, for example, says "the gross receipts from the sale include the buyer's premium." There are exceptions: Missouri taxes the premium on ordinary goods but not on titled property like vehicles, trailers and boats, where you pay tax when you title it (Missouri DOR ruling LR 8285). "BP" on an invoice is short for buyer's premium, so a "BP tax" line is the sales tax on the premium.

3. Payment fees and payment limits

Some sellers pass a card-processing fee on to the buyer. Accepted payment methods (card, ACH, wire) and the limits on each also vary. Larger wins often can't go on a card and have to be paid by ACH or wire, which affects timing and cash flow. Read the payment terms before you bid on anything expensive.

4. Shipping or pickup

Nearly every lot costs something to get home: parcel shipping, LTL freight for heavy items, auto transport for vehicles, or fuel and a day of your time for pickup. Pickup is the norm on GovDeals. About 7 in 10 live lots say pickup-only or pickup by appointment in their terms. For the details, see GovDeals shipping and pickup explained.

Worked example: what a "$300" win really costs

Say you win a lot for $300 and it has to be shipped:

That's about 65% more than the winning bid, before you've sold anything. If you were treating it as a $300 purchase, most of your margin is already gone.

How GavelGap handles this

GavelGap adds the buyer's premium and an estimated shipping cost to the bid to get a landed cost, then shows it next to a resale estimate from real eBay sales and the profit between the two. On a GovDeals listing page, the Chrome extension reads the seller's actual premium. You see the full math before you bid instead of at checkout.

Try it: GovDeals profit calculator. Enter a bid and the buyer's premium to see your landed cost and profit.