The first 40 listings per calendar month (for any non-store holders) are free. Any listings over that attract an insertion fee. To keep track of your free listings (i.e. how many you've used and how many you have left), check the notice at the end of your My eBay selling page, which appears once you've listed at least one item).
(PS eBay staff generally don't post to threads on the forum, only other eBay members like yourself).
