How can this be right as it said I could sell roughly 10 items for free?

You get 30 free listings per months, however you still have pay for any extras in the listing like subtitle, BIN with auction, or scheduled listing.  As already mentioned you will also have to pay FVF.

As a new seller you most likely have limit on how many items you can list.  To find out how many  items you can list have a look in your My eBay > ALL SELLING  there is info about both, the item limits and free listings; one is on top of the page, the other right on the bottom.