How much does Etsy take? The real cost of every sale
Etsy takes 6.5% as its transaction fee, but the real all-in cost is about 10.4%. On a $48 order Etsy takes $5.01: a $0.20 listing fee, $3.12 transaction fee, and $1.69 in payment processing. That is 10.44% of what the buyer paid, not 6.5%. The gap is nearly four points of margin on every sale, and it is wider on small orders — a $10 order gives up $1.40, or 14.00%. Large orders never get better than about 9.5%, because the percentage fees never stop. And if the sale came through Offsite Ads, Etsy adds another 12% or 15% of the order total on top: that same $48 order then costs $12.21, or 25.44%. These are 2026 US rates; Etsy changes them and they differ by country, so confirm anything here against Etsy's current published fee schedule before you reprice a shop.
How much Etsy takes at every order value
The single most useful thing you can know as an Etsy seller is what the platform takes at your actual price point, because the answer moves a lot. Here is every order size run through Etsy's three standing fees — $0.20 listing, 6.5% transaction, 3% + $0.25 payment processing — with the headline rate next to the real one.
| Order total | What 6.5% suggests | What Etsy actually takes | True effective rate | You keep (before costs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $0.65 | $1.40 | 14.00% | $8.60 |
| $15.00 | $0.98 | $1.88 | 12.53% | $13.12 |
| $20.00 | $1.30 | $2.35 | 11.75% | $17.65 |
| $25.00 | $1.63 | $2.83 | 11.32% | $22.17 |
| $30.00 | $1.95 | $3.30 | 11.00% | $26.70 |
| $40.00 | $2.60 | $4.25 | 10.63% | $35.75 |
| $50.00 | $3.25 | $5.20 | 10.40% | $44.80 |
| $65.00 | $4.23 | $6.63 | 10.20% | $58.37 |
| $80.00 | $5.20 | $8.05 | 10.06% | $71.95 |
| $100.00 | $6.50 | $9.95 | 9.95% | $90.05 |
| $150.00 | $9.75 | $14.70 | 9.80% | $135.30 |
| $200.00 | $13.00 | $19.45 | 9.73% | $180.55 |
| $300.00 | $19.50 | $28.95 | 9.65% | $271.05 |
| $500.00 | $32.50 | $47.95 | 9.59% | $452.05 |
Order total means item price plus any shipping you charge the buyer, because both percentage fees apply to the combined amount. The real rate is always more than 6.5% and it never falls below 9.5% no matter how large the order gets — that is the sum of the two percentage fees, and the $0.45 in fixed charges sits on top of it.
Two numbers to carry away. At typical handmade price points, budget 10% of order value for Etsy fees. Under $20, budget 12% to 14%. A shop selling $12 stickers and a shop selling $180 furniture are running different businesses, and the sticker seller hands over a third more of every dollar. Run your own listing through the Etsy Fee Calculator to get the exact figure rather than working from an average.
Every fee Etsy charges, itemised
Three fees hit essentially every sale. The rest are situational, which is exactly why they catch sellers out — they do not appear on a typical order, so they never make it into a pricing spreadsheet.
| Fee | 2026 US rate | Applies to | Standing or situational |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing fee | $0.20 | Each listing, at creation, every four months, and again on each sale | Standing |
| Transaction fee | 6.5% | Item price + shipping charged + gift wrap | Standing |
| Payment processing | 3% + $0.25 | The full amount charged to the buyer | Standing |
| Offsite Ads | 12% or 15% | Order total, capped at $100 per order | Ad-attributed orders only |
| Etsy Ads | Your cost-per-click bid | Clicks inside Etsy search, converting or not | Opt-in |
| Currency conversion | About 2.5% | The payout, when listing and bank currencies differ | Non-matching currencies |
| Regulatory operating fee | Roughly 0.25%–1.1% | Item + shipping | A handful of countries |
| Etsy Plus | $10 per month | Subscription | Optional |
| Pattern website | $15 per month | Subscription | Optional |
The structural point most comparisons miss: Etsy's 6.5% is not a payment processing fee. eBay's 13.25% final value fee and Amazon's 15% referral fee both include card processing. Etsy's does not — processing is billed separately, on top. Putting 6.5% next to 13.25% compares a partial number against a complete one, which is how Etsy ends up looking three times cheaper than it is.
Sales tax that Etsy collects and remits under US marketplace facilitator rules is not part of the fee base, so you are not paying 6.5% on tax. If you need to reconcile what a buyer was charged against what Etsy reported, the Sales Tax Calculator separates the two.
The full stack on one real $48 order
Take a concrete order: a $48 item with free shipping, costing $13.40 in materials and packaging, with an $8.15 shipping label.
| Line | Amount | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Item price | $48.00 | $48.00 |
| Shipping charged to buyer | $0.00 | $48.00 |
| Listing fee | −$0.20 | $47.80 |
| Transaction fee (6.5% of $48.00) | −$3.12 | $44.68 |
| Payment processing (3% of $48.00 + $0.25) | −$1.69 | $42.99 |
| Etsy fees subtotal | −$5.01 | $42.99 |
| Product cost | −$13.40 | $29.59 |
| Shipping label | −$8.15 | $21.44 |
| Net profit | $21.44 | |
| Profit margin | 44.67% |
Etsy takes $5.01, or 10.44%. Your own costs take $21.55. What is left is $21.44 — less than half of what the buyer paid, on a product with a healthy markup.
Free shipping costs you nothing extra in fees. Because both percentage fees apply to the combined total, a $48 item with free shipping and a $40 item with $8 shipping charged produce identical fees. That is worth knowing, because Etsy favours listings with free domestic shipping over $35 in search. The flip side is that shipping is never a clean pass-through: every $10 you add to shipping hands Etsy $0.95 before the carrier is paid. Sellers who raise shipping to "cover costs" are covering 90.5% of them.
Offsite Ads: the fee that beats every other fee combined
Etsy buys ads on Google, Meta, Pinterest and elsewhere pointing at Etsy listings. If a buyer clicks one and then buys from your shop within 30 days, Etsy charges an Offsite Ads fee on the entire order — not on the ad click, on the order.
The rate depends on your trailing 365-day revenue, and it works backwards from what most sellers expect:
- Under $10,000 in the last 365 days — you pay 15% on ad-attributed orders, and you can opt out entirely in shop settings.
- $10,000 or more in the last 365 days — you pay a discounted 12%, and participation is mandatory. There is no opt-out at any price.
Larger shops get the cheaper rate and lose the choice. The fee is capped at $100 per order, which only binds above roughly $667 at 15% or $833 at 12%.
Applied to the same $48 order:
| Scenario | Etsy fees | Effective rate | Net profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organic sale, no ads | $5.01 | 10.44% | $21.44 | 44.67% |
| Offsite Ads at 12% (shop over $10k) | $10.77 | 22.44% | $15.68 | 32.67% |
| Offsite Ads at 15% (shop under $10k) | $12.21 | 25.44% | $14.24 | 29.67% |
At 15%, the Offsite Ads charge is $7.20 on its own — more than the $5.01 that listing, transaction and payment fees cost put together. It is the largest single fee on the platform and the one fewest sellers have modelled.
That does not make opting out the obvious move for shops under the threshold. An ad-attributed sale you would not otherwise have made, at 29.67% margin, still beats no sale at all. The case for opting out is when your organic search position and repeat customers are strong enough that Etsy is collecting 15% on orders you had already earned. Watch your Offsite Ads report for attributed orders from buyers who have bought before — those are the ones you were paying for twice.
If you are over the $10,000 threshold, the fee is a fixed cost and belongs in your baseline pricing model, not in a marketing line you review quarterly. And watch the interaction with promotions: an Offsite Ads order that also used a 20% coupon pays 12% on the discounted total after your margin has already been cut once. Hidden costs that eat ecommerce profit covers the rest of the expenses that compound the same way.
Etsy Ads: the ROAS number the dashboard does not show you
Etsy Ads work differently. You set a daily budget, Etsy charges per click inside Etsy search, and you pay whether the click converts or not. There is no percentage fee.
The dashboard reports return on ad spend against revenue, which is almost always a flattering number, because the money that pays for ads is contribution margin, not revenue. The question is never "is ROAS above 1" — it is "is ROAS above my breakeven."
Breakeven ROAS = order value ÷ contribution margin after all fees and costs
For the $48 order above, contribution margin is $21.44, or 44.67% of revenue, so breakeven ROAS is $48.00 ÷ $21.44 = 2.24×. Anything below that loses money regardless of how comfortable a 1.7× looks in the interface.
| Contribution margin after Etsy fees and costs | Breakeven ROAS | With an 8% return rate |
|---|---|---|
| 30% | 3.33× | 3.62× |
| 35% | 2.86× | 3.11× |
| 40% | 2.50× | 2.72× |
| 44.67% (the $48 order above) | 2.24× | 2.43× |
| 50% | 2.00× | 2.17× |
| 60% | 1.67× | 1.81× |
Two honesty adjustments. Returns raise the bar, as the right column shows. And if a meaningful share of ad clicks would have found you organically, Etsy Ads is partly buying traffic you already had — so judge total shop revenue against total ad spend, not the attributed campaign figure alone. Work out your own number with the Breakeven ROAS Calculator before you raise a daily budget.
The $0.20 listing fee is not a one-time charge
Most sellers model the listing fee as a single $0.20 at upload. It is charged at creation, then again every four months while auto-renew is on, and again each time the item sells so the listing stays active. A multi-quantity listing is charged a renewal on every unit sold.
The practical floor is $0.20 per sale. The ceiling is paid by listings that never sell — three renewals a year, forever, for nothing.
| Active listings | Listings that sell at least once in a year | Renewal charges on non-sellers | Annual cost of dead listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 25 | 225 | $45.00 |
| 250 | 60 | 570 | $114.00 |
| 500 | 120 | 1,140 | $228.00 |
| 1,000 | 220 | 2,340 | $468.00 |
This is not an argument for a small catalogue — listing breadth genuinely helps Etsy search, and a listing that generates views but no sales is still doing work. It is an argument for a twice-yearly review of listings with zero views across two renewal cycles, which are the ones producing nothing at all. Turn off auto-renew on seasonal items you will not restock, and check what it is doing to sold-out variations.
What Etsy takes from a shop outside the US
If your listings are priced in one currency and your bank account holds another, Etsy converts the payout and charges roughly 2.5% on the converted amount. Per order it is trivial. Per year it is a raise you gave the platform.
| Order total | Etsy fees | Balance to convert | 2.5% conversion | Total taken | All-in rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $20.00 | $2.35 | $17.65 | $0.44 | $2.79 | 13.95% |
| $48.00 | $5.01 | $42.99 | $1.07 | $6.08 | 12.67% |
| $100.00 | $9.95 | $90.05 | $2.25 | $12.20 | 12.20% |
| $200.00 | $19.45 | $180.55 | $4.51 | $23.96 | 11.98% |
| $500.00 | $47.95 | $452.05 | $11.30 | $59.25 | 11.85% |
On the $48 order that is 12.67% instead of 10.44% — more than two points of margin, permanently, for a currency mismatch. Where Etsy supports it for your country, the fix is to list in the same currency your bank account holds so no conversion happens. Where it is not possible, build the 2.5% into your prices rather than absorbing it. If you also move money between countries outside Etsy, the Wise vs PayPal vs Payoneer Calculator compares what each route costs on the same amount.
Two other non-US items. Etsy charges a regulatory operating fee in several countries — the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey among them — typically 0.25% to 1.1% of item plus shipping, and it moves as the underlying digital services taxes move. And payment processing rates are country-specific: the 3% + $0.25 used throughout this article is the US rate, and other markets use both a different percentage and a different fixed amount. UK and EU sellers should model VAT separately with the VAT Calculator.
Etsy Payments: when the money actually arrives
You never send Etsy a payment for fees. Etsy Payments runs a shop payment account: sale proceeds land in it, fees are deducted from the balance, and the remainder is deposited to your bank on the schedule you pick — daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly, subject to a minimum deposit amount.
Three things worth planning around.
Money is not available immediately. Etsy holds new orders briefly before releasing them, and new shops are commonly placed on a payment reserve that withholds a percentage of each sale for up to about 45 days, released as orders are delivered without incident. A shop that scales hard in month one can be profitable on paper and unable to buy materials in the same week.
A negative balance is charged to your card. If refunds and fees exceed sales in a period, Etsy bills the payment method on file, usually at the start of the next month. Keep a cushion after a heavy refund month.
Refunds do not return every fee. Etsy credits back the 6.5% transaction fee on the refunded amount. The payment processing fee is generally not returned and the $0.20 listing fee never is. A fully refunded $48 order still costs you about $1.89 in unreturned fees plus any shipping already paid. If you sell in a category with a 10%+ return rate, that belongs in your fee model — and if you charge a restocking fee, the Restocking Fee Calculator shows what it actually recovers.
Etsy vs eBay vs Amazon on the same order
Fee comparisons usually fail because they line up headline rates. Run one identical order through each platform instead — the $48 item with free shipping, $13.40 product cost, $8.15 shipping label. All 2026 US rates.
| Platform | Fee structure | Fees on $48 | Effective rate | Net profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify (own store) | 2.9% + $0.30 | $1.69 | 3.52% | $24.76 | 51.58% |
| PayPal invoice | 2.99% + $0.49 | $1.93 | 4.02% | $24.52 | 51.08% |
| TikTok Shop | 6% referral | $2.88 | 6.00% | $23.57 | 49.10% |
| Etsy, organic | $0.20 + 6.5% + (3% + $0.25) | $5.01 | 10.44% | $21.44 | 44.67% |
| eBay | 13.25% + $0.40 per order | $6.76 | 14.08% | $19.69 | 41.02% |
| Amazon | 15% referral | $7.20 | 15.00% | $19.25 | 40.10% |
| Walmart | 15% referral | $7.20 | 15.00% | $19.25 | 40.10% |
| Poshmark | 20% flat | $9.60 | 20.00% | $16.85 | 35.10% |
| Etsy, Offsite Ads at 12% | above + 12% of order | $10.77 | 22.44% | $15.68 | 32.67% |
| Etsy, Offsite Ads at 15% | above + 15% of order | $12.21 | 25.44% | $14.24 | 29.67% |
On an organic order Etsy is meaningfully cheaper than eBay and Amazon — $1.75 per order less than eBay, $2.19 less than Amazon. On an Offsite Ads order it is the most expensive channel in the table, worse than Poshmark's flat 20%. Those are the same platform on the same product; the only variable is how the buyer arrived.
The spread across the whole table is $7.91 per order between the best channel and the worst, which is $949.20 a year at ten orders a month. That is the real argument for knowing your fee structure rather than guessing at it.
Three caveats before drawing conclusions. eBay's 13.25% is the common-category rate and applies to shipping charged as well — some categories run higher or lower, which the eBay Fee Calculator lets you override. Amazon's referral fee varies by category from roughly 8% to 17%, and Fulfilment by Amazon adds a per-unit charge that only the Amazon FBA Profit Calculator models properly. And Shopify's low per-order cost is real but comes with a monthly subscription and no built-in traffic — the Shopify Fee Calculator prices that against your actual volume. To run your own numbers across every channel at once, use the Marketplace Fee Comparison Calculator, and for the strategic picture beyond fees see Etsy vs eBay vs Amazon fees.
What Etsy takes from you in a year
Per-order fees feel small. Annual fees do not. At a $48 average order, with 20% of orders arriving through Offsite Ads — a realistic share for an established shop — here is the full annual bill.
| Orders per month | Annual gross | Standing fees | Offsite Ads | Total Etsy takes | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $5,760 | $601.20 | $172.80 | $774.00 | 13.44% |
| 25 | $14,400 | $1,503.00 | $345.60 | $1,848.60 | 12.84% |
| 50 | $28,800 | $3,006.00 | $691.20 | $3,697.20 | 12.84% |
| 100 | $57,600 | $6,012.00 | $1,382.40 | $7,394.40 | 12.84% |
| 200 | $115,200 | $12,024.00 | $2,764.80 | $14,788.80 | 12.84% |
The 10-orders-a-month row pays a higher share because that shop is under $10,000 in annual revenue and so pays the 15% Offsite Ads rate rather than 12% — the one case where being smaller costs more per dollar.
The blended figure to plan around is roughly 12.8% of gross revenue, not 6.5%. A shop turning over $57,600 hands Etsy about $7,394 a year. That is the salary line, the equipment line, or the entire materials budget for a quarter, depending on the business.
Pricing so the whole stack survives
Work backwards from margin, not forwards from cost. With free shipping and no ads, Etsy's percentage fees total 9.5% and the fixed fees total $0.45, so:
Net profit = (Price × 0.905) − unit cost − $0.45
Rearranged for a target net margin m, where unit cost includes materials, packaging and the shipping label:
Required price = (unit cost + $0.45) ÷ (0.905 − m)
Here it is for the $21.55 all-in unit cost from the worked example, with and without headroom for mandatory Offsite Ads at 12% on one order in five.
| Target net margin | Price, organic orders | Price, with Offsite Ads headroom |
|---|---|---|
| 30% | $36.36 | $37.87 |
| 35% | $39.64 | $41.43 |
| 40% | $43.56 | $45.74 |
| 45% | $48.35 | $51.04 |
| 50% | $54.32 | $57.74 |
| 55% | $61.97 | $66.47 |
| 60% | $72.13 | $78.29 |
The $48 price used throughout this article lands at 44.67% margin, which the table confirms — 45% needs $48.35. Note how little the Offsite Ads column adds at low margins and how much it adds at high ones: protecting a 60% margin against a mandatory 12% ad fee costs $6.16 of price, while protecting 30% costs $1.51.
A workable sequence:
- Get unit cost right first. Materials, packaging, the label you will actually buy, and your own labour at a real hourly rate. Costing your time at zero builds a business that can never hire. If you import materials, the Landed Cost Calculator will stop you understating it.
- Use the formula above, or add roughly 11% of the intended price as a fee allowance.
- Set from margin, not markup. A 50% markup is a 33% margin — the Profit Margin Calculator keeps those straight.
- Add Offsite Ads headroom if you are over the $10,000 threshold and cannot opt out.
- Check the floor. The Break-Even Calculator shows how many units at that price cover your fixed costs.
- Test discounts before you run them. Percentage fees fall with the price but the $0.45 and your unit cost do not, so margin erodes faster than the discount suggests. The Discount Margin Calculator shows the real cost of a sale event.
Then re-check whenever an input moves. A supplier price rise, a carrier rate change, or an Etsy fee change all shift the answer, and none of them will tell you. How to price products for profit goes deeper on the method.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Etsy take from a $100 sale?
$9.95, or 9.95% of the order. That is $0.20 listing fee, $6.50 transaction fee (6.5%), and $3.25 payment processing (3% + $0.25). You keep $90.05 before your own product and shipping costs. If the sale came through Offsite Ads, add $12.00 or $15.00 depending on your revenue tier.
Does Etsy take a percentage of shipping?
Yes. Both the 6.5% transaction fee and the 3% payment processing fee apply to the item price plus any shipping you charge the buyer. Charging $10 for shipping hands Etsy $0.95 before you pay the carrier, which is why shipping is never a clean pass-through. Sales tax Etsy collects and remits is excluded from the fee base.
Is Etsy cheaper than eBay?
On an organic sale, yes. On the same $48 order Etsy takes $5.01 (10.44%) against eBay's $6.76 (14.08%) — a $1.75 difference per order, or $210 a year at ten orders a month. On an Offsite Ads order Etsy takes $10.77 to $12.21 and becomes considerably more expensive than eBay. Compare your own numbers with the Marketplace Fee Comparison Calculator.
Can I avoid Etsy's Offsite Ads fee?
Only if your shop has made under $10,000 in the trailing 365 days, in which case you can opt out in your shop settings and pay nothing. Once you cross $10,000, participation is mandatory and permanent, though the rate drops from 15% to 12%. The fee is capped at $100 per order.
Do I pay Etsy fees if my item does not sell?
Yes. The $0.20 listing fee is charged when you create a listing and again every four months while auto-renew is on, whether or not anything sells. A shop with 500 listings where only 120 produce a sale spends about $228 a year keeping the other 380 alive.
Does Etsy refund fees when I refund an order?
Partly. Etsy credits back the 6.5% transaction fee on the refunded amount. The payment processing fee is generally not returned and the listing fee never is, so a fully refunded $48 order still costs roughly $1.89 in fees plus any shipping you already paid.
Check your own numbers
Every figure on this page was computed with TallyCrunch's free calculators at 2026 US rates, and none of them require a signup:
- Etsy Fee Calculator — the full stack and net profit on your own listing
- eBay Fee Calculator — 13.25% final value fee plus $0.40 per order
- Marketplace Fee Comparison Calculator — one order across every channel at once
- Profit Margin Calculator — price from margin instead of markup
- Breakeven ROAS Calculator — what Etsy Ads must return to make money
For the full dataset behind these comparisons, see online marketplace seller fees statistics, and for the levers that work across every platform, how to reduce seller fees.
Rates in this article are 2026 US rates as published by Etsy. Etsy changes its fee schedule, rates differ by country, and category-level variations exist — confirm against Etsy's current published fee schedule before repricing.