You sell an item on Etsy for $35 and charge $5 for shipping, so the buyer pays $40. Etsy takes $4.25 in fees, and a sale that came from Etsy's offsite ads takes another $6.00. With a $10 item cost and $5 postage, you keep $20.75 on a normal sale and $14.75 on an offsite ad sale.
Etsy has four separate charges, and each works on a different base. Here is what they are.
I couldn't open Etsy's fees page directly, because it blocks automated requests. These figures come from search summaries of Etsy's own Fees and Payments Policy and Payments Policy pages, and I read them on 20 October 2026. Please check etsy.com/legal/fees yourself before you set prices.
What are the main charges?
- Listing fee: $0.20 per listing. A listing runs for four months or until the item sells.
- Transaction fee: 6.5% of the item price plus the shipping and gift wrapping you charge. For US sellers it doesn't apply to sales tax.
- Payment processing: 3% + $0.25 per order for a US bank account, worked out on the full order amount, including shipping and tax where it applies.
- Offsite ads: 15% on orders that Etsy's ads bring in. It drops to 12% for shops with $10,000 or more in sales over the last 365 days.
Processing varies by where your bank account is. For example, the same table lists 4% + 0.30 EUR for Germany. If you list in a currency other than your payment account's, Etsy adds a 2.5% currency conversion fee.
What does a $40 order cost in fees?
| Charge | How it is worked out | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction fee | 6.5% of $40 | $2.60 |
| Payment processing | 3% of $40 + $0.25 | $1.45 |
| Listing fee | flat, per listing | $0.20 |
| Total | $4.25 |
Take that and your $10 cost and $5 postage off the $40, and $20.75 is left. If the order came from an offsite ad, add 15% of $40, which is $6.00. Then you keep $14.75, which is 36.9% of the sale.
The listing fee isn't charged on each sale. It's charged per listing. The calculator's Etsy preset adds it to each order to keep things simple.
Why does shipping matter to the fees?
Because two of the charges include it. Etsy's transaction fee and the processing fee are both worked out on the item plus the shipping you charge. So free shipping isn't free from a fee point of view. If you build the shipping into the price instead, the fees are still charged on it.
Should I worry about offsite ads?
It depends on your margin. A 15% fee on top of the 10.6% you already pay is a large share, and the rate depends on your shop's sales. I haven't confirmed whether your shop can opt out, and I don't want to guess, so read Etsy's policy for the rules that apply to you.
If your margin is thin, work out what an offsite ad sale does to it before you set the price. In the example above it cuts the margin from 51.9% to 36.9%.
How do I run my own numbers?
- Open the multi-platform calculator and choose the Etsy preset. It loads 6.5%, 3% and 45 cents, which is the $0.25 processing fee plus the $0.20 listing fee.
- Enter the full order amount, shipping included, as the price.
- Enter your cost and your postage.
- To test an offsite ad sale, add 15 to the commission field.
For the pricing formula, see pricing for a 30% margin.
Who is writing this?
I'm Saqib, the developer behind PayoutCalc. I haven't sold on Etsy, so I stick to the published policy and the arithmetic. If a fee has changed, tell me and I'll fix it.