How much does Etsy take from a sale?
On a $100 item with free postage, sold by a US seller with no advertising attached, Etsy takes $9.95 and you keep $90.05. That is a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee ($6.50) and payment processing of 3% + $0.25 ($3.25) — and the number changes the moment postage, Offsite Ads, a non-US bank account or a second currency enters the picture, which is what the rest of this page works through.
The fees Etsy actually charges, from Etsy
There are six charges that can land on a single order. Every figure below is taken from Etsy's own published policy pages, linked at the foot of this page, and each is stated exclusive of VAT — Etsy applies VAT on seller fees separately, where applicable.
| Fee | Amount | Charged on |
|---|---|---|
| Listing fee | $0.20 USD | Each listing you create or renew. Listings expire after four months and auto-renew at $0.20 unless you switch them to manual. A multi-quantity listing renews at $0.20 after each item sells. |
| Transaction fee | 6.5% | The price you display, plus what you charge for delivery, gift wrapping and paid personalisation. US sellers: not charged on sales tax. Outside the US it applies to the listing price including any taxes you are responsible for. |
| Payment processing | Varies by the country of your bank account. US: 3% + $0.25. UK: 4% + £0.20. | The total amount of the sale, including tax and postage. |
| Offsite Ads | 15%, or 12% once your shop has passed $10,000 in sales over the prior 365 days | Only on orders Etsy attributes to an off-Etsy ad click in the previous 30 days. Capped at $100 per order. |
| Regulatory Operating fee | A fixed percentage that depends on your country. UK 0.48%, France 1.14%, Spain 0.88%, Italy 0.80%, Canada 0.50%, India 0.05%, Türkiye 1.67%, Hungary 1.97%, Vietnam 1.24% | Item price plus postage and gift wrap. Sellers outside those countries are not charged it. |
| Currency conversion | 2.5% | Only if you list in a currency other than your payment account currency. |
Etsy Plus ($10/month) and Pattern ($15/month after a 30-day trial) are subscriptions, not per-order fees, so they belong in your monthly overheads rather than in the sum below.
A $100 US sale, line by line
One item, $100, free postage, US bank account, no ads attached.
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Order total | $100.00 item + $0.00 postage | $100.00 |
| Transaction fee | 6.5% × $100.00 | −$6.50 |
| Payment processing | 3% × $100.00 + $0.25 | −$3.25 |
| Listing fee | one renewal at $0.20 | −$0.20 |
| You keep | $100.00 − $9.95 | $90.05 |
Etsy takes 9.95% of that order. If the item cost you $32 in materials, your gross profit is $58.05, or 58.05% of the sale price.
What postage does to the sum (and why "free shipping" is not free)
The transaction fee and the processing fee are both charged on the postage you collect, not just on the item. So a $100 item with $10 postage charged is a $110 order:
- Transaction fee: 6.5% × $110.00 = $7.15
- Payment processing: 3% × $110.00 + $0.25 = $3.55
- Listing fee: $0.20
- Total fees $10.90; Etsy credits you $99.10, and you then pay for the label.
Now price the same item at $110 with "free" postage. The order total is still $110, so the fees are still $10.90 — identical. Free postage does not add a fee; it just moves the postage cost from a line the buyer sees to one they do not. What it does change is the $0.65 of extra transaction fee and $0.30 of extra processing you pay for collecting $10 of postage in the first place, which is unavoidable either way: roughly $0.95 per $10 of postage for a US seller, and about $1.10 per £10 for a UK one once the Regulatory Operating fee is added.
The same order for a UK seller
A £100 item with £5 postage is a £105 order. A UK bank account pays 4% + £0.20 processing and a 0.48% Regulatory Operating fee on top of the 6.5% transaction fee:
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Order total | £100.00 item + £5.00 postage | £105.00 |
| Transaction fee | 6.5% × £105.00 | −£6.83 |
| Payment processing | 4% × £105.00 + £0.20 | −£4.40 |
| Regulatory Operating fee | 0.48% × £105.00 | −£0.50 |
| Listing fee | $0.20, converted at the day's rate | −~£0.15 |
| You keep | £105.00 − £11.88 | £93.12 |
Then £5.00 goes on the actual postage label, leaving £88.12 against a £100 item — 11.3% of the order gone in fees before the label. VAT may be charged on those fees on top, depending on your status and country; Etsy states its fees exclusive of VAT and applies it separately.
Offsite Ads: the fee that doubles the others
Offsite Ads only bites when Etsy has advertised your listing off-site, a buyer clicked, and they ordered from your shop within 30 days. When it does, it is charged on the whole order — item plus postage plus gift wrap — at 15%, or 12% once your shop has done $10,000 or more in sales over the prior 365 days.
On the $100 US order above:
- At 15%: $15.00 on top of the $9.95 → total fees $24.95, you keep $75.05.
- At 12%: $12.00 on top → total fees $21.95, you keep $78.05.
With a $32 item cost, your gross profit on that attributed order falls from $58.05 to $43.05 — a 26% cut to gross profit on the sales the programme touches. Two things in Etsy's policy are worth reading twice: below $10,000 in trailing sales you may opt out, and once you have ever crossed $10,000 the 12% fee applies for the lifetime of the shop whether you opted out before or not. The fee on any single order is capped at $100.
Working backwards: the price that leaves you what you want
Most sellers price forwards — cost, times some number — and then discover the fees. The arithmetic runs just as easily backwards. Split the fees into a percentage part and a flat part:
Price = (what you want to keep + flat fees) ÷ (1 − percentage fees)
For a US seller with no ads and no postage, the percentage part is 6.5% + 3% = 9.5% and the flat part is $0.25 + $0.20 = $0.45. To keep $70.00:
($70.00 + $0.45) ÷ (1 − 0.095) = $70.45 ÷ 0.905 = $77.85
Check it: $77.85 × 6.5% = $5.06, × 3% = $2.34, + $0.25 + $0.20 = $7.85 of fees, leaving exactly $70.00.
For a UK seller the percentage part is 6.5% + 4% + 0.48% = 10.98% and the flat part is £0.20 + roughly £0.15 for the listing = £0.35. To keep £70.00: (£70.00 + £0.35) ÷ 0.8902 = £79.03.
If the order is likely to be attributed to Offsite Ads, add 15 (or 12) points to the percentage part and re-run it — at 9.5% + 15% = 24.5%, keeping $70.00 needs a price of $93.31. That is the honest version of "does advertising pay": it is a price question, not a marketing question.
What this does not tell you
Three things here depend entirely on your own numbers and cannot be answered from a fee schedule. Your payment processing rate depends on the country of your bank account, and Etsy publishes a full country table. Whether VAT is added to your Etsy fees depends on your own VAT status and location. And whether a given price is viable depends on your materials, your labour and your return rate — the fee arithmetic tells you what lands in your account, not whether the item was worth making.
Arithmetic and general information only — not financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Your own figures, and your own accountant, decide what any of this means for you.
Do this sum for free
free profit margin & markup calculator — put your item cost and your after-fee proceeds into it and it gives you the gross margin, plus the price a target margin would need. It runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
If you would rather not build it yourself
The Etsy Shop Planner ($29) is a fee-aware pricing calculator, a product research sheet, a listing planner, a launch planner and a sales dashboard, so every listing is priced from its real after-fee proceeds rather than from a guess. One-time purchase, instant download.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Etsy take from a $100 sale?
For a US seller with free postage and no ads attached: $6.50 transaction fee (6.5%), $3.25 payment processing (3% + $0.25) and a $0.20 listing fee — $9.95 in total, leaving $90.05. If the order is attributed to Offsite Ads, add 15% of the order ($15.00), or 12% if the shop has passed $10,000 in sales over the prior 365 days.
Does Etsy charge fees on shipping?
Yes. Etsy states that the 6.5% transaction fee applies to the price you display plus the amount you charge for delivery and gift wrapping, and that the payment processing fee is assessed on the total amount of the sale including tax and postage. On $10 of postage collected, that is about $0.95 in extra fees for a US seller.
What is the Etsy listing fee and when is it charged?
It is $0.20 USD per listing, charged when you create or renew a listing whether or not the item sells. Listings expire after four months and renew automatically at $0.20 unless you set them to manual. Editing a listing is free, and a multi-quantity listing renews at $0.20 after each item sells.
Can I avoid Etsy Offsite Ads fees?
Etsy says you may opt out while your shop has made less than $10,000 in sales over the prior 365 days. Once your shop has ever reached $10,000, participation is required and a 12% fee applies on attributed orders for the lifetime of the shop, even if sales later fall back below the threshold. The fee on any single attributed order is capped at $100.
Why are Etsy fees higher for UK sellers than US sellers?
Two reasons, both in the fee schedule rather than in anything about the shop. Payment processing is set by the country of your bank account — 4% + £0.20 in the UK against 3% + $0.25 in the US — and UK sellers are also charged a 0.48% Regulatory Operating fee on item price plus postage, which US sellers are not.
What price do I need to charge to keep a set amount?
Price = (what you want to keep + flat fees) divided by (1 minus the percentage fees). For a US seller with no ads that is (target + $0.45) / 0.905, so keeping $70.00 needs a price of $77.85. For a UK seller it is (target + about £0.35) / 0.8902, so keeping £70.00 needs £79.03.
Sources
- Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (listing, transaction, Offsite Ads, subscription and currency conversion fees) — checked 2026-09-23
- Etsy Payments Policy — payment processing fees by country — checked 2026-09-23
- Etsy Help — What is a Regulatory Operating Fee? — checked 2026-09-23