As of October 2026, a US Etsy seller pays a $0.20 listing fee per item, a 6.5% transaction fee on the order total, and a payment processing fee of 3% plus $0.25 per order. That is roughly 10% of a $50 sale before shipping and materials, and more on cheap items because of the fixed amounts.
What fees does Etsy charge?
According to Etsy’s Help Center, these are the three core fees:
- Listing fee: $0.20 per listing. Custom and private listings cost the same. One third-party guide adds that it renews every four months or when the item sells.
- Transaction fee: 6.5% of the total order amount, which includes the item price plus shipping and gift wrap if you charge for them. It is collected only on listings that sell.
- Payment processing fee: a percentage plus a fixed amount that varies by country. For sellers with a US bank account it is 3% plus $0.25 per order, on top of the 6.5%.
A refund on a sale paid through Etsy Payments also credits the processing fee proportionally, per the Help Center.
Checkout Page, a competing platform, also reports that there is no monthly fee to open a shop, and that sales in a currency different from your payout currency add a 2.5% conversion fee. Treat those two points as single-source and check them on Etsy before relying on them.
How much is the real cost on a $25, $50 and $100 sale?
These numbers are our calculation using the rates above, for a US sale with free shipping, no ads and one listing fee per sale:
| Sale price | Transaction (6.5%) | Processing (3% + $0.25) | Listing | Total fees | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $25 | $1.63 | $1.00 | $0.20 | $2.83 | $22.17 |
| $50 | $3.25 | $1.75 | $0.20 | $5.20 | $44.80 |
| $100 | $6.50 | $3.25 | $0.20 | $9.95 | $90.05 |
That is about 11.3%, 10.4% and 9.9% of the price. Checkout Page publishes the same totals. The fixed $0.45 (listing plus processing) hurts a $10 item far more than a $100 one.
If you charge shipping, the percentage fees apply to it as well. On a $20 item with $5 shipping, the transaction fee is 6.5% of $25, or $1.63, not of $20.
What is Offsite Ads and when does it apply?
Offsite Ads are ads Etsy places on other sites for your listings. Etsy’s seller page says the program is optional for most sellers but can be required depending on your sales over 12 months. Checkout Page reports that the fee is 15% for shops under $10,000 in annual sales and 12% at $10,000 or more, capped at $100 per order, charged only on orders that come from an Etsy-placed ad. It also says the program is mandatory above $10,000. Those rates come from one source, so confirm them in your shop settings.
Here is what that does to a $25 order: the 15% fee is $3.75, which takes total fees from $2.83 to $6.58, leaving you $18.42. That is 26.3% of the price gone before you pay for materials.
What about Etsy Ads and Etsy Plus?
Etsy Ads, the onsite advertising, is optional, charged by click against a daily budget you set. Etsy Plus is an optional subscription that Checkout Page puts at about $10 a month, and it does not change per-sale fees. Neither is needed to start selling.
How do you price an item so fees do not eat your margin?
- Add up your cost: materials, labor time, packaging and shipping supplies.
- Add the fixed part of the fees: $0.45 per order in the US.
- Divide by what is left after the percentage fees. With 6.5% plus 3%, you keep 90.5% of the price, so divide your cost plus $0.45 by 0.905.
- Test with Offsite Ads. If it applies to you, run the same math with 0.755 (keeping 75.5%) and see if the price still works.
Example: a candle costing you $12 to make and ship. ($12 + $0.45) divided by 0.905 is $13.76, which only covers your cost and the fees. For a $5 profit, ($12 + $5 + $0.45) divided by 0.905 is $19.28. The numbers are ours and rounded, so adjust them to your own costs.
Who should think twice?
Sellers with very low-priced items, because fixed fees take a large share. Sellers with thin margins, who may not absorb Offsite Ads if they reach the mandatory tier. And sellers outside the US, whose processing fee, currency conversion and regulatory fees differ by country, according to the Help Center and Checkout Page.
If you are comparing marketplaces, see eBay selling fees and the breakdown of Amazon seller fees. Our guide to pricing products to sell online covers the margin math in more depth.
Frequently asked questions
Does Etsy charge a monthly fee to open a shop?
Etsy’s help pages describe per-listing, per-sale and processing fees. Checkout Page states there is no monthly fee to open a shop. Etsy Plus is optional.
Is the 6.5% transaction fee charged on shipping too?
Yes. According to the Etsy Help Center, it applies to the total cost of the item along with shipping and gift wrap if you charge your customers for them.
Do I pay the listing fee again if the item does not sell?
Third-party guides report that listings renew every four months. Check how renewal works for your listings in your shop.
Are Offsite Ads required?
Optional for most sellers, but Etsy’s sell page says it may be required depending on your sales over 12 months. Checkout Page puts the mandatory point above $10,000 in annual sales.
Do fees differ outside the US?
Yes. The processing fee varies by country, and some countries add a regulatory operating fee, so check the table in the Help Center.
