Etsy's fees are not hidden, but they are spread across several pages and several moments in a sale. One fee hits when you list, two hit when you sell, and one more can hit if a shopper found you through an ad. Add them up and a US seller typically hands Etsy roughly 11% of an ordinary order, or around 26% if Offsite Ads are involved.
This guide walks through every fee a US seller can be charged, quotes the current rate from Etsy's own Fees & Payments Policy, and works one complete example so you can see where every cent goes. Figures were checked on November 8, 2026 against the policy version dated October 5, 2026. If you want the numbers for your own prices, the Etsy fee calculator does the arithmetic for you.
The four fees most sellers pay
1. Listing fee: $0.20 per listing
You pay $0.20 USD every time you create or renew a listing. A listing lasts four months and then renews automatically (another $0.20) unless you switch that listing to manual renewal in your Listings Manager. You pay this fee whether or not the item sells. Editing a listing is free.
Two wrinkles catch people out:
- Multi-quantity listings. If you list five of the same mug, you pay $0.20 up front, then another $0.20 each time one sells, because the listing auto-renews for the remaining stock.
- Private listings are the exception: the $0.20 is only charged if the private listing sells.
2. Transaction fee: 6.5%
When an item sells, Etsy charges 6.5% of "the price you display for each listing plus the amount you charge for delivery and gift wrapping." Any optional personalization fee is treated as part of the item price and is also charged at 6.5%.
For US sellers, the transaction fee is not applied to sales tax. It is applied to shipping, though, which matters when you decide between charging shipping separately or building it into the price (spoiler: the fee is the same either way).
3. Payment processing fee: 3% + $0.25
Almost every Etsy sale goes through Etsy Payments, which charges US sellers 3% plus a flat $0.25 per order. Unlike the transaction fee, this one is taken from "the item's total sale price, including its shipping fees, and any applicable sales tax." So the 3% is calculated on a slightly bigger number than the 6.5% is.
If you refund an order, Etsy credits the processing fee back proportionally.
4. Offsite Ads fee: 12% or 15% (only on attributed orders)
Etsy advertises listings on Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Bing and other channels. If a shopper clicks one of those ads and then buys anything from your shop within 30 days, Etsy charges an advertising fee on that order:
- 15% if your shop made less than $10,000 USD in sales over the prior 365 days. You can opt out at this level.
- 12% once your shop has reached $10,000 in any 365-day window. At that point participation is mandatory for the lifetime of the shop, even if sales later drop.
The fee is calculated on item price plus shipping plus gift wrap (not sales tax for US sellers) and is capped at $100 per order. This fee deserves its own article (see our separate guide to Etsy Offsite Ads), but the short version is: know your margin before you decide whether to stay in.
Fees you might pay
- Etsy Ads (onsite): you set a daily budget and pay per click. There is no fixed rate; cost depends on competition for your keywords.
- Etsy Plus: optional subscription, $10 USD per month, which includes 15 listing credits and $5 in Etsy Ads credit each cycle.
- Pattern: Etsy's standalone website builder, $15 USD per month after a 30-day trial.
- Currency conversion: 2.5% of the sale if you list in a currency other than your payment account currency. US sellers listing in USD never see this.
- Shipping labels: whatever the carrier charges, deducted from your payment account.
- Regulatory operating fee: applies to sellers in certain countries (the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Türkiye, India, Vietnam and Canada as of this check). It does not apply to US sellers.
- In-person sales via Square: no 6.5% transaction fee and no Etsy processing fee, but Square charges its own processing fee and Etsy charges $0.20 for items not synced from your inventory.
A worked example: one $28 item with $6 shipping
Say you sell a candle for $28 and charge $6 shipping. The buyer lives in a state with 8% sales tax, so Etsy collects $2.72 in tax (8% of $34) and remits it to the state. The buyer pays $36.72 in total.
| Fee | Calculated on | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Listing fee | flat | $0.20 |
| Transaction fee (6.5%) | $28 + $6 = $34.00 | $2.21 |
| Payment processing (3% + $0.25) | $34 + $2.72 tax = $36.72 | $1.10 + $0.25 = $1.35 |
| Total Etsy fees | $3.76 |
Working: 6.5% of $34.00 is $2.21. 3% of $36.72 is $1.1016, which rounds to $1.10, plus the $0.25 flat fee gives $1.35. Add the $0.20 listing fee and the total is $3.76.
You collected $34.00 (the $2.72 tax never belonged to you). After fees, you keep $30.24. That is an effective fee rate of 11.1% of your $34 ($3.76 ÷ $34 = 0.1106). Out of that $30.24 you still have to pay for the candle, the box, and the actual postage.
The same order via an Offsite Ad
Now suppose the buyer clicked an Etsy ad on Pinterest ten days earlier. If your shop is under the $10,000 threshold, Etsy adds a 15% Offsite Ads fee on $34.00, which is $5.10. Your fees jump from $3.76 to $8.86, which is 26.1% of the order, and you keep $25.14. At the 12% rate the fee would be $4.08, total fees $7.84 (23.1%), and you would keep $26.16.
Try your own numbers in the Etsy fee calculator; it lets you toggle Offsite Ads on and off so you can see both outcomes.
When each fee is actually charged
Fees are deducted from your Etsy Payment account balance rather than billed separately, which is why they feel invisible. The listing fee is taken when you publish or renew. Transaction, processing and Offsite Ads fees are taken as each sale occurs. Subscription fees come out monthly. If your balance cannot cover them, Etsy bills you and expects payment within 15 days of your monthly statement.
Your statement is available at the start of each month and lists every fee. It is worth reading once in detail, because that is where you will spot things like auto-renewals on listings you meant to retire.
What this means for your pricing
Because three of the four main fees are percentages, you cannot "absorb" them by selling more; they scale with your price. A sensible habit is to price from your target take-home backwards rather than from cost forwards. Our guide to pricing Etsy products so fees don't eat your profit shows the formula, and the Etsy pricing calculator runs it instantly.
FAQ
Does Etsy charge a monthly fee?
No. A standard Etsy shop has no monthly fee. Etsy Plus ($10/month) and Pattern ($15/month) are optional subscriptions.
Is the 6.5% transaction fee charged on shipping?
Yes. The fee is 6.5% of the item price plus whatever you charge for shipping and gift wrap. Sales tax is excluded for US sellers.
Why is my payment processing fee slightly higher than 3% of my item price?
Because it is 3% of the whole charge to the buyer (item, shipping and sales tax), plus a fixed $0.25. The $0.25 matters a lot on cheap items: on a $5 digital download it alone is 5% of the price.
Are Etsy fees refundable if I cancel a sale?
Etsy's Help Center says the payment processing fee is "credited proportionally" when you refund a sale made through Etsy Payments. The Fees & Payments Policy also states that service fees, including prepaid fees such as listing fees, are non-refundable. Check your payment account after any cancellation to see exactly which credits appeared.
Last reviewed: November 2026 · By Muhammad Shujah Uddin Qazi · Fees change; always check the platform's official fee page.