Every Etsy sale involves multiple fees, and they stack up faster than most sellers expect. Between listing fees, transaction fees, processing fees, ads fees, and more—it can be overwhelming. So let’s break it down for you.
Here’s the short version: you’ll pay a $0.20 listing fee per item, a 6.5% transaction fee on the total sale price (including shipping), payment processing fees of 3% + $0.25 per transaction in the US, and potentially a 15% Offsite Ads fee if a buyer clicks an Etsy-placed ad before purchasing.
Add it all up and the typical Etsy seller loses roughly 20–30%+ of their sale price to fees before accounting for materials, labor, or shipping costs.
That number shocks a lot of people.
And it especially surprises newer sellers who list their first few products, make a sale, and then wonder why their payout is so much smaller than the sticker price.
Understanding Etsy Fees in 2026
Before you set your prices, you need to understand the fees Etsy takes because they directly affect your profit margins.
Etsy fees are non-negotiable. They can feel frustrating at first, but they’re the price of access to Etsy’s massive audience and trusted platform. The key is to factor them into your pricing so you’re still profitable after all costs.
If you’re new to selling, expect fees to feel overwhelming at first. They add up faster than you think. But don’t let that scare you off—Etsy remains one of the most affordable places to sell handmade, vintage, and craft supplies, with millions of active buyers every month.
Here’s a clear breakdown of every Etsy fee sellers need to know for 2026.
Every Etsy Fee at a Glance: 2025–2026 Quick Reference
Before we dig into the details, here’s the full list of fees you may encounter as an Etsy seller:
- Listing fee: $0.20 per listing (renews every four months or upon sale)
- Transaction fee: 6.5% of the total sale price, including shipping
- Payment processing fee: Varies by country; 3% + $0.25 per transaction in the US
- Offsite Ads fee: 15% of sale price (12% for sellers earning $10,000+ in trailing 12 months)
- Etsy Ads (on-site): Variable daily budget, cost-per-click model
- Regulatory operating fee: Varies by jurisdiction, applied per transaction
- Currency conversion fee: 2.5% if your payment currency differs from your listing currency
- Etsy Plus subscription: $10/month (optional)
- Shipping label fees: Varies by carrier and package details
Understanding what each of these fees actually costs is step one. Step two is making sure every listing in your shop is optimized well enough to justify those costs. Marma AI can audit your existing listings for SEO improvements in seconds—so you’re not paying fees on listings that aren’t pulling their weight.
Etsy Listing Fees: What the $0.20 Per Listing Really Costs
The $0.20 listing fee is the most straightforward fee Etsy charges. Every time you create a new listing, you pay $0.20. That listing stays active for four months. If it doesn’t sell, you can renew it for another $0.20. If it does sell, Etsy automatically renews it (if you have remaining quantity) and charges $0.20 again.
For a seller with 10 listings, that’s $2.00 every four months—barely noticeable. But here’s where it adds up:
- Multi-quantity listings: If you sell 50 units of a single listing in a month, that’s 50 × $0.20 = $10.00 in listing fees from that one product.
- Large inventories: A shop with 500 listings pays $100 just to keep everything live for four months. If half of those listings get zero views, that’s $50 spent on dead weight.
- Variations don’t multiply the fee, but each unique listing does.
The $0.20 per listing feels small in isolation, but it’s a real operational cost at scale. This is exactly where prioritization matters. If you’re running a large inventory, tools like Marmalead can help you identify which listings are targeting keywords with actual search demand—so you’re not paying $0.20 every four months to keep a listing active for a keyword nobody searches.
Etsy Transaction Fees: The 6.5% Core Commission
The transaction fee is the big one. Etsy takes 6.5% of the total sale price, and that includes the shipping price the buyer pays. This is the detail that catches many sellers off guard.
If you sell an item for $30 with $5 shipping, Etsy’s transaction fee is 6.5% of $35 = $2.28. Not 6.5% of $30.
This matters even more if you’ve built shipping costs into your item price to offer “free shipping.” If you price an item at $35 with free shipping instead of $30 + $5 shipping, the transaction fee is identical—6.5% of $35 either way. But many sellers who raise prices to absorb shipping don’t realize the transaction fee scales with that inflated price.
The 6.5% rate has been in effect since April 2022, when Etsy raised it from 5%. Former CEO Josh Silverman framed the increase as an investment in marketing, seller tools, and platform trust. According to Etsy’s official announcement, no further transaction fee increase has been announced through 2025.
That said, Etsy’s investor communications consistently emphasize growing their “take rate” (the percentage of seller revenue Etsy captures), so assuming fees will stay frozen forever isn’t a safe bet. For now, 6.5% is the number to plan around.
Etsy Payment Processing Fees: What Etsy Payments Charges
Nearly all Etsy sellers are required to use Etsy Payments, the platform’s built-in payment processing system. In the US, the payment processing fee is 3% + $0.25 per transaction.
That fixed $0.25 component is important to understand. On a $50 sale, $0.25 represents 0.5% of the sale price. On a $10 sale, it represents 2.5%. This means lower-priced items carry a disproportionately higher effective fee rate. It’s one of the reasons sellers of inexpensive items—stickers, digital downloads under $5, small accessories—feel the fee squeeze more acutely.
Payment processing rates vary by country. Sellers in the UK pay 4% + £0.20. Canadian sellers pay 3% + CAD $0.25. You can check your specific rate on Etsy’s Fees and Payments Policy page.
One thing to note: Payment processing fees apply to the total amount the buyer pays, including shipping and any applicable sales tax that Etsy collects and remits. However, Etsy does not charge its transaction fee on the sales tax portion—only the payment processing fee applies there.
Etsy Offsite Ads Fee: Can You Opt-Out?
Etsy runs advertising campaigns on platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to drive buyers to Etsy listings. If a buyer clicks one of these Offsite Ads and purchases from your shop within 30 days, you pay a 15% fee on the total sale price.
If your shop earned $10,000 or more in the trailing 12-month period, two things change: your Offsite Ads rate drops to 12%, but you can no longer opt out of the program. It becomes mandatory.
Sellers earning under $10,000 can opt out of Offsite Ads in their shop settings. Many sellers do exactly this because a 15% fee on top of the standard transaction and processing fees can annihilate margins on lower-priced items.
Here’s the math on a $30 sale (no shipping) with Offsite Ads:
- Listing fee: $0.20
- Transaction fee (6.5%): $1.95
- Payment processing (3% + $0.25): $1.15
- Offsite Ads fee (15%): $4.50
- Total fees: $7.80—that’s 26% of the sale price
For sellers who want to stay under the $10,000 threshold to retain their opt-out ability—or who simply want to maximize organic sales to offset the sting when Offsite Ads do trigger—Marma AI can help you quickly optimize multiple listings so they rank better in Etsy search without paid promotion.
For a deeper dive on this topic, check out our guide on Etsy Offsite Ads: What Sellers Need to Know.
Etsy Ads (On-Site) vs. Offsite Ads: How Advertising Fees Work
It’s easy to confuse Etsy Ads with Offsite Ads because the names are similar, but they work very differently.
Etsy Ads are the on-site promoted listings that appear in Etsy search results. You set a daily budget (minimum $1/day), and Etsy charges you per click. You control which listings are promoted and how much you spend. This is entirely optional and fully within your control.
Offsite Ads are Etsy’s external advertising program (Google, social media, etc.). You don’t control the creative, placement, or budget. You only pay when a sale is attributed to an Offsite Ad click. The fee structure is described above.
The key strategic point: every dollar you invest in organic SEO is a dollar you potentially save on both Etsy Ads and Offsite Ads. If your listing ranks on page one of Etsy search for a high-traffic keyword, you don’t need to pay for on-site ads to get visibility, and more of your sales come through organic channels rather than Offsite Ad clicks.
This is where Marmalead’s keyword research tools make a real difference. By targeting keywords with strong search volume and manageable competition, you can build organic traffic that doesn’t carry advertising fees on top of your standard Etsy costs. More on this strategy in our guide to Etsy Ads vs. Organic Traffic.
Regulatory Operating Fees, Currency Conversion, and Other Hidden Costs
Beyond the core fees, there are a few line items that regularly surprise sellers.
Regulatory Operating Fee
Etsy charges a regulatory operating fee in certain jurisdictions to cover the cost of complying with local regulations. This fee varies by location and shows up as a separate line item in your payment account. It’s not a percentage that Etsy publishes as a single universal number—you’ll need to check your own dashboard to see what applies to you.
Many sellers first notice this fee when they’re reconciling their payment account and see a charge they don’t recognize. It’s legitimate, it’s documented, and it’s separate from everything else.
Currency Conversion Fee
If you sell in a currency different from your payment currency, Etsy charges a 2.5% currency conversion fee. This applies to international sellers or sellers who list in one currency but get paid in another. It’s easy to overlook but can add up for shops with significant international sales.
Shipping Label Fees
If you purchase shipping labels through Etsy, the label cost is deducted from your payment account. Etsy does offer discounted rates through partnerships with USPS, FedEx, and other carriers, which can save money compared to retail shipping rates. But the cost of the label is still a real expense that reduces your payout.
The “Why Is My Payout So Small?” Problem
A recurring theme in the Etsy Community forums is sellers expressing shock at their payout amounts. The most common culprits are: not realizing the transaction fee applies to shipping, not expecting an Offsite Ads charge, or not knowing about the regulatory operating fee.
If your payout seems off, go to Shop Manager → Finances → Payment Account and review each line item. Every fee is broken down there—it just takes some patience to read through it.
For more on reading your shop data, see our post on How to Read Your Etsy Stats and Payment Account.
Shipping Labels & Purchase Protection
When you ship orders, you have the option to buy shipping labels directly through Etsy. You’ll pay the same rate the carrier charges, which is calculated based on the package weight, size, destination, and chosen shipping speed.
Buying labels through Etsy is optional but highly recommended.
Why? Because Etsy’s Purchase Protection program only covers you if you use Etsy’s labels (or if you manually upload valid tracking information). This protection helps cover you in case of lost or damaged packages.
So while you’re free to ship on your own, using Etsy’s labels keeps your shipping process streamlined and keeps your orders eligible for protection.
Etsy Plus Subscription: Is It Worth $10/Month?
Etsy Plus is an optional subscription that costs $10/month and gives sellers:
- 15 listing credits per month ($3.00 value)
- $5 Etsy Ads credit per month
- Advanced shop customization (banner templates, featured listing layouts)
- Restock requests (buyers can sign up to be notified when sold-out items return)
- Discounts on custom web addresses and packaging
Is it worth it? That depends entirely on your shop. The listing credits and Ads credit offset $8 of the $10 cost, so you’re effectively paying $2/month for the extra features. If you value the customization options and restock notifications, it’s a modest investment. If you don’t use Etsy Ads and don’t need the cosmetic upgrades, you can skip it without losing anything critical.
Etsy Plus does not give you any SEO advantage, priority placement, or reduced fees on transactions.
Is Etsy Pattern Worth $15/Month?
Etsy Pattern is an optional website builder that lets you create your own stand-alone online store using your existing Etsy listings.
It costs $15/month after a free 30-day trial and gives you a simple, customizable site under your own domain.
Keep in mind: Sales made through your Pattern site still incur Etsy Payments processing fees, even though you don’t pay Etsy’s listing or transaction fees for Pattern-only sales.
It’s a good option if you want your own branded storefront alongside your Etsy shop, but it’s not required.
Real Math: What Etsy Actually Takes From a $25, $50, and $100 Sale
Let’s walk through three real scenarios. For each, we’ll assume a US-based seller using Etsy Payments, with the buyer paying for shipping separately, and no Offsite Ads attribution.
$25 Sale + $5 Shipping ($30 total)
- Listing fee: $0.20
- Transaction fee (6.5% of $30): $1.95
- Payment processing (3% of $30 + $0.25): $1.15
Total fees: $3.30 → 13.2% of the $25 item price (or 11% of the $30 total)
$50 Sale + $7 Shipping ($57 total)
- Listing fee: $0.20
- Transaction fee (6.5% of $57): $3.71
- Payment processing (3% of $57 + $0.25): $1.96
Total fees: $5.87 → 11.7% of the $50 item price (or 10.3% of the $57 total)
$100 Sale + $10 Shipping ($110 total)
- Listing fee: $0.20
- Transaction fee (6.5% of $110): $7.15
- Payment processing (3% of $110 + $0.25): $3.55
Total fees: $10.90 → 10.9% of the $100 item price (or 9.9% of the $110 total)
Now add Offsite Ads to the $50 example: that’s an extra $8.55 (15% of $57), bringing total fees to $14.42—28.8% of the item price.
The pattern is clear: higher-priced items have a lower effective fee rate because the fixed $0.25 processing charge and the $0.20 listing fee become smaller percentages of the total. And Offsite Ads can nearly double your fee burden on any sale they touch.
Sellers who use Marmalead to identify higher-demand keywords can often support premium pricing, which dilutes the impact of those fixed fees on profit margins. If the market data shows buyers in your niche regularly purchase at $45–$60, pricing at $25 just to compete undercuts your margins unnecessarily.
How to Price Your Products to Protect Your Profit After Etsy Fees
The most common pricing mistake on Etsy is setting prices based on what “feels right” or what competitors charge, without accounting for the full fee stack plus cost of goods, labor, and shipping materials.
Here’s a simple framework:
- Calculate your total cost per unit: Materials + labor (pay yourself) + packaging + shipping supplies
- Add your target profit margin: This is what you actually want to earn, not just break even
- Divide that number by 0.87 (if you want to account for the ~13% effective fee rate on a mid-range item without Offsite Ads) or by 0.72 (if you want to account for the ~28% rate with Offsite Ads)
Example: Your item costs $12 to make and ship, and you want $13 profit per sale ($25 target).
- Without Offsite Ads: $25 ÷ 0.87 = $28.74 listing price
- With Offsite Ads risk: $25 ÷ 0.72 = $34.72 listing price
Doing a little math before listing your product is the difference between a sustainable business and one that slowly bleeds money.
To set competitive prices with confidence, you need to know what your market actually bears. Marma AI can analyze your listing content and the competitive landscape for your target keywords, helping you understand whether your price point is viable before you commit to it. Pair that with our full guide on How to Price Your Etsy Products for Profit.
Use Our Etsy Fee Calculator
Etsy’s fees can add up quickly, and it’s not always easy to track them all when setting your prices. If you want a clear picture of your costs and profit margins, use our Etsy Fee Calculator.
Enter your item price, shipping charge, cost of goods, and actual shipping cost. The calculator shows you exactly how much Etsy will deduct in listing, transaction, payment processing, and Offsite Ads fees—plus your gross profit per sale and how that scales across 10, 50, and 100 units.
It’s one of the easiest ways to make sure your pricing actually covers your costs, and leaves you with the profit you want.
Etsy Fees vs. Shopify, Amazon Handmade, and eBay: 2026 Comparison
Sellers regularly ask whether Etsy’s fees are competitive. Here’s how the major platforms compare at a high level:
Etsy: ~10–13% effective fee rate without ads, up to ~28%+ with Offsite Ads. No monthly fee required (Etsy Plus is optional). Built-in marketplace traffic.
Shopify: Monthly plans start at $39/month (Basic). Payment processing is 2.9% + $0.30 (Shopify Payments) with no transaction fee, or an additional 2% transaction fee if using a third-party gateway. No marketplace traffic—you drive all your own visitors.
Amazon Handmade: 15% referral fee per sale. No listing fee. Professional selling plan is $39.99/month (sometimes waived for Handmade sellers). Massive built-in audience but strict category requirements and less brand identity.
eBay: 13.25% final value fee for most categories (up to $7,500 per item, then 2.35% above that). $0.35 per listing beyond 250 free monthly listings. Payment processing included in the final value fee.
The bottom line: Etsy’s standard fees (without Offsite Ads) are broadly competitive with other marketplaces. Where it gets expensive is when Offsite Ads kick in or when you’re selling low-priced items where fixed fees hit harder. Shopify is cheaper per transaction at higher volumes but requires you to build and market your own storefront—which is a very different business model.
For a more detailed comparison, see our post on Etsy Seller Fees vs. Shopify: Which Platform is Right for You?.
How to Reduce Your Effective Etsy Fee Rate With Better SEO
Here’s something that doesn’t get said enough in fee discussions: your effective fee rate isn’t fixed. You can lower it.
Not by avoiding fees—those are non-negotiable. But by shifting the composition of your sales toward organic traffic and away from paid channels:
- Organic sales cost you listing + transaction + processing fees (~10–13%)
- Etsy Ads sales add your per-click cost on top of that
- Offsite Ads sales add 12–15% on top of that
If you can increase the percentage of your sales that come from organic Etsy search, your blended fee rate drops significantly. And the way you do that is through better Etsy SEO—better titles, better tags, better keyword targeting.
This is where Marmalead is genuinely useful. It shows you real search volume and competition data for Etsy keywords, so you can target the terms most likely to drive organic traffic to your listings. Instead of guessing at tags or copying competitors, you’re making data-driven decisions about which keywords to build your listings around.
And if you want to move fast, Marma AI can generate optimized titles, tags, and descriptions aligned with high-demand search terms. For sellers already overwhelmed by fee complexity, having an AI tool that handles the SEO optimization piece means you can focus on creating products and managing your business—while your listings work harder to rank organically.
For a full walkthrough, check out How to Use Marmalead for Etsy Keyword Research and our foundational guide to Etsy SEO 101: How the Etsy Search Algorithm Works.
Etsy Fees FAQ
Are Etsy listing fees auto-renewed?
Yes. Listings stay active for 4 months. If your item doesn’t sell in that time, it will auto-renew (if you’ve enabled that option) and you’ll be charged another $0.20. You can turn auto-renew on or off under Renewal Options in your Listings Manager.
How do listing fees work with multiple quantities?
When you create a listing, you pay $0.20 upfront. That covers the first sale. Every additional item sold from that same listing costs another $0.20. If you have 10 units of the same item and sell them all, you’ll pay $2.00 total in listing fees.
What is a private listing and how much does it cost?
A private listing is for a specific buyer — often for custom or one-off items. You’re only charged the $0.20 listing fee when the buyer completes the purchase.
What is Etsy’s transaction fee?
Etsy charges 6.5% of the total order amount, including the item price, shipping, and any personalization or gift wrap fees. This fee only applies when you make a sale.
Does Etsy charge a fee on shipping?
Yes. The 6.5% transaction fee applies to any shipping fees you charge the customer, since it’s part of the order total.
Do I have to pay for shipping labels?
Etsy labels are optional, but you’ll pay carrier rates if you use them. They make shipping easier and are required if you want to qualify for Etsy’s Purchase Protection Program.
How much does Etsy charge to process payments?
When a buyer pays through Etsy Payments, Etsy charges U.S. sellers 3% of the order total + $0.25 per order. Rates vary by country—UK sellers pay 4% + £0.20, Canadian sellers pay 3% + CA$0.25, and EU sellers pay 4% + €0.30.
Does Etsy charge for in-person sales?
If you take payments in-person through Square (and it’s not synced with your Etsy inventory), Etsy still charges a $0.20 transaction fee. Square may also charge their standard processing fees.
Can I opt out of Offsite Ads?
If your shop earned less than $10,000 in the past 12 months, yes — you can opt out in your shop settings under Marketing → Offsite Ads. If you earned $10,000 or more, participation is mandatory.
What does Etsy Plus include?
Etsy Plus is an optional $10/month subscription. You get 15 free listing credits, $5 in Etsy Ads credits, and some shop customization perks. It’s completely optional.
What is Etsy Pattern?
Etsy Pattern is an optional $15/month service that lets you create your own website using your Etsy listings. You still pay payment processing fees on sales, but Pattern doesn’t charge the standard listing or transaction fees for Pattern-only sales.
How much do Etsy Ads cost?
Etsy Ads (Onsite) let you set your budget and pay per click — typically $0.20–$0.50 per click. Offsite Ads charge 15% if you earned under $10,000 in the past year (opt-out available), or 12% if you earned $10,000+ (mandatory).
Why does Etsy charge so many fees?
Etsy’s fees cover the cost of running the marketplace, processing payments, providing buyer protection, and driving traffic to your listings through search and advertising. While they do add up, they’re still lower than many competing platforms when you factor in the built-in traffic Etsy provides.
What percentage does Etsy take overall?
It depends on the sale, but most U.S. sellers pay between 10–13% in combined fees on a standard sale (listing + transaction + processing). If Offsite Ads are triggered, that jumps to 22–28%. Use our Etsy Fee Calculator to see your exact effective fee rate.
Over to You
Etsy fees are just part of running a shop, and compared to many other marketplaces, they’re still relatively affordable. The key is understanding how they work and building them into your pricing from the start.
If your profits feel too tight, don’t panic. Run your numbers through our Etsy Fee Calculator and adjust your prices or strategy as needed.
The two biggest levers you have are pricing and organic traffic. Price your products to absorb Etsy fees and invest in Etsy SEO so more of your sales come through organic search instead of paid channels. Every organic sale is a sale without the 12–15% Offsite Ads fee on top.
Every platform charges fees, but with smart planning, you can keep more of your earnings and grow a healthy, profitable shop.
As always, happy selling!
