Etsy Fee & Profit Calculator: How Listing, Transaction and Ads Fees Stack
A $28 sale on Etsy can leave you a lot less after listing fees, the transaction fee, payment processing, optional Offsite Ads, materials, shipping and your time. This guide breaks down how those fees stack, with a worked example, then points to free and paid spreadsheets that do the math for you.
The main Etsy selling fees (examples)
For many US sellers using Etsy Payments, the core fees look like this (illustrative):
| Fee | Example rate (US) | Usually applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Listing fee | $0.20 per listing | Publishing a listing (lasts up to four months or until sold) |
| Transaction fee | 6.5% | Item price + shipping + gift wrap (US: not sales tax) |
| Payment processing | 3% + $0.25 per order | Order total including shipping (and tax where applicable); rate varies by bank country |
| Offsite Ads | 15% or 12% of attributed order | Only when a sale is attributed to an Offsite Ad; capped (example: $100 per order). Optional below $10k trailing sales; required at/above that threshold at the lower rate |
You may also see advertising (Etsy Ads), Pattern, or other optional fees. Always confirm your own rates in your seller account and on Etsy's fee pages.
Worked example: a $28 item
Illustrative only. Assume a US seller, one item at $28, buyer pays $5 shipping, no gift wrap, no sales tax on the fee base, and the sale is not from Offsite Ads. Listing fee for this sale is treated as $0.20 (one listing used up by the sale).
| Line | Calc | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Item + shipping received | $28 + $5 | $33.00 |
| Listing fee | flat | $0.20 |
| Transaction fee (6.5%) | 6.5% × $33 | $2.15 |
| Processing (3% + $0.25) | 3% × $33 + $0.25 | $1.24 |
| Etsy fees subtotal | $3.59 | |
| Cash after Etsy fees (before your costs) | $33 − $3.59 | $29.41 |
If the same order were attributed to Offsite Ads at 15%, that alone would be about $4.95 on the $33 order total — often more than the other fees combined. That is why channel and ad attribution matter when you judge profit per sale.
From fee total to real profit
Fees are only part of the picture. Real profit per unit also needs:
- Materials (and a bill of materials if one product uses several supplies)
- Packaging and shipping cost you pay (labels, postage, mailers) — separate from what the buyer paid you for shipping
- Your labor at an hourly rate you choose (even if you don't "pay" yourself yet)
- Discounts, refunds, and other expenses (ads, tools, market fees)
Net profit ≈ (price + shipping charged)
− Etsy fees
− materials − packaging − shipping you paid
− labor (hours × your rate)
− other expenses allocated to the sale
A sale can look fine on the order screen and still lose money once materials and time are included.
Pricing for a target margin
Work backwards. Pick a target margin after fees and costs (for example 40% of the item price, or a fixed dollar profit). Then solve for the list price that hits it, given your fee rates and costs. Spreadsheets do this with editable fee cells so you can update rates when Etsy changes them.
Free calculator and full inventory sheet
We make two templates that use editable fee rates (examples only — put your current rates in Settings):