Transaction fee
The 6.5% Etsy takes from every sale, calculated on the item price plus shipping plus gift wrap.
- Rate: 6.5% of (item price + shipping + gift wrap)
- Charged: at the moment of sale
- Currency: in your shop's listing currency
- In addition to: payment processing fee and any ad fees
The transaction fee is the headline cut Etsy takes from every sale: 6.5% of the item price, plus 6.5% of shipping you charge, plus 6.5% of any gift wrap charge. It’s separate from the payment processing fee (which Etsy also takes) and from any ad fees.
What’s in the 6.5% base
- Item price (per unit, multiplied by quantity)
- Shipping you charge the buyer
- Gift wrap charge if you offer it
What’s not in the base
- Sales tax (Etsy collects and remits in marketplace facilitator states; not subject to your fee)
- Discounts the buyer applied (transaction fee is on the discounted total)
- Etsy-funded coupons (rare; same as above)
Why “free shipping” doesn’t help your margin
A common myth: offering free shipping lets you avoid the transaction fee on shipping. It doesn’t. You roll the shipping cost into the item price, and Etsy takes 6.5% of that bigger item price instead. Net fee paid: identical.
Stacking
On a typical $30 sale with $5 shipping in the US, the transaction fee alone is $35 × 6.5% = $2.28. Add the payment processing fee (~$1.30) and the listing fee ($0.20), and Etsy’s take is around $3.78 - about 13% before any ad fees.
- Build your pricing on the all-in fee load (≈12–15% pre-ads), not just 6.5%.
- Run a margin calculator on every new SKU before you list it. Surprise fees come out of net profit, not gross.
Other glossary entries that connect to this one
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