Etsy Fees: How much does it cost to sell on Etsy in 2023?
How much does it cost to sell on Etsy? You want a simple answer right? If only it was that easy…
But here goes: The simple answer is $0.20
Opening an Etsy shop is completely free, and you can list a single product in your shop for the grand total of $0.20.
So, as long as you never actually sell anything, that’s all it will cost you.
But…..
The reality is that you’re not going to list a single product and (hopefully) you're going to sell your item at some time, otherwise why bother?
Well, read on and I’ll run through all the various fees that Etsy has and what the final cost can be to sell your items on Etsy.
Last Updated: May 2023
Be warned, as with anything to do with Etsy and your finances - it can get quite complicated as there’s quite a lot of different types of fees. Some of these you always have to pay but some are avoidable.
Let’s go through them in turn.
Your fees can be split into 3 main sections:
Selling
Marketing
Shipping
Before we start, why not grab your free Etsy bookkeeping checklist to get organised with all your Etsy Finances?
Fees for Selling on Etsy
There are 4 main types of Etsy Seller fees that you can’t avoid and must pay to sell your products.
Listing Fees
Transaction Fees
Payment Processing Fees
Regulatory Fees (in some countries only) - these increased slightly in June 2023
Etsy Listing Fees
As stated above, to list a product on Etsy costs $0.20.
This is always charged in USD and converted into your local currency at the conversion rate in force on the date of your transaction.
This fee is different to the other fees shown above in that it is charged when you list a product, not when you sell it. That means that it is payable even if you never sell that listed product.
A listing lasts for 4 months - so if you don’t sell your product in the 4 months it will expire and your product will no longer be visible to buyers.
If you want to relist it on Etsy you’ll need to pay the listing fee again and your product will then be live for another 4 months.
You can also set your products to auto-renew and the fee will be charged when the listing renews.
If you DO sell your product, then you’ll also have to pay another $0.20 if any of the following happen.
You have more than 1 available for sale.
If you list 100 of an item (for example a printable planner) then everytime you sell 1, the item will automatically relist and you’ll be charged another $0.20.
If a customer buys more than 1 of your product then you’ll be charged a listing fee for each one sold (after the initial 1)
Etsy Transaction Fees
Every time you sell an item you’re charged a transaction fee of 6.5% of the selling price.
So if you sell for $100 you’re charged $6.50
This fee is charged in your local currency so if you sell for £100, you’re charged £6.50.
The amount that you’re charged on includes the amount your item is listed at less any discount taken + any shipping and / or giftwrap that you’ve charged to the customer.
It is not payable on any sales tax / vat that Etsy has charged to your customer.
Your item is listed at $26.50
The customer took a discount of 10% ($2.65)
You charged shipping of $10.00
Etsy charged sales tax of 10% $3.38
The customer paid a total of $37.24
Your transaction fee is charged at 6.5% of (26.5-2.65+10 = $33.85) so $2.20
Hint: In your Etsy Payment Account this shows as 2 separate lines - 1 for the item price and a 2nd for the Shipping Charge
Etsy Payment Processing Fees
In many countries, using Etsy Payments is compulsory and you're charged an extra fee for this functionality.
You can see a list of where Etsy payments is in place here
This fee varies by country and is usually made up of a fixed amount (per transaction) and then a % of the total payment amount on top.
You can find the full list of payment processing fees by country in this table but a sample is shown below.
The amounts shown are usually payable on the total paid by the customer (so including shipping and taxes).
Importantly this also includes sales tax or VAT charged to the customer by Etsy even if you never receive this money.
Using the example above, the customer paid a total of $37.24 so if the order was to an Etsy seller in USA the payment processing fee would be
$37.24 * 3% = $1.12 + $0.20 = $1.32
Regulatory Fees
These are extra charges made by Etsy in certain countries (as shown below) and vary by country.
They are charged as a % of the item price + postage and gift wrap (so excluding any tax).
At the time of writing (2023) these fees have just increased and so from June 2023 they are now:
UK - 0.32% (previously 0.25%)
France - 0.47% (previously 0.40%)
Italy - 0.32% (previously 0.25%)
Spain - 0.40% (no change)
Turkey 1.10% (no change)
So for a sale of £100 in the UK you would be charged £100 x 0.32% = £0.32
Total Selling Fees
Assuming that the sale above was made in the following countries (and was a domestic sale) the total fees would be as follows:
* Listing Fees are approximate as they depend on current exchange rates
So on average your fees are around 11-12% for each sale you make.
If you do this calculation on your own products then you may get slightly different results.
You’ll find that you get a higher % if you sell cheaper products and a lower % if your products are more expensive.
This is because of the 2 fixed parts of your fees (for listing and payments). These impact you more if your products are less expensive,
But unfortunately that’s not all - there are Hidden Etsy Fees as well.
Taxes on Fees
What’s not always very clear is that in some countries you’ll also pay tax on top of these fees and this can add up to a lot.
In the UK for example, you’ll also pay 20% on top of these fees. So, in the example above this takes the total of £4.14 up to an actual total of £4.97 (or 14.7%)
Australia and Canada (amongst others) will also have tax added to their fees
Currency Conversion Fee
There is one more fee that you might be subject to. This one applies if you list your product in 1 currency but are then paid in a different one.
For example, in Canada some sellers list their product in USD but receive payment into their Canadian bank account (in CAD).
Etsy charge a conversion fee of 2.5% which they deduct from your sale amount BEFORE it appears in your payment account.
So that covers all the Etsy Selling Fees, but what else do they charge?
Marketing Fees
In addition to the selling fees above, there are also other fees that are “optional”, related to Advertising and Marketing.
Etsy sometimes refer to these as Seller Service fees.
Etsy Ads Fees
Etsy Ads fees are for advertising that you choose to do within Etsy.
You set a daily budget for advertising and are then charged for how many clicks are made on your ads each day for the products that you choose to advertise.
You won’t always spend the maximum amount each day, it depends on how many clicks your product receives and the cost per click for that listing. Once your maximum budget has been used, Etsy will stop showing your ads for the rest of the day so you’ll never spend more than your budget.
Budgets are set in USD and your actual daily fee will be shown in your payment account in local currency.
If you’re charged tax on your fees then yes, this will also be added to your daily charge.
As you’re charged for clicks on your ads, you’re charged even if the customer doesn’t go on to buy your product.
And, as this fee is charged on a daily basis rather than per sale, it’s difficult to calculate how much this fee costs as a % of each product sale.
I’d suggest looking at this fee on a monthly basis as a % of your total sales to give you a rough idea of the cost.
To easily track and monitor your Etsy Ad Spend, why not check out my Etsy Ads Manager?
Offsite Ads Fees
Offsite ads fees are for ads placed on external sites by Etsy. You are charged if a sale is made after a customer clicks on an ad.
The external ads can be on Google, Bing, Facebook, Pinterest. Instagram etc.
Etsy choses which products to include in their Ads and where to show them. You only find out when a sale is made and the fee charged.
It’s important to know that the customer will be tracked by Etsy for 30 days. If they make a sale at any time, and for any product within 30 days of clicking on an offsite ad - you will still be charged.
Fees are charged at either 15% or 12% of the total sale price (excluding tax).
Once you have made sales of over $10,000 in a rolling 12-month period you will be AUTOMATICALLY enrolled in this programme and charged the fees at 12%. You do not have the option not to take part in this programme.
If your sales are below this level then you CAN pull out of Offsite Ads but if you stay in then you are charged 15%.
HINT: you are automatically enrolled in the programme UNLESS you choose to pull out.
This is a high fee % and there are a lot of strong feelings about this from Etsy sellers.
It is important to remember that not all sales will come from Offsite Ads. I would view the fees as a marketing expense rather than a selling fee for a particular sale.
Again, I’d suggest looking at the total cost of offsite fees over a month and then dividing this by your total sales. This will give you a rough % of what these ads are costing you each month.
Subscriptions
There is no fee to have an Etsy shop (other than the product listing fees) but you can choose to pay a monthly subscription for Etsy Plus.
This costs $10.00 per month (plus tax) and gives the following benefits:
A monthly budget of credits for listings and Etsy Ads
Access to a discount on a custom web address for your Etsy shop
Restock requests for shoppers interested in your items that have sold out
Advanced shop customisation options
Access to discounts on custom packaging and promotional material like boxes, business cards, and signage
You can find out more about Etsy plus here
Pattern and Square Fees
There are also some fees for running a website through Etsy (using Pattern) and if you use Square to make sales outside Etsy (linked to your Etsy shop). As these are not directly related to selling through Etsy I have not covered these here, but you can find out more on Etsy Help.
And finally, Etsy Shipping Labels
In some countries Etsy let you buy Shipping / postage labels through them. The cost for these is also shown in your payment account as a type of fee.
This is not really an Etsy Fee, as if you need to ship your product to your customer, you’ll need to buy them somewhere else if not from Etsy.
There are some tracking advantages to using Etsy labels but it is always worth checking that you can’t buy them cheaper elsewhere. Make sure it is right for you.
Where to see your Fees on Etsy
You can see all the fees that you have been charged by Etsy by going to Etsy Shop Manager > Finances > Payment Account.
From January 2022 you can see your fees broken down into the sections shown above:
Selling Fees
Marketing (Seller Services) Fees
Shipping Fees
Unfortunately this breakdown is not provided for dates before January 2022.
When you look at your sales in your payment account you'll find a lot of lines for every single transaction. This can be pretty confusing if you’re trying to work out exactly what you’ve received after all the fees have been taken out.
To learn more about your Etsy Payment Account, why not read my post, the Complete Guide to your Etsy Payment Account?
Etsy Fees Conclusion
There are a lot of different fees charged by Etsy and it can sometimes be a little overwhelming to work out exactly what you’re charged.
The true answer to how much it costs to sell on Etsy is that it depends (typical accountancy answer)
It depends on where you're based
It depends on where your customers are based
It depends on your product price
At an average of between 10-14% of your sales it;s still pretty accessible.
If you want to pay for marketing then make sure you are seeing a good return for what you are paying. It’s easy to ramp up a huge bill and not see an increase in sales in return.
Just make sure it’s working before increasing your budgets too far.
Sarah x
More reading to help with your Etsy finances
For a simple way to check exactly how much Etsy fees will be for your products why not try one of our simple Fee Calculators?
Or for a full bookkeeping solution for your Etsy shop try out our bookkeeping spreadsheets
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