How Much Does It Cost To Sell on Etsy? The Complete Guide

Etsy presents the perfect opportunity to make extra money online while exercising your creative muscles. However, do you have to spend money to earn money?

Yes. After all, the platform needs income to keep the site safe and running.

How much does it cost to sell on Etsy?

If you’re asking this question, you’re on the right track. It means you want to be prepared before embarking on your new venture.

Don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place.

In this guide, I’ll help you break down how much to sell on Etsy, including the site’s fees and other associated costs of selling.

Let’s begin.

How Much Does It Cost To Sell on Etsy?

If you’re wondering, “How much does it cost to have an Etsy shop?”

The answer is none.

Technically, starting an Etsy shop is free. If you already have an Etsy account to buy stuff from the platform, you can create a shop by clicking your Your Account on the top-right corner of any Etsy page, then clicking Start selling.

You can use the same account for buying and selling. Alternatively, you can create a new account for selling purposes.

Either way, you don’t have to pay a single dime while setting up your Etsy account and Etsy shop.

However, you have to pay some fees to actually start selling, then more when you’re making sales.

How much are Etsy fees? I’ll discuss that next.

What Types Of Fees Does Etsy Charge?

How much does Etsy charge to sell on the platform?

Here’s a quick view of both the mandatory Etsy seller fees, optional monthly fees, and extras.

Here are Etsy fees explained.

Mandatory Etsy Fees

Etsy Listing Fees

Etsy charges a non-refundable $0.20 fee every time you create a listing for your Etsy store, but it can be more complicated than that.

• Multiple Variations

  The Etsy listing fee stays at $0.20 even if you have variations (different colors, sizes, etc.) in one listing.

• Multiple Quantities

  If you have multiple stocks of the same item, Etsy will charge an additional $0.20 for every unit sold after the first one.

  Example: someone buys three units. Because you already paid for the first listing, Etsy will charge $0.20 for each unit, which works out to an additional $0.40 fee and a total $0.60 charge for the whole order.

• Renewal

  Listings only have a lifespan of four months. After which, it will automatically renew or you must renew it manually to keep it on the marketplace.

  Either way, you must pay $0.20 again.

• Private Listing

  When you publish a private listing, you don’t have to pay the initial listing fee. However, you’ll pay the private listing fee of $0.20 when the item sells.

Etsy Transaction Fees

Etsy charges a 6.5% transaction fee for every sale to cover operating expenses. Think of it as the Etsy commission rate.

The transaction fee considers the sale’s total cost, including add-ons you charge to your customers, which are:

• Shipping cost

• Gift-wrapping fees

• Customization fee

• Item’s display price (including all applicable taxes and after discounts)

If you sell in the US or Canada, the transaction fee won’t apply to the sales tax, goods and services tax (GST), and harmonized sales tax (HST) unless you include them in your listing price.

Payment Processing Fees

Etsy Payments is Etsy’s proprietary payment processor available in 36 eligible countries. This service lets you accept payments via credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Etsy Gift Card, and more.

If you use Etsy Payments, you must pay a certain percentage of the item’s total sale price plus a flat fee. It applies even when the buyer uses Etsy Coupons, Etsy Gift Cards, or Etsy Credits.

Etsy payment processing fees differ for each country. Here are some examples:

• USA: 3% + $0.25

• Canada: 3% + 0.25 CAD (domestic orders) or 4% + 0.25 CAD (international orders except the US)

• United Kingdom: 4% + 0.20 GBP

Etsy has a detailed table for all the corresponding fees in each country where Etsy Payments is available.

Etsy Monthly Fees

Etsy Pattern Fees

Etsy Pattern is a tool that allows you to create a separate website for your Etsy store. This service also lets you connect your store to the website and sync your inventory.

To see if it’s worth it, take advantage of Pattern’s 30-day free trial. If you still want to use the tool after 30 days, you must pay a $15 monthly subscription fee (plus applicable taxes).

Here are some considerations to remember:

• Domain Name
  Etsy will charge you the cost of buying a domain name and other related services from its official partner Tucows, Inc.

• Auto-Renewal

  Your subscription auto-renews automatically on the first day of the month. You can turn off your subscription anytime, but you won’t get a refund for the month you already paid. 

Etsy Plus Subscription Fee

You can subscribe to Etsy Plus for $10 monthly to use the exclusive set of tools for marketing. Here are its key features:

• $5 in Etsy Ads credits

• 15 listing fee credits amounting to $3

• Free .store domain

• 50% off the first year of select domain extensions through Hover

These credits expire at the end of the subscription cycle, so make sure you use them.

Optional Etsy Fees

Etsy Promotional and Advertising Fees

Etsy offers sellers several marketing options, such as shopping engine advertisements, paid advertising, and shop-specific promotions. Etsy charges different fees for each of these options.

• Charges for Etsy Ads – varies

  Sellers can advertise directly on the platform through Etsy Ads, which have pay-per-click pricing. The price per click varies based on demand.

  You can set a daily spending cap for this service. As long as your spending stays within that cap, Etsy will list your ads.

• Charges for Offsite Ads – 12 to 15%

  Offsite Ads is a program that promotes your goods on some social media platforms, partner sites, search engines, and the Google Display Network.

  Etsy shoulders the initial advertising fee on these platforms. You only pay a fee when the offsite ad leads a customer to purchase from your store within 30 days.

  If you made $10,000 or more in the last 12 months, you pay 12% of the total sales price.

  If you made less than $10,000, you pay 15%.

Shipping Labels

If you’re in an eligible location, you can purchase shipping labels directly on the platform. 

The fee varies based on your chosen carrier and your package’s origin, destination, dimensions, and weight.

You’ll pay additional fees for add-ons like:

• Signature confirmation

• Insurance

• Return labels

In-Person Selling Fees

If you want to process payments in person, you can use the Square reader. It comes with these fees:

• $0.20 Listing Fee. When you sync your Etsy seller account with Square, you’ll pay the same fee for multiple quantity sales.

• $0.20 Square Manual Fee. It’s a transaction fee for non-synced listings.

• 2.6% + $0.10 Square’s Payment Processing Fees. You don’t have to pay the Etsy transaction fee or payment processing fee when using this method, but Square takes payment processing fees per transaction.

Taxes and Extras

Regulatory Operating Fee

Etsy may charge a Regulatory Operating fee to sellers in certain countries. It covers the additional costs of operating in the said countries and complying with applicable regulations.

Here are the regulatory operating fees per country.

• France: 0.47%

• UK: 0.32%

• Italy: 0.32%

• Turkey: 1.10%

• Spain: 0.40%

Currency Conversion Fees

If you list your goods on Etsy in a currency other than the one associated with your designated payment account currency or bank account, you will have to pay a 2.5% currency conversion fee.

Etsy VAT and Sales Taxes

Taxes are always a complicated matter, but I’ll break it down for you as clearly as possible.

Here are the key information to remember:

• Marketplace Facilitator Tax Laws

  Etsy collects and remits the sales tax on your behalf when you’re shipping to customer addresses within the participating US states.

  If applicable, Etsy calculates and adds the tax to the order’s amount, which the buyer will pay. You’ll receive it in your payment account, so Etsy will deduct it and forward it to the tax authorities.

• Sales Tax Calculations

  If you’re shipping to states or regions where Etsy doesn’t collect sales tax on your behalf, you can use the sales tax settings in your Shop Manager.

• Canada Residents

  You must include any applicable taxes in your listing display price, except when Etsy collects them on your behalf.

• Residents Outside US or Canada

  You must include any applicable taxes in your listing display price.

• Seller Services

  Etsy may charge you sales tax on subscription fees and VAT on seller fees.

• Digital Fees

  If you sell digital downloads on Etsy, the platform may charge the buyer the applicable tax when paying through Etsy Payments.

  If the buyer pays you through PayPal, you’re responsible for remitting the VAT amount to Etsy.

In many cases, you don’t pay the taxes out of your own pocket except when you fail to include the tax in the listing price (where applicable) or when you’re paying for Etsy’s fees and services.

Calculating Etsy Fees

How much does Etsy take per sale in total per transaction?

To help you visualize, here’s the basic formula for calculating the total fees Etsy sellers pay:

• (Listing Fee) + (Transaction Fee) + (Payment Processing Fee) + (Optional Fee) = Etsy’s Fees

Now, let’s see this formula in action in two different scenarios.

Etsy Shop Fees Examples

1- Handmade Earrings

Say you sell handmade earrings for $15 a pair; then a customer purchases two for gifting. For shipping and tax considerations, you’re both in California.

The buyer pays:

Here are the associated costs:

• How Much Is Your Net Revenue?

  Your net revenue from this transaction is $28.659.

• How Much Does Etsy Take in Fees?

  Etsy collects $4.341 in this transaction from fees (listing, transaction, and payment processing). It remits the shipping fee and sales tax to the applicable recipient.

• How Much Does Etsy Cost a Month?

  Suppose you have 100 transactions of this type a month. Etsy then costs $434.1 per month, not including the materials and tools for making your earrings.

2- Canva Template with Offsite Ads

Here’s the scenario: you sell digital products on Etsy with less than $10,000 in revenue in the past 365 days. Your bank account has a different currency, but you target the US market and list your items in USD.

Your offerings include Canva templates for $10 each, which you advertise offsite. A US buyer finds the ad on Google, clicks on it, then buys one unit.

The buyer pays:

Here are the associated costs:

• How Much Is Your Net Revenue?

  Your net revenue from this transaction is $7.85.

• How Much Profit Does Etsy Take?

  Etsy collects $2.90 in this transaction from fees (listing, transaction, and payment processing) and Etsy Ads. The conversion fee covers the associated transaction costs when converting USD to your bank account’s currency.

• How Much Does an Etsy Shop Cost Per Month?

  Suppose you have 100 transactions of this type a month. Your Etsy shop costs $290 per month, not including any subscription or software costs for making digital products.

Using Etsy Calculators

Estimating your total Etsy store costs can be highly tedious, but it’s a critical step in developing an effective pricing strategy.

If you want to make this a little easier, you can use Etsy SEO tools with a calculator. For example, our EverBee review details how you can use it to estimate your sales.

You only have to enter the required details, and the tool will automatically apply the related Etsy seller costs, including:

• Listing fee

• Etsy’s transaction fees

• Payment processing fees

• Etsy Ads fees

It’s not all-inclusive, though, as it doesn’t include sales taxes and currency conversion fees.

How To Pay Etsy Fees

Etsy provides a monthly statement with all the fees you incurred in the past month. To check the amount due, follow these steps:

1- Go to Shop Manager.

2- Click Finance, then Payment account.

On this page, you’ll see any balance you have to pay and the amount available for deposit along with your sales and fees activity summary.

If you have enough funds in your payment account, it will have no amount due because Etsy will automatically deduct all the fees.

Otherwise, you’ll have an outstanding balance if your payment account doesn’t cover all the incurred charges. 

You can pay it manually with a debit card, credit card, or PayPal through the same page. Ensure you pay it within 15 days, or it will go past due.

What Happens If You Go Past Due?

Etsy’s Payments policy outlines the following recoupment methods (that you authorized when signing up as a seller).

• When you receive payment from a buyer, Etsy will apply the net amount to the outstanding balance.

• Etsy will charge the card you have on file.

• Etsy will reverse any credits applied to your payment account.

• If all else fails, the platform may use third-party collections services and other lawful means to seek reimbursement.

Ensure you keep up on payments by using reminders, or use my tip below.

Enroll in AutoBilling.

Note: AutoBilling is only available for US citizens at the moment.

Etsy has an automatic payment plan that allows the platform to charge your credit card in either of these situations:

• When you receive your monthly statement on the first of the month

• When your balance reaches your fee threshold

This gives you peace of mind that you’re paying your fees, keeping your account safe from possible suspension or termination.

However, ensure you monitor the payment updates. If your credit card issuer declines the charge for any reason, Etsy may suspend or terminate your account.

How To Lower Etsy Fees

You can’t avoid paying fees altogether, but I can offer the following strategies to reduce your Etsy fees:

Create Product Variations.

Some new sellers have a lengthy product list to highlight their diverse product variations, increasing their listing fees.

You can cut costs by creating variations in one listing instead.

Bundle Your Items.

Observe what commonly sells together in your product offerings. Then, group them into one listing so that you only have to pay $0.20 one time.

A bonus is that bundled items incentivize customers to spend more.

Provide Free Shipping.

If you offer free shipping, Etsy won’t charge shipping fees. Of course, you’ll have to raise the price of your item to cover the cost since free shipping isn’t free for you.

Free shipping draws attention to your products, encourages customers to buy more, and helps boost your Etsy conversion rate.

Avoid the Currency Fee.

Ensure your listings are in the same currency as your bank account to avoid incurring a 2.5% fee.

Disable Auto-Renewal.

Etsy automatically turns on auto-renew for new listings. The listing fee may just be $0.20, but it can add up if all your listings automatically renew when they expire.

The feature can be convenient, but it can give you at least a $0.20 loss if you weren’t planning to renew the listing because the fee is non-refundable.

By switching to manual renewal, you can review the listing first.

Don’t Run Etsy Ads for All Your Listings.

Focus your advertising efforts on high-converting items with a high clickthrough rate. Doing so allows you to maximize the return on your advertising investment.

Run your Etsy Ads campaigns for 30 days to see what happens. After 30 days, review your metrics to determine campaign performance. Check how many clicked on the advertisement but didn’t purchase versus how many clicked and purchased.

Increase Your Prices.

Increasing product prices is another way to prevent fees from cutting into your profits.

Sellers frequently worry that raising the cost of their products will reduce their ability to compete.

Even though this can happen occasionally, some Etsy sellers claim that their sales did not fall off after they increased their prices. That may be because consumers frequently believe that products with higher prices are of higher quality.

Consider the Benefits and Drawbacks of Advertising.

Carefully consider whether using Offsite Ads is beneficial or not.

Running offsite Ads can lead to an increase in sales. However, you’ll also have to pay 12 to 15% of your annual sales to cover the fees.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Percentage Does Etsy Take?

Here’s an estimate of what goes to Etsy for each sale.

6.5% of the total sale price + $0.20 + 3% of the total sale price + $0.25 = $0.45 plus 9.5% of the total sale price.

These charges apply if you’re a US seller. Etsy applies different fees to sellers outside the US. Etsy may also require you to pay additional fees depending on your location.

The payment processing fees may also vary.

Does Etsy Take a Cut?

Yes, Etsy takes a transaction fee of 6.5% for every item sold on the platform. This fee covers the costs of using the marketplace.

Is It Free To Sell on Etsy?

No, but the fees are very low that you can immediately start selling on Etsy. The only upfront cost is $0.20 for every listing you upload. However, note Etsy collects transaction fees, sales tax, and payment processing fees from every sale. Ensure you factor these fees into your item’s price.

How Much Is an Etsy Shop Per Month?

There are no ongoing costs for running an Etsy shop except for the fees listed here. However, you can subscribe to Etsy Plus for $10 monthly, which gives you more features.

When Does Etsy Charge Your Card?

If you have auto billing turned on, Etsy charges your card every first day of the month or when you reach your fee threshold ($25 if you’re a new seller, adjusted to your last three monthly statements if you’re an existing seller).

What Are Etsy Fees vs. Shopify Fees?

Etsy and Shopify have different fee structures. Etsy charges several fees per listing or sale, plus the optional fees for subscription and advertising.

On the other hand, Shopify offers subscription plans, not including payment processing fees for using a third-payment provider. You must also pay for any app fees you install in your shop.

Is Etsy Cheaper Than Shopify?

Yes and no. It mostly depends on your sales volume.

• Etsy is cheaper if you sell only a few units per month because you don’t have to pay any subscription fee.

• Shopify is cheaper per month if your shop generates a substantial amount. The transaction fee is cheaper, and there’s no listing fee.

Note: This doesn’t consider ads and other marketing costs.

How Does Etsy Pay You?

You set up an Etsy Payments account, where all your earnings on the platform go. Etsy will then transfer the funds through direct deposit to your registered bank account according to your deposit schedule.

How Much Does It Cost To List on Etsy?

Etsy charges $0.20 per item you list on the platform. The fee covers a four-month duration or until the item sells out. If you have multiple stocks, you pay $0.20 every time you sell the same item. If you renew the listing after it expires, the same fee applies.

How Does Etsy Make Money?

Etsy generates 75.5% of its total yearly revenue through its marketplace. All the listing fees, transaction fees, and optional subscription fees you pay as a seller directly go to the platform. It also earns money through its advertising services.

Who Pays for Shipping on Etsy?

The buyer mostly shoulders the shipping costs. However, you can offer free shipping, which will transfer the responsibility of paying to you. You can offset this cost by including the fee in the item’s price or offering bundles.

Are There Etsy Hidden Fees?

No. Etsy fully specifies all the fees it charges in its Fees & Payments Policy. However, it can become confusing, so you may miss some fees when doing your initial calculations. Ensure you understand all the charges you may incur by reviewing the policy.

The Bottom Line

Like your store, Etsy is a business that needs to turn a profit. As such, Etsy fees are an unavoidable aspect of running an Etsy shop.

While you can’t avoid all fees, you can reduce them to maximize profits. Hopefully, my article has given you a clearer understanding of how much Etsy charges for selling items.

You can also increase your profits by learning how to promote your Etsy Shop.