What the Marketplace Fee Calculator does
This calculator adds up what Amazon, eBay or Etsy takes from a sale - referral or final value fees, per-order and per-item fees, subscriptions, international and advertising fees - and shows the payout, your profit, the effective fee rate and the lowest price that still breaks even.
The fee schedules come from a dated catalogue built from each marketplace's own fee page, with the source linked next to the result. Every rate is editable, because fees change and your account may have different terms. Etsy's rates are not pre-filled: its fee page could not be read when the catalogue was reviewed, so you enter them from the policy page rather than rely on a guess.
How to use it
- Pick the marketplace and the fee category your product is listed in. The category decides the rate more than anything else, so check it against the marketplace's category guide.
- Enter the item price, the shipping you charge and any sales tax on the order. eBay charges its final value fee on the total including tax; Amazon charges its referral fee on the price plus shipping.
- Add your product cost, what shipping costs you and any other per-order costs such as fulfilment or packaging, plus advertising as a percentage of the item price if you promote the listing.
- Read the fee breakdown, net payout, profit and break-even price. Open the rate editor to change a band, a minimum or the way the bands apply, and compare the same sale on the other marketplaces.
Reading the results
Net payout is what the marketplace passes to you: price plus shipping, minus every fee. Sales tax is collected and remitted by the marketplace in most US states, so it is not part of the payout even when a fee is charged on it.
The effective fee rate divides all fees by price plus shipping. It is the honest comparison between marketplaces, because headline commission rates leave out per-order fees, subscriptions and minimums that matter most on cheap items.
The break-even price is found by searching for the lowest item price where profit reaches zero with your costs and the same fee rules. Below it every sale loses money before your own overheads.
Worked example: a $120 watch on eBay
A seller lists a watch at $120 with $8 shipping in eBay's Jewelry & Watches category. The buyer's sales tax is $10.24, so the total amount of the sale is $138.24. The watch cost $55, postage costs the seller $7, packaging $1, and the listing is promoted at 3%.
The final value fee is 15% of $138.24 = $20.736, invoiced as $20.74. The order is over $10, so the per-order fee is $0.40. Promotion costs 3% of $120 = $3.60. Total fees are $24.74, an effective rate of 19.3% of the $128 price plus shipping.
The payout is $128 - $24.74 = $103.26, and profit after the watch, postage and packaging is $40.26, a 31.5% margin on price plus shipping.
Formulas and scoring rules
- Flat rate
fee = base x rateThen raised to the category minimum if lower (Amazon's is $0.30 in most categories).- Price bands (whole amount)
fee = base x rate of the band the base falls inAmazon Clothing: 5% up to $15, 10% over $15 up to $20, 17% above $20 - on the whole price.- Portion bands (marginal)
fee = sum over bands of (part of the base inside the band) x band rateAmazon Electronics Accessories: 15% of the first $100 plus 8% of anything above.- Fee base
Amazon referral: price + shipping; eBay final value: price + shipping + sales tax; Etsy transaction: price + shipping- Payout, profit and effective rate
payout = price + shipping - fees; profit = payout - product cost - your shipping - other costs; effective rate = fees / (price + shipping)Each fee line is rounded to the cent, half away from zero, before it is added up.- Subscription per order
Amazon Professional: monthly fee / orders per monthIndividual plan: a fixed fee per item sold instead.
What the catalogue includes and leaves out
Amazon: the Individual and Professional plan fees and the referral fee table for US categories, including band rules, minimums and the $1.80 closing fee on media. Fulfilment by Amazon, storage, inbound placement, returns processing and optional programme fees are not included; add them under other costs.
eBay: insertion fees after the free allowance, final value fees for most categories and the category families listed, the per-order fee and the international fee. Store subscription discounts, promoted listing rates you have not entered, the below-standard seller surcharge and other category exceptions are not modelled.
Etsy: no rates are pre-filled, because the policy page could not be retrieved automatically on the review date. The fields match the fee types Etsy's policy describes - listing, transaction, payment processing and Offsite Ads - so you can copy the figures in.
Limitations: what the result does not prove
- Fee schedules change and differ by country, account type and promotion. The catalogue is dated and linked; it is not live data and it is not your invoice.
- Category matters. A product placed in the wrong category on the marketplace will be charged that category's rate, whatever you pick here.
- Fulfilment, storage, returns, currency conversion and payment holds are outside the model unless you add them as costs.
- The comparison between marketplaces uses each one's general category. It says nothing about demand, conversion rate or the price you could actually get.
Privacy: where your data goes
Everything you paste, type or drop is processed in this browser tab. It is not uploaded, logged, stored or sent to analytics. Session recording and tag-manager scripts are switched off on this page.
Standards and sources
- Amazon selling fees (US) - checked 19 Sep 2026
- eBay selling fees (US) - checked 19 Sep 2026
- Etsy fees and payments policy - checked 19 Sep 2026
Frequently asked questions
How much does Amazon take from each sale?
Mostly the referral fee, which is a percentage of the price plus shipping set by category - from 5% to 45% on the current US table, 15% in many categories - with a $0.30 minimum in most. On top come either $39.99 a month (Professional) or $0.99 per item (Individual), and any fulfilment fees if you use FBA.
Is the eBay final value fee charged on shipping and tax?
Yes. eBay calculates the final value fee on the total amount of the sale, which includes shipping and the sales tax the buyer pays. That is why the calculator asks for the tax: leaving it out understates the fee by the fee rate times the tax.
Why are no Etsy fees filled in?
Because Etsy's fee policy page refused automated requests when the catalogue was reviewed, and this tool does not guess. Enter the listing, transaction, processing and Offsite Ads rates from etsy.com/legal/fees and the calculator applies them the same way.
What is the difference between band and portion rates?
With bands, the whole price is charged at the rate of the band it falls in, so crossing a threshold changes the fee on everything. With portions, each rate applies only to the slice of the price inside its band, like income tax. Amazon uses both, depending on the category.
How do I find the lowest price that still makes a profit?
Enter your costs and read the break-even price. The calculator searches for the lowest item price where the payout covers product, shipping and other costs under the same fee rules, including minimum fees and band thresholds.
Can I use my own negotiated or promotional rates?
Yes. Open the rate editor to change any band's rate or limit, the minimum fee and how the bands apply. Your edits affect only the current calculation, and the page says clearly when results use edited rather than published rates.
Last reviewed by the A2Z.Tools team against the sources listed above.
