Short answer: a marketplace fee is rarely one number. It is a stack: a percentage of the sale, sometimes a fixed per-order fee, sometimes a listing fee, and sometimes a regulatory fee — and each layer is charged on a slightly different base. Knowing the stack is what stops surprise deductions.
A percentage of the price plus the shipping you charge the buyer. At a $48 order total that is $3.12. It applies even when the buyer pays shipping.
A flat fee per listing/order, billed in USD. Small on one order, visible across hundreds — $0.20 × 500 orders is $100.
What the payment provider takes for moving the money. It is charged on the same price-plus-shipping base, plus a fixed amount per order.
A small extra percentage in some countries. Easy to miss because it is not in the headline rate — in Canada it adds $0.24 on a $48 order.
eBay's version of the stack in one big percentage, plus a $0.30/$0.40 per-order fee. At $48 that is $6.53 + $0.40 = $6.93 per order — which is why eBay's fee looks so much larger than a card rate.
Offsite Ads: Etsy's standard Offsite Ads rate is 15% of price plus shipping on ad-attributed sales — it can dwarf every other fee on those orders. The Hidden Fee Stress Tester shows what it does to a month. Shipping in the base: fees charged on shipping mean free-shipping offers are not free to the seller. Category tiers: eBay's most-common-category rate is used here; some categories differ, and the lower rate above $7,500 is not modelled.
A monthly subscription (Canada $49, US $39, UK £25, Australia A$56, Ireland €32 on monthly billing) plus a card rate (Canada 2.8% + 30¢, US 2.9% + 30¢, UK 2% + 25p, Australia 1.7% + 30¢, Ireland 2% + €0.25). No percentage-of-sale marketplace fee — which is exactly why the crossover exists.
Fee-only view: it does not include discovery, traffic, refunds, apps, fulfilment, packaging, or taxes, and it makes no claim about traffic, sales, or earnings.
Because their fee base is the total sale the buyer pays, including shipping charged. That is standard on Etsy and eBay, and it is why shipping strategy changes the fee bill.
No. Payment processing, regulatory fees, and subscription prices are set per country. Always compare with your own seller country selected.
Etsy Offsite Ads at 15% on attributed sales, and the fact that fees apply to shipping charged. Both are modelled in the calculators, not hidden.
Amazon referral fees vary by category and its Seller Central schedule is login-gated, so no Amazon figure could be verified from an official page. No Amazon numbers are shown rather than guessed ones.
Guides explain the decision; only your prices and order volume give the answer. Try the Breakeven Planner, the Platform Crossover tool, and the Migration Cost calculator. Every figure and its official source is on the Fee Index.