You made a $29 sale on Etsy. How much do you actually keep? If you said "$29 minus a little," keep reading — fees take a bigger bite than most new sellers expect.
Every Etsy fee, plain English (US, 2026)
- Listing fee: $0.20 — per item listed, whether it sells or not. Renewed every 4 months.
- Transaction fee: 6.5% — on the total sale price including shipping you charge.
- Payment processing: 3% + $0.25 — on the item price.
- Offsite Ads fee: 12–15% — only if the sale came through Etsy's offsite ads. This one surprises people.
A real example: the $29 sale
Listing: $0.20 + Transaction (6.5%): $1.89 + Processing (3% + $0.25): $1.12 = $3.21 in fees. That's about 11% of the sale — before your materials, labor, or shipping costs.
With $4 in costs, you keep $21.80. Healthy — but notice how different that is from $29.
The mistake that kills new shops
Pricing from costs alone. "Materials cost me $4, so I'll charge $12." After ~$1.23 in fees, you're working for almost nothing. Always price from profit backwards: decide the profit you need, add costs, add ~11% for fees, and that's your price.
Know your number before you list
Our free Etsy profit calculator runs every fee for you — including the offsite ads toggle — and tells you your true margin per sale. Aim for 30–40%+ after all fees and costs.