If youโre interested in selling on Etsy, you should know everything about Etsy Fees. That way, youโre not shocked and confused when you see that Etsy has charged you. The following article has broken down everything you need to know about Etsy seller fees.
In the end we will give you tips that the best sellers on etsy use to deal with the fees!
What are Etsy Fees?
If you’re new to the Etsy Platform, you may wonder how it works exactly. I’ve definitely spent my fair share of time trying to figure everything out. Especially when it comes to the financials.
Of course, Etsy does not let you use their platform for free. There would be no way to make revenue if they didn’t charge their users! So, Etsy makes its money by charging the shop owners various fees for conducting business on the platform.
So what does this mean for you?
It is free to join the platform, so there is no risk of getting started. However, you’ll see charges once you begin your business activities on the platform.
You can use an etsy fee calculator to quickly calcultate your fees but it’s important to truly understand what your etsy fees are.
Firstly, as a new shop owner, it’s good to be aware that you’ll be charged, so there are no surprises once you begin your Etsy journey.
In addition, having knowledge of what to expect to pay for the platform can help you create a budget. It will also help you price your product appropriately, so you are still making a profit. You don’t want to see your item be sold, and then you not make any money off of the sale. Or worse, if you don’t correctly price your items, you could lose money. Therefore, it is imperative to know the type of expenses coming out of your business to better manage your finances.
Knowing the fees, you’ll be charged can also help prepare you to pay them on time. Of course, you’ll have to set money aside to pay the bill. Having a budget to be able to pay your fees on time will help your store remain in good standing. If you stay in good standing for a certain period, you will be promoted to Etsy Plus. This certification gives you access to tools and benefits that will help your shop grow.
If you are not prepared to pay the Esty fees, your privileges could be revoked, and your account could be suspended. This suspension could lead to unhappy customers as they won’t have access to purchases from you! So, it is always important to know how much you’ll have to pay and have the money on hand.
What type of Etsy Fees are there?
Listing Fees
You will have to pay a fee each time you post a listing to your shop. Etsy charges a flat rate of .20 USD per listing. It does not matter if your listing ever sells; you will need to pay the fee for your listing to be published. If your item doesn’t sell in 4 months, your listing will expire, and you will have to republish it if desired.
The silver lining here is that you will not have to pay another fee to edit the listing.
Now some more bad news:
These fees are cannot be refunded, it does not matter if it has sold or not. For newer sellers or sellers with a huge inventory, this can be a pain and many sellers may even choose to use a crosslisting app to list on another marketplace without fees.
We mentioned that Etsy listings expire, so it’s natural to assume that these listings will be automatically placed back on the feed for free right? After all, the data is already on Etsy!
However, renewing your expired or your sold listings on Etsy will cost the exact same listing fee. On etsy you have the option to let your listings renew automatically or to manually relist the item.
Listings with Multiple Quantities/Variations
If you are like most sellers on the planet then you likely have more than one quantity of a specific product available. Your listing may also come in different variations like colours, sizes etc. Let’s discuss how etsy fees work for listings like this.
You can rest easy knowing that you will not be charged the etsy listing fee of $0.20 for each variation/quantity on the listing upfront. You will pay one listing fee initially but once you are selling the second quantity/variation on that listing you will be charged $0.20!
Example:
Jane runs a shop selling print on demand t-shirts. She has one unicorn shirt with 4 color options. Once jane makes the first sale on the listing she is not charged a listing fee because she has already paid it for THAT listing. Once Jane makes other sales on this listing she is charged the $0.20 listing fee for each item sold after the first listing.
Luckily renewals in the case of listings with multiple items are still straightforward. If your listing expires in 4 months you will be charged $0.20 for renewing it, either automatically or when you click the renew option (this depends on the settings you have on etsy). If you’re posting a multi-quantity listing, it is still a single listing
How do these payments show up ?
- Each time you make an additional sale on your listing: the fee shows up as an auto-renew sold fee in your Etsy payment account
- If you sell more than two items in a single transaction: you will see this charge on your Etsy payment account as a multi-quantity fee.
Etsy Transaction Fees
Etsy Transaction fees are the fees you will be charged once you make a sale in your shop. Etsy has two fees that fall under this: transaction and shipping fees. Both the Transaction and Shipping Fee are only charged when an item is sold.
Transaction Fee
Etsy charges a 5% fee on the item’s total cost when your sale is made. The fee is charged on the order total before taxes. The order total will include any add-ons available on the listing such as gift-wrapping, personalization requests, etc.
Example:
If you sold a sweater for $30 and the customer requested their name embroidered on the sleeve for an extra $15, your order total would be $45. Accordingly, the transaction fee would be $2.25, 5% of the $45. Your total in fees that you will pay etsy for the sale on your sweater will be $2.45. This total is comprised of the Etsy listing fee plus the transaction fee of $2.25.
Simple enough!
Shipping Transaction Fee
On Etsy, you can either charge for shipping or offer free shipping. Etsy does not charge you a shipping transaction fee when providing free shipping. However, when you charge your buyers a shipping fee, Etsy will collect 5% of the total shipping costs.
Example:
Adding onto the sweater example above, if you charge a shipping fee of $10 on this order, you will be charged an extra 0.50 in fees. Therefore, you will overall be charged $3.05 in Etsy fees for this sale.
If this fee seems bizarre here is some insight into why it exists: The shipping transaction fee prevents sellers from avoiding paying their Etsy fees by setting the listing price low and the shipping price high. If the shipping fee was not charged then Etsy would be losing a lot of money in fees (which keeps the platform running)
Etsy Payment Processing Fees
On top of the other fees, you will be charged for the payment processing service. Etsy charges 3% of the total sale cost (excluding taxes) plus $0.25 for each transaction.
Continuing on the sweater example, your payment processing fee would be $1.60, using this formula:
(3% x $45) + 0.25
Adding this onto our previous fee total, we would owe Etsy $4.65.
Etsy Advertising Fees
If you want your listing to be promoted on the platform, you can turn on Etsy Ads. Once you set a daily advertising budget, you will start being charged for the clicks the ad gains. Although it is an elective fee you can add to your shop, it is important to be mindful of the fees.
In addition, Etsy has Offsite ads, which means that they pay for advertising slots on search engines like Google or Yahoo. The way you are charged for these Offsite Ads depends on your shop’s total revenue. If you made less than $10,000 USD, you’d be charged a 15% fee on the amount you made from your sale. On the other hand, If you make at least $10,000 USD, you’ll get a discounted fee of 12%.
Subscription Fees
Etsy has a few subscription offerings that can increase the total you’ll be charged by the platform.
Etsy Plus Fees
If you are a seller in good standing according to Etsy you’ll be eligible for Etsy plus. This is one subscription service by etsy that costs around $10 per month. Here are some of the benefits you get with Etsy Plus according to the website.
- Restock requests: allows your buyers to be notified when sold out items come back in stock
- Shop customization: give you more options to customize your storefronts layout
- Discounts: You can get discounts on labels/printables (depending on your country) as well as receive discounts from etsy partners (Hover & Moo)
- Credits: Get credits that can be applied to etsy ads and etsy listing fees
Etsy Pattern Fees
Many sellers who start out on marketplaces eventually want to branch out to their own website, with etsy pattern you can do just this. You get a website that you can attach your own custom domain to. Pattern comes with a free trial but will run you $15 per month of you want to continue using it, the domain is not included in the costs. The pattern service let’s you automatically sync your inventory sync with etsy.
You can opt to make your listings exclusive to pattern, this means you will not be charged the listing fee. If you list the item on etsy then you will be charged a fee. Sales on etsy pattern will still incur the payment processing fee we talked about previously.
Is Etsy Worth The Fee Cost?
The short answer is YES! Etsy is a fantastic platform to support the growth of your business. The platform already has a built-in audience, an accessible online storefront, affordable advertising, and traffic. You can stay on Etsy for as long as you want or use it as a way to find a loyal customer base and move on to your own website.
You can look at the Etsy fees as marketing expenses as the platform helps you gain so much exposure and traction. But, even with the costs, selling on Etsy is definitely worth it for many independent businesses!
However If you don’t like the fees you can consider selling on other marketplaces:
Many top etsy sellers use our crosslisting app to list their inventory on other marketplaces automically! Crosslisting helps you boost your selling revenue and spread the risk associated with relying on one platform!
Try our crosslisting app here for free.