If you have been seriously considering selling online and have been browsing to see how much you can expect from your sales, you are at the right place. In this post, we will go over the fees to sell on popular e-commerce platforms, including eBay, Amazon, Etsy, Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, and Facebook marketplace. This will be able to help you gauge exactly how much will be left for you after your sales.
Then, you can determine whether it will be worth your time to invest in the platform based on what you are planning to sell. If you need guidance on exactly where to sell based on what you are trying to sell, read this blog post here. If you are completely new to selling online, read this post for where to begin. For this blog, we will focus on beginners so amazon and eBay will be condensed. If you need to skip around the blog, click on where you need to go.
Fees to Sell On Amazon
Amazon has some of the most complicated pay structures than any other platform. It will have the most variation and types of fees when it comes to selling. There could be a whole in-depth article to write about amazon’s fees but all of this is actually available on Amazon’s website. So it can be hard to keep up with every specific category because Amazon does also tends to change them. They also vary greatly depending on what category the item falls in.
For example, referral fees can vary from 10% on furniture versus 45% on Amazon devices. Referral fees are commissions paid to the person or website that linked you to find the product that you have bought from amazon.
To make it as simple as possible, know that there are two kinds of accounts or plans and there are multiple types of fees. The two types of plans are Individual or Professional. What is the difference between the individual plan and the professional plan on amazon?
If you are planning to sell casually to make extra cash or to declutter your home, you will probably not be selling more than 40 items per month. In which case, you will be picking the individual plan. A Professional plan will be more for brands that are cranking out volumes of orders monthly so it makes sense for them to get this plan since they will probably be selling more than 40 orders a month.
List of Amazon Fees
- Platform fee: Dependent on type of plan. See chart below.
- Variable closing fee: Dependent on type of plan. See chart below.
- Referral fee: 6% to 45%. Depends on the item category. See the complete list here.
- Shipping: See the shipping chart here, dependent on the type you choose.
- How you get paid: Direct deposit
| Individual Plan | Professional Plan | |
| Selling fee | $0.99 per item | $39.99 per month. No fee per item. |
| Variable closing fee | $0.45 to $1.35 | 5% to 25% |
Fees to Sell On Depop
Depop is straightforward with their fees being a flat 10% for their platform fee. However, you still need a Paypal account as they use Paypal for their transactions so you will need to account for that fee, which will be taken out of your Paypal balance. At the time of this writing, they are currently working on their own in-house payment system.
As far as shipping, you will have the option to have the customer pay for shipping or you can offer free shipping. If you offer free shipping, you will have to cover this cost. You can choose to ship on your own or with Depop. If you choose to ship with Depop, the cost is based on the weight of your item.
List of Depop Fees
- Platform fee: Flat 10%
- Paypal fee: 2.9% + $0.30
- Shipping: See table below if you are shipping through Depop.
- How you get paid: PayPal
| Weight | Shipping Cost (October 2020) |
| Under 4 oz | $3.75 |
| Under 8 oz | $4.75 |
| Under 1 lb | $6.75 |
| Under 2 lb | $10.90 |
| Under 10 lb | $14.40 |
Fees to Sell on eBay
Ebay is another giant that has various types of fees depending on the type of ebay store you have. As with amazon, ebay’s fees can change so be on the lookout if they send you changes to fees and terms. Ebay has also recently rolled out their own managed payments instead of using paypal so going forward, this will be used.
There are five types of accounts or stores that ebay has and the monthly fees for each one is different.
- Starter – $4.95/mo with annual subscription
- Basic – $21.95/mo with annual subscription
- Premium – $59.95/mo with annual subscription
- Anchor – $299.95/mo with annual subscription
- Enterprise – $2,999.95/mo with annual subscription
Each account comes with different benefits and discounts. You will always have to pay the monthly fee for your store in addition to a listing fee, selling fee and shipping cost. There are additional options such as listing upgrades and fees in certain categories. For most people, especially starting out with selling online, the starter store is the one we will go over.
With the starter account, you will have 250 listings per month that will not have a listing fee if your listing is a fixed-price listing. A fixed price listing is different from an auction-type listing which will cost extra per listing. If you go above your allotted listing limit per month with the type of store you have, you will have to pay additional fees for each additional listing. Please refer to the fill table here for specific and updated details.
For shipping, you can choose to ship through ebay for a discounted commercial rate or you can ship through other shipping software or via your local post office. Keep in mind that buying shipping at your local post office will always be the most expensive.
List of eBay Fees
- Listing fee or insertion fee: Free for up to the allotted amount based on the type of account you have.
- Selling fee or final value fee: 10%
- Shipping: Depends on package information and delivery service.
- How you get paid: Direct deposit
Fees to Sell on Etsy
To sell on Etsy, you will have to pay a listing fee for each item. Each listing expires after 4 months so you will have to pay the listing fee again to renew. You can set your listings to be on automatic renewal. While you do not have to utilize every feature that Etsy offers, there are a variety of fees if you do choose to use them. Etsy offers various advertising and promotional fees to promote your shop.
How much you will be spending on the fees is determined by you based on what you are willing to spend for this service. There are subscription fees, in-person selling fees, pattern fees, and other fees which you can find in the complete list here. For the sake of a beginner’s guide, the basic fees are below.
For shipping, you will need to enter all your would-be package information for your item. You can charge a flat shipping fee or a calculated shipping fee based on where your customer is located. You can also offer free shipping. Either way, you will need to enter the weight, package type, dimensions (length, width, height) and how quickly you want the order to be delivered. If you choose a calculated shipping rate, there is a tool that allows you or the buyer to enter the delivery address to determine how much shipping will be.
List of Etsy Fees
- Listing fee: $0.20 per item
- Transaction fee: 5%
- Shipping: Depends on package information and delivery service.
- How you get paid: Direct deposit
Fees to Sell on Facebook Marketplace
While it is free to list and sell on your local facebook marketplace completely fee-free, facebook marketplace has rolled out an option to ship your item across the country. For a limited time, they are waiving the 5% selling fee which covers the payment processing fee.
For shipping, you have the option to ship through them or you can ship the item yourself. You can charge a flat shipping rate or offer free shipping which will be deducted out of your earnings. You will have to input your social security number once you reach sales above $600.
List of Facebook Marketplace Fees
- Platform fee: 0%
- Processing fee: 0%
- Shipping: See table below
- How you get paid: Direct deposit
| Weight | Shipping Cost (October 2020) |
| Under 0.5 lbs | $3 |
| 0.5 – 1lbs | $5 |
| 1 – 2 lbs | $8 |
| 2 – 5 lbs | $10 |
| 5 – 10 lbs | $12 |
| More than 10 lbs | You must use your own |
Fees to Sell on Mercari
Mercari used to be the cheapest platform for sellers to sell, other than selling face to face on Facebook marketplace. But as of October 2020, they added a new fee called “processing fee”, which is similar to Paypal fees. As with Depop, you have the option for the buyer to pay shipping or you can offer free shipping. If you offer free shipping, you will have to cover this cost. You can choose to ship on your own or with Mercari. If you choose to ship with Mercari, the cost is based on the weight of your item.
List of Mercari Fees
- Platform fee: Flat 10%
- Processing fee: 2.9% + $0.30
- Shipping: See table below if you are shipping with Mercari.
- How you get paid: Direct deposit
| Weight | Shipping Cost (October 2020) |
| Under 4 oz | $3.49 |
| Under 8 oz | $4.60 |
| Under 1 lb | $4.99 |
| Under 2 lb | $9.99 |
| Under 10 lb | $12.50 |
Fees to Sell on Poshmark
Poshmark has the easiest system to sell by far than any other platform. You do not have to mess with shipping fees as this is normally paid by the customer unless you choose to offer free or discounted shipping. Once your item sells, a shipping label will be sent to your email or you can download it from the app. If you offer discounted shipping, it will deduct $2.12 from your earnings and if you offer free shipping, it will deduct $7.45 from your earnings after their fee.
List of Poshmark Fees
- Platform fee: 20% for sales of over $15, $2.95 for sales below $15
- Shipping: Customer pays unless you offer free or discounted shipping
- How you get paid: Direct deposit or check
What Next?
There you have it, all the fees it will cost you to sell online. You do not need to get overwhelmed because once you actually start, you will learn so much along the way and learning is always part of the journey.