Worked fee answer · dated
Computed from Etsy's published fee policy for a US seller, checked October 21, 2026. Both cases printed: the ordinary sale, and the sale Etsy credits to its Offsite Ads — the case most fee pages leave out.
Checked: October 21, 2026
| Fee line (US seller) | On a $20 sale |
|---|---|
| Listing fee (per listing, lasts 4 months) | $0.20 |
| Transaction fee (6.5% of price + shipping charged) | $1.30 |
| Payment processing (3% + $0.25) | $0.85 |
| Etsy keeps, ordinary sale | $2.35 — you keep 88.25% of the price |
| If the sale is credited to Offsite Ads (+15%, shops under $10k/yr) | $5.35 — you keep 73.25% |
With zero cost (a digital file), a $20 sale keeps $17.65 — or $14.65 if an ad brought the buyer. With $5 of cost, the keeps fall to $12.65 and $9.65. The break-even price at $5 cost is $6.02 — and $7.22 if the price has to survive an ad-credited sale too. At $10 of cost: $11.55 and $13.84.
The one-time shop setup fee ($15–$29) is paid before the first listing, not per sale. A regulatory operating fee applies in many countries (0.25%–1.97% by country; not in the US today). If your shop currency differs from your payment currency, add 2.5% conversion. Shipping you charge the buyer is fee-bearing: the transaction and processing percentages apply to it as well.
The fee stack is a component, not a verdict. Whether $20 is a survivable price depends on your cost and your framing — that judgment is the pre-flight checker, and the full stack lives on how much does Etsy take.
The Etsy Entry Kit turns a verdict into a launch: the narrowing playbook that takes a DON'T or a NARROW to a specific-enough idea, the listing-launch checklist, the fee-proof pricing worksheet, the first-10-listings plan, and the beginner mistakes fleet in checklist form.
Included in the $39 Etsy Entry Kit