Short answer: Etsy charges a 0.20 USD listing fee for each item and, on every sale, a transaction fee of 6.5% of the total of the item price, shipping and gift wrapping. On top of that come a payment processing fee that varies by country, an advertising fee on sales that come from ads and, if needed, a currency conversion fee. Sellers in Turkey are also charged Etsy's "Regulatory Operating Fee". Net profit is what remains when you subtract these deductions plus your production and shipping costs from the sale amount.
How much of a t-shirt you sell for 25 dollars on Etsy actually ends up in your pocket? In this article we subtract every deduction in order, run a sample calculation with verified rates and show you how to set your price by working backward from your target profit.
What Etsy deducts
According to Etsy's fee policy, the listing fee is 0.20 USD per item, and the transaction fee is 6.5% of the total of the item price, shipping charge and gift wrapping. The payment processing fee varies by country; you can see your own rate in your Etsy payment settings.
| Item | When is it charged? | Amount / note |
|---|---|---|
| Listing fee | When you publish the item and at each renewal | 0.20 USD per item; charged even if it doesn't sell |
| Transaction fee | When a sale is made | 6.5% of item price + shipping + gift wrapping |
| Payment processing fee | At the time of payment | Fixed amount + percentage; varies by country |
| Regulatory Operating Fee | On every order | For sellers in some countries, including Turkey; rate varies by country |
| Offsite Ads fee | When a sale comes from Etsy's external advertising | 15% of the order total (12% for shops with over 10,000 USD in annual sales); maximum 100 USD per order |
| Etsy Ads | When an ad is clicked | Deducted from the daily budget you set |
| Currency conversion fee | If your listing currency differs from your payment account's currency | 2.5% of the sale amount |
| Withdrawal cost | When transferring money to your bank | Payoneer/bank charges and exchange rate difference |
We explained the withdrawal steps and charges in withdrawing money from Etsy to Turkey.
How does the listing fee work?
An Etsy listing expires 4 months after it's published. Auto-renew is on by default for new listings, and each renewal charges another 0.20 USD; the same fee applies when you renew manually. So 100 unsold items renewed three times a year cost 60 USD in listing fees alone. For a listing with multiple quantities, the listing fee also auto-renews for each additional unit sold.
That's why turning off auto-renew or deactivating listings that haven't sold for a long time cuts a cost that quietly adds up.
Offsite Ads: can you turn them off?
Offsite Ads are Etsy's advertising of your products on channels outside Etsy, such as Google and social media. The fee is only charged if a sale comes from an ad. Under Etsy's policy, shops that have never reached 10,000 USD in sales in the last 365 days can opt out of the program; once a shop crosses this threshold, participation becomes mandatory and the fee drops to 12%. Because a 15% deduction can wipe out the entire profit on low-margin products, you need to build this fee into your price from the start.
Extra costs with print on demand
If you work without inventory, two more items are added per sale:
- Production cost: Varies by product type, number of print surfaces and color.
- Shipping cost: Varies by destination country and quantity. The second item usually ships for less, so multi-item orders noticeably increase profit.
Sample calculation: a 25 USD t-shirt
The buyer purchases the t-shirt for 25 USD and pays 5 USD for shipping; the total order amount is 30 USD. The Etsy deductions whose rates are known for certain:
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction fee | 30 × 6.5% | 1.95 USD |
| Listing fee | fixed | 0.20 USD |
| Subtotal | 2.15 USD | |
| If the sale came from Offsite Ads | 30 × 15% | +4.50 USD |
| If currency conversion is needed | 30 × 2.5% | +0.75 USD |
Add the payment processing fee and the Regulatory Operating Fee from your own account to this table; you can see both in the order breakdown on Etsy's payment account screen. Finally, subtract your production and shipping costs. Note that when the same order comes from Offsite Ads, Etsy's deduction rises from 2.15 USD to 6.65 USD: always run your profit calculation for this worst-case scenario too.
Step-by-step profit calculation
Always do the calculation in this order:
- Sale price + shipping charged to the customer = gross revenue
- Gross revenue − Etsy transaction fee, payment processing fee and regulatory fee
- − listing fee
- − production cost
- − shipping cost
- − advertising share, if any (Offsite Ads or Etsy Ads)
- − withdrawal and currency costs
- = net profit
Put your own numbers into a table in this order. Most sellers skip steps 3, 6 and 7 and therefore think their profit is higher than it really is.
How should you set your price?
A common mistake is to set the price by adding a fixed amount on top of cost. The right approach is the opposite: work backward from your target net profit. First decide how much you want to earn per item, then add all the deductions to arrive at the sale price. Since percentage-based deductions (transaction, payment, advertising, currency) grow as the price rises, check the calculation once more after finding your target price.
If you'll be using ads, set aside part of your profit margin for the ad budget from the start; otherwise, sales that come from ads can turn into losses. We covered pricing methods with examples in our print on demand pricing article. If you'll be offering discounts during periods like Black Friday, redo the calculation with the discounted price: Etsy holiday and Black Friday calendar.
5 practical moves to increase profit
- Encourage multi-item orders: Because shipping the second item costs less, set and bundle sales noticeably increase profit.
- Diversify product types: Listing the same design on different products adds revenue streams without extra design costs.
- Prune low-performing listings: Products that keep renewing but don't sell quietly rack up fees every 4 months.
- State realistic shipping times: Returns and unresolved cases are hidden costs.
- Review prices regularly: Don't delay price updates when production costs or exchange rates change.
Simplify the cost side
The most variable items in your profit calculation are production and shipping. In Printmeet, the production and shipping payment for each order is shown separately on the order screen; you can calculate your net profit by combining these two items with the sales and fee reports in Etsy's shop dashboard. You can see the steps for sending products to your Etsy shop and passing orders to production on the how it works page.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Etsy listing fee?
0.20 USD per item. A listing expires after 4 months; if auto-renew is on, another 0.20 USD is charged at each renewal.
Does Etsy charge fees on items that don't sell?
Yes, the listing fee is charged even if the item doesn't sell, and it's charged again when the listing expires if auto-renew is on.
What percentage does Etsy take from a sale?
The transaction fee is 6.5% of the total of the item price, shipping and gift wrapping. A payment processing fee that varies by country is added on top; if the sale came from Offsite Ads, an additional 15% advertising fee (12% for larger shops) is charged.
Does offering free shipping make sense?
Conversion usually goes up when shipping appears free, but you need to build the cost into the item price. Remember: the transaction fee is also calculated on the shipping amount.