Etsy vs eBay fees: compare profit for the same product (2026).

Is Etsy or eBay cheaper for the same handmade, vintage, collectible, or creative product? Comparing Etsy's 6.5% transaction fee with one eBay category percentage will not answer that question. Etsy adds listing and payment-processing costs, while eBay combines a category rate with a fixed order fee and may charge for listings, a Store or Shop, or regulatory costs. Advertising, international sales, tax on platform fees, and returns can change either result.

This calculator holds item revenue, buyer-paid shipping, production, and fulfillment constant. It then applies the selected marketplace assumptions so the profit difference comes from channel costs rather than two different products. It estimates unit economics, not traffic, conversion, or future order volume.

How to compare Etsy and eBay fairly

1. Select the US or UK scenario and the eBay seller profile that genuinely applies.
2. Enter the same product price, shipping charged to the buyer, production cost, and fulfillment cost on both sides.
3. Keep buyer checkout tax separate. It is not seller revenue, but it can affect payment or marketplace fee bases differently.
4. Enable an advertising fee only when testing an attributed Etsy Offsite Ads or eBay General campaign sale.
5. Compare profit and margin, then rerun a low-volume, promoted, international, or return-adjusted case.

The calculator runs in your browser. Your inputs remain on your device and are not sent to MakerGauge. Save the assumptions beside an actual marketplace statement so later differences can be traced to a rate, category, tax, or order event instead of guessed away.

US Etsy and eBay fee models

A typical US Etsy order can include a $0.20 listing or renewal fee, a 6.5% transaction fee, and Etsy Payments processing of 3% plus $0.25. The transaction fee normally applies to the item price, buyer-paid shipping, and gift wrap. An attributed Offsite Ads order can add 15% or 12%, subject to Etsy's policy and order cap.

For a US eBay seller without a Store, or with a Starter Store, most categories use 13.6% on the total sale up to $7,500 per item and 2.35% on the portion above. A Basic-or-higher Store commonly uses 12.7% up to $2,500 per item and 2.35% above. eBay then charges $0.30 for an order of $10 or less or $0.40 when the order exceeds $10. eBay's current schedule says there is no separate third-party payment-processing fee.

Primary references: Etsy's Fees & Payments Policy, payment-processing rates, eBay's US selling fees, and US Store fees.

The tax-base difference matters

For a US Etsy seller, Etsy states that marketplace-collected sales tax is excluded from the transaction and Offsite Ads fee bases, while Etsy Payments processing can apply to the gross payment including tax. On eBay, the final value fee, General promoted-listing fee, and applicable international fee use a total-sale base that includes buyer sales tax. Charging the same product price can therefore create a different fee difference when checkout tax is present.

Never count marketplace-collected buyer tax as revenue merely because a percentage fee is calculated on it. Enter tax only in the dedicated field. Seller-remitted VAT embedded in a displayed UK price is a different obligation and may need a separate cost input.

Worked US example without marketplace advertising

Consider a $30 item with $5 buyer-paid shipping, one Etsy listing unit, no checkout tax, $8.50 production cost, and $5 fulfillment cost. Etsy's transaction fee is $2.275, payment processing is $1.30, and the listing fee is $0.20. Total Etsy fees are $3.775, leaving estimated profit of $17.725.

The same $35 eBay order under the no-Store most-categories preset incurs a $4.76 variable final value fee plus the $0.40 order charge. Total eBay cost is $5.16, leaving profit of $16.34. Etsy leads this narrow fee-and-cost comparison by $1.385, displayed as $1.39 after ordinary currency rounding.

What a 15% Etsy Offsite Ads order changes

Etsy Offsite Ads are conditional rather than universal. For the same $35 order, a 15% attributed charge adds $5.25. Etsy fees become $9.025 and estimated profit falls to $12.475. The unchanged organic eBay model now leads by $3.865. This does not prove eBay always acquires customers for free; it demonstrates how one attributed order can reverse the fee-only winner.

Etsy's 15% rate generally applies below its $10,000 sales threshold and can be 12% after the threshold, subject to the current participation policy. The fee is capped at $100 per attributed order. Confirm attribution in the dashboard and read Etsy's Offsite Ads rules before assigning the fee.

UK business-seller comparison

A UK Etsy seller currently has the same 6.5% transaction rate, UK Etsy Payments processing of 4% plus £0.20, a $0.20 USD listing fee converted into the payment-account currency, and a 0.48% Regulatory Operating Fee. VAT can be charged on seller fees depending on the account and tax details. Etsy also applies a 2.5% conversion fee when listing currency differs from payment-account currency.

On eBay UK, business listings in Crafts and Everything Else use 12.9% plus the £0.30-or-£0.40 order charge. The regulatory operating fee is 0.35%. A business seller without a Shop normally pays 30p for a fixed-price listing. eBay's UK business fee table displays these seller fees exclusive of VAT, so the comparison exposes an editable fee-VAT percentage instead of hiding it.

Official sources: Etsy's Regulatory Operating Fee guide and seller-fee VAT guide, plus eBay's UK business fee schedule.

Worked UK business example

Use £30 item revenue, £5 shipping, £8.50 production, and £5 fulfillment. Assume the converted Etsy listing charge is £0.15 and apply 20% VAT to the modeled seller fees. Etsy's transaction, processing, regulatory, and listing charges total £4.193 before VAT and £5.0316 after VAT. Estimated Etsy profit is £16.4684.

For an eBay business seller in Crafts without a Shop, 12.9% produces £4.515, the order fee is £0.40, the regulatory fee is £0.1225, and the listing costs £0.30. Those charges total £5.3375 before VAT and £6.405 after 20%. Estimated eBay profit is £15.095. Etsy leads by £1.3734 under these precise assumptions.

UK private selling is not available to a maker business

Read eBay's official private-seller fees, Buyer Protection information, and Business seller policy. Private sellers can still incur listing-overage, upgrades, advertising, international, conversion, or dispute costs.

Listings, orders, and monthly Store allocation

Etsy's $0.20 charge belongs to a listing or renewal, not automatically one order. Selling multiple quantities can create additional renewal charges. On eBay, the fixed final-value amount is per order, while rate thresholds are calculated per item. An eBay insertion fee belongs to listing activity even if the item never sells.

A US Basic Store and UK Shop can provide lower rates or larger listing allowances, but the subscription must be earned back across the whole account. Use expected completed orders, not an aspirational traffic number. Enter actual insertion cost when known and avoid subtracting a free allowance twice.

Promoted Listings, international fees, and conversion

eBay's General campaign strategy charges the selected percentage on total sale amount for an attributed sale within 30 days of an ad click. Its current selectable range is 2% to 100%. Like Etsy Offsite Ads, it should be enabled for the attributed scenario rather than every order. See eBay's General campaign rules.

A US eBay seller directly shipping outside eBay International Shipping can incur 1.65% on total sale. UK business international rates are currently 1.05% for Eurozone and Northern Europe, 1.8% for the US and Canada, and 2% elsewhere. eBay's seller currency-conversion charge is 3% for US accounts and 2.5% for UK accounts when eBay performs conversion. Etsy has its own currency and international payment rules. Model conversion only on the amount genuinely converted, and treat the result as an approximation of the platform's exchange-rate mechanism.

Refunds, category exceptions, and demand

Neither original fee total should be erased automatically after a return. Etsy and eBay credit rules depend on the event and workflow. eBay's fee-credit policy makes some fixed-order, advertising, and international credits conditional and calculates eligible partial credits proportionally. Use the net credit shown in the statement or add a return reserve.

eBay books, coins, bullion, handbags, watches, athletic shoes, electronics, Motors, vehicles, and Classified Ads can use rates that differ sharply from the standard preset. Some are marginal tiers and others change the rate on the entire item at a threshold. Etsy also has listing, advertising, Pattern, subscription, currency, and country-specific exceptions. Use each standalone calculator for a line-by-line audit: Etsy fees and eBay fees.

Finally, equal unit economics do not imply equal monthly profit. Marketplace search demand, conversion, competition, customer expectations, returns, and support time differ. Track contribution profit per order and per working hour over a useful sample before choosing a permanent winner.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper for the default US product?

Etsy is cheaper without attributed advertising: $3.775 versus $5.16, a $1.385 advantage. With a 15% Etsy Offsite Ads charge and no eBay ad fee, eBay becomes $3.865 more profitable under the same product-cost assumptions.

Does buyer sales tax affect both platforms equally?

No. eBay generally includes it in its percentage fee bases. For a US Etsy seller, it can enter payment processing while remaining excluded from the standard transaction and Offsite Ads bases. Keep tax separate to preserve that distinction.

Should a maker use the UK private eBay option?

Not when making goods in order to sell them. eBay explicitly identifies that activity as requiring business registration. The private scenario is for genuine private selling and should not be used to understate a maker business's fees.

What other marketplace should I compare?

Use the Amazon Handmade calculator or the Etsy versus Amazon Handmade comparison. For an owned-store decision, use the Etsy versus Shopify calculator.

Methodology and independence

MakerGauge's methodology explains fee bases, precision, rounding, and update practice. The editorial policy covers sourcing, corrections, and commercial independence. Calculations retain more precision than some displayed currency values.