eBay vs Etsy vs Amazon: what each one charges
Every figure below comes from the platform's own fee documentation, linked at the end of each column. Fees change, and they differ by category, country, selling plan and promotion — so treat this as a starting point for your own numbers, not as a quote.
Fee structures last reviewed against official documentation on 27 July 2026.
The headline numbers
| Platform | Selling fee | Per order / plan | Listing |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBayUnited States, sellers without a Store subscription | 13.6% final value fee on the total amount of the sale up to $7,500 per item, then 2.35% on the portion above $7,500. Books, Movies & TV and Music are 15.3%; Coins & Paper Money 13.25%. | $0.30 per order for orders of $10.00 or less, $0.40 for orders over $10.00 | First 250 listings free each month, then $0.35 per listing in most categories |
| EtsyUnited States sellers using Etsy Payments | 6.5% transaction fee on the total order amount, which includes shipping and gift wrapping you charge for | Payment processing in the US is 3% + $0.25, charged on the item price, shipping and any sales tax. The rate differs by country — the UK, for example, is 4% + £0.20. | $0.20 per listing, charged whether or not the item sells; a listing expires after 4 months |
| AmazonUnited States (amazon.com) | A referral fee that varies by product category: a percentage of the total price or a minimum amount, whichever is greater. Amazon publishes a percentage per category rather than one site-wide rate — see the category table below. | Individual plan: $0.99 per item sold. Professional plan: $39.99 per month regardless of volume. | No per-listing fee on either selling plan |
Amazon is the one platform whose selling fee cannot honestly be written as a single percentage: the referral fee is set per product category and charged as a percentage of the total price or a minimum amount, whichever is greater. Amazon's full category schedule is reproduced below — find your own category there before comparing.
Amazon referral fees, by product category
Amazon charges the percentage below or a category minimum, whichever is greater. Several categories are tiered rather than flat, so they are reproduced in full instead of averaged into one number. The percentage applies to the item's total price, which Amazon defines as the list price plus shipping and any gift wrapping.
| Product category | Referral fee |
|---|---|
| Amazon Device Accessories | 45% |
| Appliances — Compact | 15% of the portion up to $300.00, then 8% above $300.00 |
| Appliances — Full-size | 8% |
| Automotive and Powersports | 12% |
| Base Equipment Power Tools | 12% |
| Baby Products | 8% when the total sales price is $10.00 or less, 15% above $10.00 |
| Backpacks, Handbags, and Luggage | 15% |
| Beauty, Health, and Personal Care | 8% when the total sales price is $10.00 or less, 15% above $10.00 |
| Business, Industrial, and Scientific Supplies | 12% |
| Clothing and Accessories | 5% up to $15.00, 10% above $15.00 up to $20.00, 17% above $20.00 |
| Computers | 8% |
| Consumer Electronics | 8%Certain cell phone devices may require approval before you can list them. |
| Electronics Accessories | 15% of the portion up to $100.00, then 8% above $100.00A bundle containing both a camera device and accessory products falls here, not under Consumer Electronics. |
| Eyewear | 15% |
| Fine Art | 20% up to $100 (minimum $1.00), 15% above $100 to $1,000, 10% above $1,000 to $5,000, 5% above $5,000 |
| Footwear | 15% |
| Furniture | 15% of the portion up to $200.00, then 10% above $200.00 |
| Gift Cards | 20% |
| Grocery and Gourmet | 8% when the total sales price is $15.00 or less, 15% above $15.00 |
| Home and Kitchen | 15% |
| Jewelry | 20% of the portion up to $250.00, then 5% above $250.00 |
| Lawn and Garden | 15% |
| Lawn Mowers and Snow Throwers | 15% up to $500.00, 8% above $500.00 |
| Mattresses | 15% |
| Media — Books, DVD, Music, Software, Video | 15%, plus a $1.80 per-item closing fee |
| Merchant Fulfilled Services | 20%This covers services sold through Amazon Local Selling. It is not the fee for fulfilling your own product orders. |
| Musical Instruments and AV Production | 15% |
| Office Products | 15% |
| Pet Supplies | 15%, except 22% for veterinary diets |
| Sports and Outdoors | 15% |
| Tires | 10% |
| Tools and Home Improvement | 15% |
| Toys and Games | 15% |
| Video Games and Gaming Accessories | 15% |
| Video Game Consoles | 8% |
| Watches | 16% of the portion up to $1,500.00, then 3% above $1,500.00 |
| Everything Else | 15% |
Two things this table cannot tell you. Amazon does not publish the minimum referral fee for most categories on this page, so a very low-priced item can pay more than the percentage implies. And a product's fee category is not always the category shoppers see in the store — check Amazon's fee category guidelines if yours is ambiguous. Selling plan is separate and charged on top: $0.99 per item sold on the Individual plan, or $39.99 per month on the Professional plan.
Amazon — referral fees by category · read on 27 July 2026
What the percentage is charged on
This is where sellers most often miscalculate. The rate matters less than the base it is applied to.
- eBay
- Item price, handling charges, shipping collected from the buyer (some exceptions), sales tax and any other applicable fees
- Etsy
- Transaction fee: item price + shipping + gift wrapping. US sellers' transaction fee is not applied to sales tax. Payment processing: the total sale price including shipping and applicable sales tax.
- Amazon
- The item's total price, which Amazon defines as its list price plus shipping costs and any gift-wrapping charges
A worked example: a $40 item with $6 shipping
Same order, same buyer payment of $46, no sales tax, no advertising. Only the platform changes.
| Platform | How it adds up | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| eBay | 13.6% of $46.00 = $6.26, plus the $0.40 per-order fee | $6.66 |
| Etsy | 6.5% transaction on $46.00 = $2.99, payment processing 3% + $0.25 = $1.63, listing fee $0.20 | $4.82 |
| Amazon | Referral fee = your category's percentage of the total price, or the category minimum if that is higher, plus $0.99 per item on the Individual plan or $39.99 a month on the Professional plan | Depends on category |
These are the platform's cut of one order, nothing else. They exclude the cost of the product, packaging, the shipping you actually pay a carrier, advertising, refunds, income tax and — on Amazon — fulfilment fees. A lower platform fee does not mean a higher profit.
Which tends to suit which seller
eBay charges one fee that already covers payment processing, and gives 250 free listings a month. That suits used, refurbished, collectible and parts inventory, and anyone listing many items that may not sell. The rate steps down above $7,500 per item, so high-ticket sales are treated differently from the headline percentage.
Etsy splits the cost in three — listing, transaction and payment processing — which usually lands below eBay on a small handmade or craft order. Its variable is Offsite Ads: once your shop passes the threshold, attributed orders carry an extra 12% or 15%, and large shops cannot opt out.
Amazon is built for repeatable products with existing demand. The $39.99 monthly plan only starts to cost less than the $0.99 per-item plan above about 40 sales a month, and fulfilment choice changes the economics more than the referral fee does. The referral fee itself runs from 3% to 45% across the published schedule, which matters far more than any of the above.
There is no universally cheapest platform. The answer depends on your category, your average order value, whether you advertise, and who fulfils the order.
Run your own numbers
Work through these in order: the fee on one sale, then what is left after your costs, then how many sales cover your fixed costs, then whether advertising pays for itself.
- 1Fees on one eBay sale
- 2Actual eBay profit from a Transaction report
- 3Profit and missing costs from an eBay Earnings report
- 4Fees on one Etsy sale
- 5Actual Etsy statement activity and deposits
- 6Profit and gross margin after all costs
- 7Units needed to cover fixed costs
- 8Whether your advertising pays for itself
Already selling on eBay? The Transaction Report Analyzer audits the actual fees, refunds and shipping labels in the CSV, while eBay Payout Reconciliation groups those movements by payout ID. If you are unsure which export to download, use the eBay report guide.
Selling the same catalogue on more than one platform? The Catalog Workbench turns a supplier price list into a reviewed Shopify update, while the WooCommerce Price & Stock Update prepares the minimum ID/SKU file for existing WooCommerce products. A fee change becomes a repricing you can apply in one pass instead of item by item.
Sources
Every rate on this page was read from these pages on 27 July 2026. Check them before making a decision — platforms change fees, and none of this is financial, tax or legal advice.
Costs these calculators do not include
eBay
- Store subscription fees, from $7.95 per month on monthly renewal
- Promoted Listings and other optional upgrades
- International and currency-conversion fees
- Dispute fees
Etsy
- Offsite Ads: 15% of an attributed order, or 12% for shops that made $10,000 or more in the previous 365 days
- Etsy Ads budget you set yourself
- Shop set-up fee, which varies by location
- Currency conversion and VAT on seller fees where applicable
Amazon
- Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) picking, packing, storage and removal fees
- Advertising spend
- A $1.80 per-item closing fee on media categories, on top of the referral fee
- Refund administration fees