Shipping
Free shipping calculator
"Free shipping" is never free — you bake the cost into the price. The real question is how much your platform's fees eat when you do. This compares all 11 marketplaces at once.
Your sale
What you'd list the item at, before shipping
What the carrier charges you
Optional
Charge shipping: list at $40.00, buyer pays $8.00 shipping.
Free shipping: list at $48.00, shipping baked in.
The buyer pays $48.00 either way — only the fee treatment differs.
Cost of free shipping
6 of 11 fee-neutral- eBayfree $41.34 · charged $41.34Fee-neutral
- Etsyfree $42.99 · charged $42.99Fee-neutral
- Depopfree $45.97 · charged $45.97Fee-neutral
- Facebook Marketplacefree $45.60 · charged $45.60Fee-neutral
- Vintedfree $48.00 · charged $48.00Fee-neutral
- Reverbfree $43.91 · charged $43.91Fee-neutral
- Whatnotfree $42.47 · charged $43.11−$0.64with free shipping
- GOATfree $38.44 · charged $39.20−$0.76with free shipping
- Mercarifree $41.31 · charged $42.11−$0.80with free shipping
- StockXfree $42.24 · charged $43.20−$0.96with free shipping
- Poshmarkfree $38.40 · charged $40.00−$1.60with free shipping
Each platform uses its default fee options. Free shipping is neutral where the selling fee already applies to item + shipping; it costs you where the fee is charged on the item price alone.
Why free shipping costs more on some platforms
When you offer free shipping, you raise the item price to cover the postage. The buyer pays the same total either way — but the platform's selling fee is now charged on a bigger number.
It comes down to one thing: what the selling fee applies to.
- Fee on item + shipping (eBay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, Reverb): the fee base is identical whether shipping is a separate line or baked in. Free shipping is fee-neutral here.
- Fee on the item price only (Mercari, StockX, Poshmark, GOAT): baking shipping into the price inflates the fee base, so you pay the selling fee on your postage too. That's the hidden cost.
On the flip side, on item-only platforms you can reduce your fees by charging shipping as a separate line instead of offering free shipping — the calculator above shows exactly how much.
Should you offer free shipping?
Should I offer free shipping as a reseller?
On most platforms it doesn't cost you anything, so offering it can boost conversions for free. On eBay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, and Reverb the selling fee already applies to item + shipping, so baking shipping into the price changes nothing. The exception is item-price-only platforms — Mercari, StockX, Poshmark, and GOAT — where free shipping makes you pay the selling fee on your postage too. Run your numbers above to see the exact cost.
Does free shipping actually save on fees?
No — it's a myth that free shipping lowers your fees. The buyer pays the same total either way, so platforms that charge on item + shipping take the same cut. Where shipping is charged separately on an item-only platform, it's the charged approach that saves fees, not the free one.
Which platforms make free shipping more expensive?
Mercari (10% selling fee), Poshmark (20%), StockX (transaction fee by level), and GOAT (9.5%) charge their commission on the item price only — so the extra you add to cover shipping gets taxed at that rate. Poshmark is the steepest: on $8 of shipping you'd pay an extra $1.60.