Foundational
How marketplace fees actually work
Resale platforms charge sellers in several different ways. Once you understand the categories, every marketplace's fee schedule reads the same way — and you can compare them on equal footing.
The four kinds of seller fees
Every fee on every marketplace falls into one of four buckets. Knowing which bucket a charge lives in tells you when it applies and how it scales.
A percentage of the sale, charged to the seller. This is the marketplace's core revenue model. Rates vary widely: 5% on Facebook Marketplace and Reverb, 6.5% on Etsy, 8% on Whatnot and eBay sneakers ≥$150, 9-9.5% on StockX and GOAT, 10% on Mercari, 13.25% on eBay general, 20% on Poshmark. The base varies too — some apply to item price only, some to item + shipping.
A fee for handling the credit card transaction. Usually a percentage plus a fixed amount (2.9% + $0.30 or 3% + $0.25 are typical). Sometimes bundled into the commission (Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace), sometimes charged separately (eBay rolls it into the FVF; Mercari, Etsy, StockX bill it as a line item). When comparing platforms, always check whether processing is included or extra.
A fixed dollar amount per transaction, regardless of sale size. eBay charges $0.30 per order; Etsy charges $0.20 per listing (every 4 months); Facebook Marketplace has a $0.40 minimum fee per shipment. Flat fees dominate on low-priced items — a $0.30 flat fee is 6% of a $5 sale but only 0.06% of a $500 sale.
Promoted Listings (eBay), Offsite Ads (Etsy), Bump (Reverb), Boost (Depop) — all add additional fees in exchange for paid visibility. International selling adds 1.65% on eBay. Authentication failure costs apply on StockX/GOAT. These don't apply to every sale, but they can swing your effective fee rate by 10-15 points when they do.
What does the fee apply to?
A 10% commission sounds simple, but two platforms can both charge "10%" and produce different totals. The base — what the percentage is applied to — is the hidden variable.
- Item price only: Mercari and StockX charge commission only on the item price, not shipping. Charging more for shipping doesn't increase the commission base.
- Item price + shipping: eBay, Etsy, Reverb, and Facebook Marketplace charge on the total buyer payment. Shipping is part of the fee base, so "free shipping" (built into the item price) doesn't change the math.
- Item price + shipping + tax: eBay's Final Value Fee technically includes sales tax in some scenarios. Etsy's transaction fee does not include tax. Worth verifying for high-value sales.
The "free shipping" trick that isn't
Some resellers offer free shipping thinking it saves them fees. On eBay, Etsy, and Mercari, this is a misconception. The Final Value Fee applies to item + shipping regardless of which line the buyer is paying for. A $50 item with $5 shipping versus a $55 item with free shipping has the same fee base — $55. The buyer pays the same total either way; the platform takes the same cut.
The exception is platforms where commission applies only to item price (Mercari's 10% selling fee, StockX's 9% transaction). On those, charging shipping separately does reduce your commission base — but the payment processing fee still applies to the full amount.
Net payout vs net profit
Two terms resellers confuse all the time. Both matter; they answer different questions.
What the platform deposits in your account. Sale price + shipping charged − platform fees. Used for reconciliation, taxes, 1099-K reporting.
What you actually keep. Net payout − your item cost − your shipping cost. Used for sourcing decisions, ROI, "should I buy this to flip."
Every fee calculator on ResaleRank shows both — payout in the hero, profit in the subline. They diverge when item cost and shipping cost are non-zero, which is most real-world sales.
How to read a fee schedule
- Find the commission rate and base. "X% on Y" where Y is item-only or item+shipping.
- Check for payment processing. Bundled or separate? Same base or different?
- Look for flat fees. Per-order, per-listing, per-cashout. These hit low-value sales hard.
- Identify optional charges. Promoted listings, ads programs, international, store subscriptions. Are you opted in?
- Run the math at multiple price points. The cheapest platform at $20 may not be the cheapest at $200.
Why fee schedules change
Marketplace fees shift over time. Mercari and Depop have both made major structural changes in the past few years. eBay periodically adjusts category-specific rates. Etsy added the Offsite Ads program in 2020 and tightened the threshold rules since.
Always check the last-verified date on any fee comparison — including the ones on this site. ResaleRank verifies fee data periodically, but for business-critical or high-value decisions, the platform's official help center is the authoritative source.
Try the math on your own sale
ResaleRank has live calculators for all 11 major resale marketplaces, plus a homepage tool that ranks them all by net payout for any input.