Marketplace Fee Comparison
What it costs you to ship one order yourself. Counted against Etsy, eBay, Depop, Poshmark and Mercari — not against FBA, because Amazon's fulfillment fee already pays for delivery.
Landed cost per unit; drives the profit line.
Same sale, six platforms
Order total: $30.00Amazon FBA
- Fees
- $8.59 · 28.6%
- You keep
- $21.41
- Profit
- $11.41
- Referral 15% $4.50
- Fulfillment (0.5 lb) incl. fuel surcharge $4.09
- includes picking, packing & delivery
Etsy
- Fees
- $3.30 · 11.0%
- You keep
- $26.70
- Profit
- $11.70
- Transaction $1.95
- Processing $1.15
- Listing $0.20
- your postage counted
eBay
- Fees
- $4.48 · 14.9%
- You keep
- $25.52
- Profit
- $10.52
- Final value fee $4.08
- Per-order $0.40
- your postage counted
Depop
Cheapest- Fees
- $1.44 · 4.8%
- You keep
- $28.56
- Profit
- $13.56
- Processing $1.44
- No selling fee
- your postage counted
Poshmark
- Fees
- $6.00 · 20.0%
- You keep
- $24.00
- Profit
- $9.00
- Commission 20% $6.00
- No processing or listing fees
- your postage counted
Mercari
- Fees
- $3.00 · 10.0%
- You keep
- $27.00
- Profit
- $12.00
- Selling fee 10% $3.00
- Buyer pays +$1.08 (3.6%)
- your postage counted
What each column assumes
- Amazon FBA: 15% referral (most categories) + fulfillment for a large-standard 0.5 lb item, including the 3.5% fuel surcharge. Off-peak rates — the holiday peak card adds about $0.32/unit from Oct 15.
- Etsy: US domestic sale through Etsy Payments, no Offsite Ads, one unit. The $0.20 listing renewal is counted.
- eBay: "Most categories" final value fee (13.6% to $7,500), no store subscription, no Promoted Listings, $0.40 per-order fee.
- Depop: US seller, Depop Payments (3.3% + $0.45), no selling fee, no boosted sale.
- Poshmark: US seller, no Texas fee tax, no shipping discount, no Promoted Closet. Its fee applies to the item price; the buyer's $6.49 shipping never enters these numbers.
- Mercari: free-shipping listing, so the 10% applies to the price only and the label cost lands in your postage figure below. The buyer's 3.6% is their cost, not yours.
- Category, size and price change everything: jewelry on eBay, apparel on Amazon and Offsite Ads on Etsy each move the numbers by several points — and on Poshmark, $14.99 vs $15.01 switches between flat and percentage.
Every column links to its full calculator where you can set the real category, size and weight.
How to read this comparison
- 1
The cheapest headline is not the cheapest shop
Depop carries the lowest take rate here, and for a $30 sale the spread is wide: about 5% for Depop, then Mercari at 10%, Etsy near 11%, eBay around 15%, Poshmark at 20% (or a flat $2.95 under $15), and FBA near 29% once fulfillment is priced in. But the platforms do different jobs. FBA's fee buys storage, picking, packing and delivery; on the others you spend your own time and postage, which the calculator charges against them.
- 2
Sticker rates need a second look
The number sellers quote — 6.5% on Etsy, 13.6% on eBay — is only the first line of each fee stack. Fixed fees ($0.25 processing, $0.20 listing, $0.40 per order) hit small orders hard, which is why the effective rates above are what pricing should use.
- 3
Run your own three numbers
Enter one price, your postage and your unit cost, and watch the profit line: that is the actual question. At $30 with $5 postage and $10 cost, Depop leads, Etsy lands within a dollar of FBA, and eBay trails everyone once Promoted Listings enters the picture.
- 4
Where the comparison gets sharper
This hub prices a default scenario per platform. Each full calculator goes deeper: eBay's category tiers and store math, Etsy's Offsite Ads and international processing, FBA's size tiers and peak season, Depop's boosted sales. Use the hub to pick a lane, the calculator to price inside it.
Questions
Why is Amazon FBA so much more expensive here?
Because its fee is a fulfillment service. Picking, packing, storing and delivering are inside the number, so comparing it to a DIY shipping cost overstates it — unless your own time has a price. The profit line is the fair comparison: at $30 with $5 postage and $10 cost, FBA and Etsy land within a dollar of each other.
So which platform keeps the most?
For small home-shipped sales: Depop, because its 2026 model has no selling fee in the US, with Mercari next at a flat 10%. Etsy lands close behind on discoverability-adjusted terms, eBay costs more between the 13.6% and the per-order fee, Poshmark is the priciest of the self-fulfilled group at 20%, and FBA trades a bigger cut for volume and logistics. The ranking shifts once your postage is expensive — a $9 parcel can erase Depop's edge entirely.
Why do the effective rates differ from the advertised percentages?
Fixed fees and fee bases. eBay charges its 13.6% on shipping and collected tax too, plus $0.40 per order; Etsy adds 3% + $0.25 processing and the listing renewal; and small orders push all three upward because fixed amounts don't scale down.
Can I use this to decide where to list?
It is the right first pass, not the last word. Fees are one axis; buyers are the other. Depop's 4.8% take rate is meaningless if your product's buyers live on Etsy. Use the comparison to understand the cost of each market, then pick by where the demand is — and price with the effective rate, whichever lane you take.
Why do the numbers differ from my dashboard?
The scenario here is the default one per platform: most categories on eBay, domestic US on Etsy, off-peak FBA, no ads anywhere. Your actual category, size, season and ad spend change every column. Open the linked calculator and set them.
Where these numbers come from
Each column is the same verified engine as its standalone calculator, all reading official 2026 rate cards:
- Amazon FBA fee calculator
- Etsy fee calculator
- eBay fee calculator
- Depop fee calculator
- Poshmark fee calculator
- Mercari fee calculator
Amazon FBA (Seller Central), Etsy (Fees & Payments schedule), eBay (US store selling fees), Depop (Help Center, July 2026), Poshmark (support center, Oct 2026), Mercari (Jan 2025 structure, corroborated). Cross-checked Oct 14, 2026.
The whole toolbox
Six calculators, one per marketplace, plus the fee guides that explain what each platform changed in 2026.