The short answer: for a $50 item with $8 shipping, Etsy leaves you the most of the three marketplaces ($52.04). That's for handmade or vintage items: Etsy's own rules don't allow reselling new goods, so for new items our pick is Mercari. PayPal or your own store keep more, but you find every buyer yourself.
Where you keep the most from one sale
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in these results. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
- 1.PayPal$55.49
Fees $2.51 (4.3% of $58.00) · every fee and options
Payment fee only. You find the buyers yourself: social media, your own site, in person.
- 2.Your own store (Shopify Basic)$54.07
Fees $3.93 (6.8% of $58.00) · every fee and options
Plan fee spread over your orders, Shopify Payments, domestic card. You bring your own visitors.
- 3.Etsy$52.04
Fees $5.96 (10.3% of $58.00) · every fee and options
No Offsite Ad. If a sale comes from one, Etsy adds 12% or 15%.
- 4.eBay$49.71
Fees $8.29 (14.3% of $58.00) · every fee and options
Most categories, no Store. Category changes the rate: sneakers ($150.00 and up), guitars and heavy equipment pay less.
- 5.Amazon$48.31
Fees $9.69 (16.7% of $58.00) · every fee and options
Shipping it yourself, on whichever plan costs less at your volume. Amazon fulfillment adds a fee by size and weight.
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in these results. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
Sorted by what you keep from the item price plus shipping, before your own costs.
Fees verified Oct 20, 2026 from each platform's own fee pages. Each line links to its source.
Our pick, by what you sell
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For just starting: your first sales of new goods · must have New items allowed (not only handmade or vintage), Most categories (not only clothing), $0 a month to start
Our pick
Mercari $29.00 in fees
Lowest cost, and it allows new items, takes most kinds of goods and costs $0 a month to start.
Why not the others?
Left out: Etsy (doesn't allow new items under its own rules); Depop (doesn't take most kinds of goods under its own rules).
Can't confirm here (a must-have or the full price isn't published): Poshmark.
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For just starting: your first handmade sales · must have Handmade allowed, $0 a month to start
Our pick
Depop $11.82 in fees
Lowest cost, and it allows handmade items and costs $0 a month to start.
Why not the others?
Missing a must-have: Amazon (misses: $0 a month to start).
Can't confirm here (a must-have or the full price isn't published): Etsy, Poshmark.
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For new goods · must have New items allowed (not only handmade or vintage), Most categories (not only clothing)
Our pick
Mercari $5.80 in fees
Lowest cost, and it allows new items and takes most kinds of goods.
Why not the others?
Left out: Etsy (doesn't allow new items under its own rules); Depop (doesn't take most kinds of goods under its own rules).
Can't confirm here (a must-have or the full price isn't published): Poshmark.
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For used clothing · must have Used clothing allowed
Our pick
Depop $2.36 in fees
Lowest cost, and it allows used clothing.
Why not the others?
Left out: Etsy (doesn't allow used clothing under its own rules).
Can't confirm here (a must-have or the full price isn't published): Amazon.
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For handmade items · must have Handmade allowed
Our pick
Depop $2.36 in fees
Lowest cost, and it allows handmade items.
Why not the others?
Can't confirm here (a must-have or the full price isn't published): Poshmark.
How we picked
Fees on one sale of a $50 item with $8 shipping, at each marketplace's standard rules (no store, no ads, buyer pays shipping). For just starting, the total is the fees on your first 5 sales at 5 a month, plus any fee to open the shop or first month of a plan. Compared: eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Depop, Poshmark and Mercari. A marketplace whose own rules don't allow that kind of item is left out. PayPal and your own store bring no buyers, so they are not in the picks. Our pick is the lowest cost option that has every must-have; within 10% of it, no contract, faster payouts and longer support hours win. Payment from a provider never changes it. How we pick
Why Depop for handmade: of the marketplaces whose own rules allow things you make, it takes the least in fees on this sale ($2.36 vs $5.96 on Etsy), and its rules allow "handcrafted items designed by the seller". Etsy is the marketplace built around handmade: its rules say "everything listed for sale on Etsy must be made, designed, handpicked, or sourced by a seller."
Before your first sale: what it costs and when you get paid
Every marketplace here lets you start at $0 a month. What you pay before and around your first 5 sales of a $50 item with $8 shipping, and when the money reaches you as a new seller:
-
eBay
- To open the shop
- No fee
- To list an item
- Free for your first 250 listings a month, then $0.35 each ↗
- Fees on your first 5 sales
- $41.44
- Getting paid as a new seller
- "New private sellers will typically receive their funds within 2 days after delivery confirmation (for items sent with an ebay label), 7 days after delivery confirmation (for items sent with a third-party label), or 31 days after the buyer pays (for items sent without tracking) while they build a consistent track record." Faster after: "At least 10 completed sales with a combined total of $150 or more within the last 5 years".↗
-
Etsy
- To open the shop
- A one-time fee; the amount is shown only during sign-up ("Cost varies by location")
- To list an item
- $0.20 USD per listing, charged when you list, sold or not ↗
- Fees on your first 5 sales
- Can't confirm: the set-up fee isn't published
- Getting paid as a new seller
- "If you’re a new seller, by default your funds will be sent to your bank account weekly, every Monday."↗ New shops: "If you're a new seller, your funds will generally be eligible for deposit 14 days after a sale, though it may take longer" ↗
-
Amazon
- To open the shop
- No fee
- To list an item
- Free to list; the Individual plan charges $0.99 per item sold ↗
- Fees on your first 5 sales
- $48.45
- Getting paid as a new seller
- Not on the pages we read
-
Depop
-
Poshmark
-
Mercari
Fees on the first sales: each marketplace's standard rules at 5 sales a month, one listing per sale, plus any fee to open the shop. Some of these take only certain kinds of items; the picks above check that. ↗ opens the marketplace's own page.
New to Amazon with your own brand? Amazon says: "If you have a new-to-Amazon brand, you can get over $50,000 in automatic referral-fee waivers for your first year" (Amazon's pricing page). It is for sellers with a brand of their own, so we don't count it in the totals above.
What each platform charges
| Platform | Per sale | Monthly | The fee sellers miss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 15% referral fee in most categories (minimum $0.30 an item) | $39.99 Professional plan, or $0.99 per item on Individual | Fulfillment by Amazon adds a fee per unit by size and weight, plus monthly storage. |
| eBay | 13.6% of the total sale in most categories, plus $0.40 per order over $10 | None without a Store | The percentage applies to shipping and sales tax too, not just the item price. |
| Etsy | $0.20 listing + 6.5% transaction + 3% + $0.25 processing | None on the standard plan | Offsite Ads take 15% of an ad-driven order, and 12% becomes mandatory once your shop has ever sold $10,000 USD in a year. |
| PayPal | 3.49% + $0.49 per payment (PayPal Checkout) | None | Refunds do not return the fee, and international buyers add a percentage. |
| Your own store (Shopify) | 2.9% + $0.30 card fee on Basic, no sales commission on Shopify Payments | $39 Basic plan ($29 billed yearly) | Using another payment provider adds 2% on Basic. You bring every buyer yourself. |
Compare platforms
Fee comparisons for the same sale, two or three platforms at a time:
When the answer changes
The order above is for one typical sale. It moves when:
- Your item is cheap. Flat fees per sale hurt most on small orders. On a $10 item with free shipping, the marketplaces leave Etsy $8.60, eBay $8.34, Amazon $7.51.
- Your eBay category has its own rate. Guitars, sneakers over a set price and heavy equipment pay much less than the standard rate; books, jewelry and handbags pay more. See eBay fees by category.
- An Etsy sale comes from an Offsite Ad. That one fee can be larger than all of Etsy’s other fees combined. See Etsy’s fees.
- You sell more each month. A store plan or an Amazon Professional plan is a fixed monthly cost, so it shrinks per order as volume grows. See your own store’s cost per order.
- The buyer is in another country. eBay, PayPal and Shopify add international fees or rates. Etsy does not add one for US sellers.
Weighing two platforms head to head? See eBay vs Etsy, Amazon vs eBay and your own store vs Etsy.
eBay Store: when the subscription pays for itself
In most categories a Basic Store ($27.95 a month on monthly renewal) pays for itself from 54 sales a month of a $50 item with $8 shipping (43 on yearly renewal), through its lower final value fee. If you list a lot, the free listings alone cover it from 330 listings a month. A Starter Store keeps the no-Store final value fee, so it pays for itself only on listings, from 409 a month.
| Each month | No Store | Starter Store | Basic Store | Premium Store |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 sales, 100 listings | $165.76 | $173.71 | $183.27 | $230.27 |
| 60 sales, 400 listings | $549.78 | $550.23 | $493.91 | $540.91 |
| 150 sales, 1,000 listings | $1,505.70 | $1,476.15 | $1,192.85 | $1,239.85 |
Fixed-price listings in most categories, no ads, buyer in your country, each listing counted once in the month. Break-even is against selling with no Store. A yearly renewal costs less a month but charges an early termination fee if you cancel before the last month. eBay's own Store and fee tables, linked in the column heads; every category rate is on eBay's fees.
For your own sales, listings and category, including the Anchor Store and where each plan pays off by category, see whether an eBay Store is worth it.
Amazon Individual vs Professional: the 40-item line
Amazon's Individual plan charges $0.99 per item sold; Professional charges $39.99 a month, however much you sell. Up to 40 items a month, Individual costs less (40 items: $39.60). From 41 items ($40.59 on Individual), Professional does. On either plan, Amazon's referral fee on each sale comes on top.
Approved Amazon Handmade sellers are different: "Following a one-time, first-month payment, the ongoing monthly fee will be waived for approved Handmade sellers." (Amazon Handmade). That first month is a cost of starting, so our just-starting handmade pick counts it.
For FBA fulfillment and storage, the holiday peak rates and the referral fee in every category, see every fee for Amazon sellers.
Fees are not the whole cost
Marketplaces charge more because they bring the buyers. PayPal and your own store charge less, but you pay to find customers through ads, social media or email. Getting paid in an app instead? See Venmo’s seller fees and Cash App’s fees. Selling secondhand clothes? See the fees on Depop, Poshmark and Mercari, or all three side by side. And on every platform, the shipping label comes on top of the fees: compare real label prices in the cheapest way to ship. To see every fee on one order added up, from the platform’s cut to pick and pack and the label, read what it really costs to ship one online order.
Common questions
Which selling platform has the lowest fees?
On a $50 item with $8 shipping at 20 orders a month, the lowest fees among eBay, Etsy and Amazon are on Etsy ($5.96). PayPal alone ($2.51) and your own Shopify store ($3.93 per order) cost less, but bring you no buyers.
What is the cheapest place to sell online?
For fees alone, a payment link or your own store, since neither takes a marketplace commission. Among marketplaces it depends on your price and category: on our example $50 sale, Etsy takes the least and Amazon the most. Put your own numbers in the calculator above.
Is it cheaper to sell on eBay or Etsy?
On a $50 item with $8 shipping, Etsy's standard fees are $5.96 and eBay's are $8.29 in most categories. An Etsy sale that came from an Offsite Ad costs more, and some eBay categories cost much less, so check both with your own item.
Do I need my own website to sell online?
No. eBay, Etsy and Amazon give you a shop and buyers for a share of each sale. Your own store costs less per sale once you have steady orders, but you have to bring the visitors yourself.
Get told when these prices change
Providers change fees with little notice. Alerts start soon, and we'll send nothing else.