Etsy Fees Explained: Where a $7 Sale Really Goes (U.S. vs Serbia vs Gumroad)
Short answer: on a $7 digital download, Etsy's published fees come to about $1.12 with a U.S. bank account and no ads, which leaves about $5.89. With a Serbian bank account the processing row changes and the same sale leaves about $5.59. One attributed Offsite Ad takes another $1.05. Gumroad's published fee on a direct sale of the same $7 is $1.20, which leaves $5.80. The totals are close. What really differs is who brings the buyer.
Picture the ping at 11:47 at night: you made a sale, seven dollars, your first. It is a great feeling, and then a quieter question arrives: how much of that is actually mine? Below, one made-up seller, Lena, and her $7 printable budget planner, followed line by line through the fees the platforms publish. Everything here is arithmetic on public rates, and fees change, so check the current pages before you price anything.
The receipt, line by line
Etsy's Fees & Payments Policy (updated October 5, 2026) lists a $0.20 listing fee per item. A listing expires after four months and renews for another $0.20 unless you turn renewal off. The transaction fee is 6.5% of the price, which is $0.455 on $7. Payment processing is the third line: Etsy says it varies with the location of your bank account, and for a U.S. bank account its help page lists 3% plus $0.25, or $0.46 on $7. Etsy's payments policy adds that this fee is figured on the gross order amount, including shipping and tax.
Add it up: $0.20 + $0.455 + $0.46 = $1.115. Lena keeps $5.885, about $5.89, and fees take about 15.9% of the sale. Notice that $0.45 of the fees is fixed (the listing fee and the 25-cent processing charge). Fixed pieces do not shrink with the price, so by my arithmetic fees are about 12.5% of a $15 sale and about 11% of a $30 sale. The smaller the price, the larger the share.
Your bank's country changes the price
The same help page lists different processing rows by country: 6.5% + $0.30 for Serbia, 4% + 0.20 GBP for the United Kingdom and 4% + 0.30 EUR for Germany. On $7, the Serbian row costs about $0.755 instead of $0.46, and Lena's total drops to about $5.59. Etsy's fees page also lists a 2.5% currency conversion fee on the sale amount if you list in a currency other than your payment account's currency. On $7 that is another $0.175, bringing the Serbian example to about $5.42, which is $0.47 less than the U.S. receipt for the same planner and the same buyer.
The line that can change the whole receipt: Offsite Ads
Etsy can advertise your listing on other websites. If a buyer clicks one of those ads and buys from your shop within 30 days, Etsy charges 15% of the order, which is $1.05 on $7. According to Etsy's help page, a shop that has never made $10,000 in any consecutive 365 days can opt out. After that threshold the rate drops to 12%, but participation is required for the lifetime of the shop. With one attributed ad, the U.S. example falls to about $4.84.
Money you earned is not money you can spend
Etsy's payments policy lets you choose daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly payouts, with weekly payouts on Mondays, and says deposits generally arrive within five business days after Etsy starts the transfer. It also says reserves and holds are risk based and that deposit delays can range from zero to 180 days. If rent is due on the first, plan around the deposit date, not the notification.
The same $7 on Gumroad
Gumroad's pricing page (opened October 12, 2026) lists 10% plus $0.50 per sale through your own link, with no monthly fee, and 30% when a new customer finds you through its Discover marketplace. On $7 that is $1.20 and $2.10, leaving $5.80 and $4.90. Its page also says Gumroad handles sales tax worldwide as merchant of record, and it lists no separate processing line, so check the current page before you rely on any scoreboard, this one included.
| Etsy, U.S. bank account, no ads | $5.89 |
| Gumroad, your own link | $5.80 |
| Etsy, Serbian bank row | $5.59 |
| Etsy, Serbian row plus currency conversion | $5.42 |
| Gumroad Discover | $4.90 |
| Etsy, U.S. bank account, one attributed Offsite Ad | $4.84 |
So which is cheaper? The wrong question
Look at the table again. The gap between Etsy and a direct link is a few cents, but the gap between a marketplace sale and a sale that needed an ad is a dollar. The fee that moves most is not a percentage on the page, it is who brought the buyer. On a marketplace, part of the fee pays for a crowd that was already there. On your own link, the crowd is you, and a 10% fee on zero customers is zero dollars. Neither is wrong, they match different kinds of work.
Before you list anything, write a four-line receipt: the price, the platform's cut, the bank's cut, and the extra you might trigger (an ad or a currency conversion). Then decide what the crowd is worth to you. This is general education, not financial advice.
Still deciding what to sell? Start with the free three-day test
Our free three-day side hustle test checks an idea before you build anything. If you want a full step-by-step method with prompts and honest limits, "Quit the 9-to-5 and Earn Real Income with AI" is a no-nonsense PDF guide. No income is guaranteed, and it is educational only.
See the guide (PDF) →FAQ
How much does Etsy take from a $7 sale?
With a U.S. bank account and no Offsite Ad, about $1.12: a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee ($0.455) and 3% + $0.25 processing ($0.46). Other bank countries have different processing rows, and an attributed Offsite Ad adds 15% of the order.
What is Etsy's payment processing fee for Serbia?
Etsy's help page lists 6.5% + $0.30 per order for a Serbian bank account, versus 3% + $0.25 for the United States. Rates depend on the location of your bank account and can change.
Can I opt out of Etsy Offsite Ads?
According to Etsy's help page, shops that have never made $10,000 in any consecutive 365 days can opt out. Once a shop reaches that level, participation is required for the lifetime of the shop and the fee is 12% instead of 15%.
What does Gumroad charge per sale?
Its pricing page lists 10% plus $0.50 for sales through your own link and 30% for sales found through Discover, with no monthly fee. Check the current page, since fees and what they include can change.
Sources consulted (all opened and read): Etsy, "Fees & Payments Policy" (etsy.com/legal/fees, updated Oct 5, 2026); Etsy Help Center, "What are Payment Processing Fees for Selling on Etsy?" (help.etsy.com); Etsy, "Etsy Payments Policy" (etsy.com/legal/etsy-payments, updated Jul 31, 2026); Etsy Help Center, "How Etsy's Offsite Ads Work"; Gumroad, pricing page (gumroad.com/pricing, opened Oct 12, 2026). Lena and her shop are made up, and every total is my arithmetic on the published rates; Etsy's own rounding may differ by a cent. Educational information only, not financial, tax or legal advice.
Related: How to price a digital product: floor, ceiling and a simple test.
Keep reading
More from our channels
Jairo Oliva Jofer
Digital nomad. Brazilian living in Serbia. Jairo writes honest, no-fluff guides and tells rise and fall stories on the Icarus Paradox channel. See all guides →