Seller Fees Compared: eBay, Poshmark, Mercari, Depop and More

What each platform charges its fee on

Two numbers decide a fee: the rate and the base it applies to. The table puts the bases side by side. “Tax” means the sales tax the buyer pays; marketplaces collect it for the buyer’s address and send it to the state, so it is never your income, but on some platforms it still raises your fee.

The sources, platform by platform:

• eBay charges a percentage of the total amount of the sale plus a per-order fee, and its selling fees page lists the item price, handling, shipping charged to the buyer and sales tax in that total. The 13.6% rate for most categories applies to items sold since February 14, 2025.
• Poshmark’s Fee Policy takes $2.95 from sales under $15 and 20% from sales of $15 and up, charged on the final order price (Legal Center).
• Mercari has charged 10% of the item price plus buyer-paid shipping on listings created or updated since January 6, 2025, with no seller processing fee (Fees on Mercari).
• Depop charges U.S. sellers no selling fee, but its 3.3% + $0.45 processing fee is charged on the item price, shipping and any sales tax (Depop help).
• Etsy’s 6.5% transaction fee covers the item, shipping and gift wrap, and for sellers in the U.S. it isn’t charged on sales tax (Fees & Payments Policy). Its 3% + $0.25 U.S. processing fee is taken from the total sale price including shipping and any sales tax (processing fees).
• Whatnot charges commission on the item price only and processing on the whole order the buyer pays for, including buyer-paid shipping and taxes. Its tiered commission took effect September 21, 2026; the 8% base tier applies until your sales in a 4-week period reach $15,000, and a higher tier lowers the rate for the next period (Whatnot seller fees).
• Facebook Marketplace deducts 10% (minimum $0.80) on shipped orders, calculated on the item price, shipping and taxes (Meta help). Meta describes the fee for items sold with shipping and checkout; its pages show no selling fee for local pickup. For the prepaid label, the $0.80 minimum and payout timing, see Facebook Marketplace fees.
• Amazon charges a referral fee on the total price including shipping and gift wrap, not tax. Clothing is 5% when the total is $15 or less, 10% over $15 up to $20, and 17% over $20, with a $0.30 minimum (Amazon referral fees; plans on Amazon pricing).

The same $50 item on eight platforms

Here is the worked example. It uses our house numbers: a $50.00 clothing item, $8.00 shipping charged to the buyer, an $8.00 label where you buy it, and sales tax of 8% on item and shipping ($4.64). The 8% is an example rate; the marketplace charges the rate for the buyer’s address. The buyer pays $62.64.

Net payout in this guide means what lands in your platform balance after platform fees and any label you pay, before payout or transfer fees.

How the net is built differs by shipping model. On eBay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace and Amazon you receive the $58 of item plus shipping and pay the $8 label yourself, so eBay’s net is $58.00 − $8.92 − $8.00 = $41.08. On Depop (with its label), Mercari (buyer pays) and Whatnot, the buyer’s shipping buys the platform’s label and never reaches you, so Depop’s net is $50.00 − $2.52 = $47.48. On Poshmark the buyer pays Poshmark’s flat shipping, so you keep $50.00 − $10.00.

The spread is $7.48 between the top and the bottom on this one sale. Fees run from 5.0% of the item price on Depop to 20.0% on Poshmark. Each fee component is rounded to the cent and then added; platforms may round differently by a cent.

Why the ranking changes with price

Percentages scale with price; flat fees and minimums don’t. So the cheaper the item, the more a $0.40 or $2.95 charge weighs, and the more expensive the item, the more a few percentage points matter.

A $12 item with $5 shipping, a $5 label and 8% tax ($1.36; the buyer pays $18.36):

Amazon moves from seventh to a tie for second, because clothing that totals $20 or less falls into its 5% and 10% bands. eBay’s fee is 24.2% of the item price here, against 17.8% on the $50 item, because its $0.40 per-order fee and its percentage of the shipping and tax weigh more on a small sale.

A $250 pair of sneakers with free shipping (you buy a $12 label) and 8% tax ($20.00):

At this price eBay climbs to third, because its athletic-shoe rate drops to 8% when the total amount of the sale is $150 or more and the per-order fee is not charged (eBay). Poshmark’s 20% now costs $50.00. The Whatnot row assumes the buyer pays no shipping and you pay no label; if you cover a label in a show, subtract it. StockX deducts its U.S. shipping cost from the payout, and GOAT charges 9.5% at a seller rating of 90 or above, a $5 seller fee for U.S. prepaid shipping, and a 2.9% fee when you cash out to a bank or PayPal (GOAT fee policy, last updated August 1, 2026). Both are sneaker-and-streetwear marketplaces, so they appear only in this table; the StockX vs GOAT guide covers seller levels and ratings.

Who pays the label, and why it matters

The comparison only works if each platform’s shipping is handled its own way. Four patterns cover the platforms above:

1. You charge shipping and buy the label — eBay, Etsy, Amazon (seller-fulfilled), Facebook Marketplace with your own label, and Depop if you use your own label. What you charge comes to you and usually sits inside the fee base; the label is your cost.
2. The buyer pays the platform’s label — Poshmark (a flat $6.49 for up to 5 lb since September 12, 2025, per Poshmark’s Posh Post article and September 2025 announcement; its Shipping Policy says heavier packages up to 15 lb need an upgraded label that you buy), Mercari when the buyer pays, Depop with a Depop Shipping label, and Whatnot, where the buyer pays shipping by default (Whatnot help). The shipping never reaches your balance.
3. You pay the platform’s label — Mercari when you choose to pay shipping; the 10% then falls on the item only, and the label is your cost.
4. You ship to the platform — StockX and GOAT, which deduct shipping from your payout.

Facebook also offers prepaid labels; the buyer pays for them unless you choose to cover the cost (Meta help). Either way, its 10% fee is figured on the shipping the buyer pays.

The practical effect shows when your shipping charge and your label cost differ. If you offer free shipping on a seller-label platform, the whole label comes out of your net. If you charge $8 but the label costs $6.10, the difference is yours on eBay or Etsy but not on Poshmark. Where shipping charged equals the label cost, as in the house example, the two models give the same net.

What these numbers leave out

The tables use each platform’s default settings. Several common choices change the result, and a few charges are not per-sale at all:

• Ads and boosts. eBay Promoted Listings General charges your ad rate on the total sale amount including tax; Depop Boost is 12% for U.S. listings created since March 23, 2026; Etsy Offsite Ads are 15% or 12% of an attributed order, capped at $100 (Etsy fees).
• Tiers and subscriptions. A Basic eBay Store lowers most categories from 13.6% to 12.7% for a monthly subscription; Whatnot’s commission drops by tier once your 4-week sales reach $15,000; Amazon’s Professional plan is $39.99 a month whether or not you sell (Individual or Professional?).
• Payout fees. Mercari’s Instant Pay is $3 per transfer and its direct deposit is free; eBay charges a flat $2.00 per express payout, and its payout page lists no fee for standard payouts to a bank. These come after the net payout shown here.
• Smaller marketplaces. TrueGether lists no platform fee on its Free plan ($0 a month, $0 per listing, 0% per sale) and a 2% fee per sale on its Premium plan, from $19 a month (TrueGether pricing). Buyers pay through PayPal, Stripe or Amazon Payments, so that provider’s own fee still comes off the sale; it isn’t in the tables because it depends on the payment account you connect.
• Seller-performance charges. eBay adds 6% of the total amount of the sale if your account is Below Standard.
• What the buyer pays on top. Mercari’s buyer pays a 3.6% Buyer Protection fee on the item and buyer-paid shipping; it doesn’t touch your net. Vinted, which isn’t in the comparison tool, charges U.S. sellers nothing and puts its fee on the buyer (Vinted for U.S. sellers). Grailed, also not in the tool, has its own fee rules, covered in Grailed fees.

How to compare platforms for your own item

The tables answer one set of numbers. To run your own:

1. Pick the item kind. Category changes the rate on eBay, Amazon and Whatnot (for example, books are 15.3% on eBay and athletic shoes $150 and up are 8%).
2. Enter the price you expect to sell at, after any offer you plan to accept. Poshmark and Amazon have price “cliffs”: a $15.00 Poshmark sale nets less than a $14.99 one ($12.00 against $12.04).
3. Enter the shipping you would charge and the label you would buy. Use $0 shipping for a free-shipping listing.
4. Leave the buyer’s tax at an example rate. The rate depends on the buyer’s address, not yours; use 0% to see a buyer in a state with no statewide sales tax.
5. Set your account options where they apply: eBay Store and seller level, Whatnot tier, Depop Boost, Etsy Offsite Ads.
6. Compare the net payouts, then subtract your costs (item cost, supplies, mileage) to see profit; the profit guide walks through those lines.

When the lowest fee isn’t the whole answer

The fee comparison holds the sale price fixed, but you don’t always get the same price everywhere. The useful reverse question is: what would you have to list at on each platform to keep the same amount?

With $8 shipping, an $8 label and 8% tax, here is the lowest list price that nets at least $40.00, computed with the same engine as our price-to-list calculator:

If comparable items sell for about the same everywhere, the cheapest platform wins. If one platform’s buyers consistently pay more for your kind of item, a higher fee there can still leave you more. Your own sold comps are the evidence for that; the fee math only tells you how big the price gap has to be.

Two more points belong in the decision. Fees change often: Whatnot moved to tiers on September 21, 2026, and eBay raised most final value fees on February 14, 2025, so check the fee change log before relying on an old figure. And none of these numbers include income tax on your profit, which is the subject of a separate guide.

Next step

Put your own item into the comparison tool: one price, every platform, each with its own fee base, shipping model and minimums, sorted by what you keep.