Etsy fees in India
On a $36 order an Indian seller pays $5.45 — 15.2% — against 10.8% for a seller in the United States. Almost the whole gap is a single line: the 18% GST Etsy charges on its own fees. Etsy lists India among the countries where adding a GSTIN stops that charge. Meanwhile the regulatory operating fee every blog warns about costs 1.8 cents.
Fee mechanics only. Nothing here is tax advice — registration and liability questions belong with a chartered accountant. Not affiliated with Etsy, Inc.
Where the gap actually is
Etsy’s percentage fees are added together and then multiplied by the tax on them. Two of India’s three lines are small; the multiplier is not.
| Percentage fees | India | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction fee | 6.50% | 6.50% |
| Payment processing | 5.00% | 3.00% |
| Regulatory operating fee | 0.05% | — |
| Subtotal | 11.55% | 9.50% |
| GST charged on those fees | × 1.18 | — |
| What Etsy actually charges | 13.63% | 9.50% |
On top of the percentage, both countries pay the $0.20 listing fee and a fixed amount per order — ₹25.00 in India, $0.25 in the US. In India the 18% GST applies to those flat fees too. The United States is the only one of the 32 seller countries where Etsy charges no tax on its own fees at all — 30 of the other 31 are taxed, and Brazil is the one Etsy’s article never names.
A $30 item with $6 shipping, sold from India
Costing you $8 in materials, labour and packaging. Every figure is generated from the same dataset as our calculator, so this page and the tool can never disagree.
| Line | India | United States | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Item price | $30.00 | $30.00 | |
| Shipping charged to the buyer | $6.00 | $6.00 | Etsy charges its transaction fee on this too — a point that surprises most sellers |
| Gross order value | $36.00 | $36.00 | |
| Listing fee | −$0.20 | −$0.20 | Flat $0.20 per listing, charged in USD everywhere, and again on every renewal |
| Transaction fee (6.5%) | −$2.34 | −$2.34 | On item price and shipping. Identical in both countries |
| Payment processing | −$2.06 | −$1.33 | 5% + ₹25.00 in India; 3% + $0.25 in the US |
| Regulatory operating fee (0.05%) | −$0.02 | — | Yes, two cents. Cut from 0.29% on 22 June 2026 — Etsy’s lowest rate anywhere |
| GST on Etsy fees (18%) | −$0.83 | — | Applied to the four lines above, not to your sale price. Removable with a GSTIN |
| Total Etsy takes | −$5.45 | −$3.87 | 15.2% of the gross order, against 10.8% |
| Your cost — materials, labour, packaging | −$8.00 | −$8.00 | |
| What you actually keep | $22.55 | $24.13 | $1.58 a sale |
The line you can switch off
$0.83 of that $5.45 is tax on Etsy’s fees, and Etsy’s own page says a tax ID stops it.
What is specific to India
The headline 6.5% transaction fee is the same in all 32 countries. These are the lines that actually differ — including one that is smaller than everybody says.
The same order, sold from every country Etsy supports
Same $30 item, same $6 shipping, same $8 cost. Sorted from cheapest to most expensive. The fourth column is what Etsy takes once a tax ID is on file, where Etsy allows that.
| Seller country | Etsy takes | % of gross | With a VAT ID | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $3.87 | 10.8% | — | $24.13 |
| Australia | $4.18 | 11.6% | $3.80 | $23.82 |
| Canada | $4.18 | 11.6% | — | $23.82 |
| New Zealand | $4.37 | 12.1% | $3.80 | $23.63 |
| Singapore | $4.80 | 13.3% | $4.40 | $23.20 |
| Switzerland | $4.97 | 13.8% | — | $23.03 |
| Germany | $5.15 | 14.3% | $4.33 | $22.85 |
| Brazil | $5.18 | 14.4% | — | $22.82 |
| Austria | $5.19 | 14.4% | $4.33 | $22.81 |
| Bulgaria | $5.19 | 14.4% | $4.33 | $22.81 |
| Belgium | $5.24 | 14.5% | $4.33 | $22.76 |
| Czech Republic | $5.24 | 14.5% | $4.33 | $22.76 |
| Netherlands | $5.24 | 14.5% | $4.33 | $22.76 |
| Romania | $5.24 | 14.5% | $4.33 | $22.76 |
| United Kingdom | $5.31 | 14.7% | $4.42 | $22.69 |
| Norway | $5.31 | 14.8% | $4.25 | $22.69 |
| Ireland | $5.32 | 14.8% | — | $22.68 |
| Poland | $5.32 | 14.8% | $4.33 | $22.68 |
| Portugal | $5.32 | 14.8% | $4.33 | $22.68 |
| South Africa | $5.36 | 14.9% | — | $22.64 |
| Greece | $5.37 | 14.9% | $4.33 | $22.63 |
| Sweden | $5.37 | 14.9% | $4.29 | $22.63 |
| Mexico | $5.37 | 14.9% | — | $22.63 |
| Finland | $5.43 | 15.1% | $4.33 | $22.57 |
| India ← | $5.45 | 15.2% | $4.62 | $22.55 |
| Denmark | $5.46 | 15.2% | $4.37 | $22.54 |
| Japan | $5.50 | 15.3% | — | $22.50 |
| Spain | $5.62 | 15.6% | $4.65 | $22.38 |
| Italy | $5.63 | 15.6% | $4.62 | $22.37 |
| France | $5.69 | 15.8% | $4.74 | $22.31 |
| Hungary | $6.40 | 17.8% | $5.04 | $21.60 |
| Turkey | $6.92 | 19.2% | $5.77 | $21.08 |
A dash in the fourth column means the charge cannot be removed by adding a tax ID: Etsy charges it regardless in Ireland, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and Switzerland; there is no tax on fees to remove in the United States; Etsy names Canada in a section of its own but publishes no rate there, and never names Brazil at all. “You keep” is the default case, before any tax ID. Local-currency fixed fees are converted to USD at a stored reference rate, so treat the last decimal as indicative. Excludes Etsy Ads and Offsite Ads — those are a chosen budget and an order-specific fee, not a cost on every sale.
What the gap actually costs an Indian shop
The percentages are abstract. These are not.
- $1.58 per order, or $0.75 with a GSTIN on file. On the $36 order above, Etsy takes $5.45 from an Indian seller and $3.87 from a US seller. Same listing, same buyer, same product.
- $158 per hundred sales. A hundred orders at $36 costs $545 in fees from India and $387 from the US. A shop doing 500 orders a year at that price gives up $790 to geography — $375 of it unavoidable.
- You have to price about 5% higher to take home the same money. To net what a US seller nets on a $36 order, an Indian seller has to list at $37.83. That is a much smaller gap than most sellers assume, and far smaller than the fee blogs suggest.
Two of India’s three extra lines are either tiny or removable. That makes India one of the cheaper places outside North America and Oceania to sell on Etsy — not one of the more expensive ones, which is what most guides imply.
Three things that surprise almost everyone
- Etsy charges its transaction fee on shipping. The 6.5% applies to the postage you charge the buyer, not just the item. Pricing shipping at cost still costs you 6.5% of it — and the GST rides on the same base.
- The listing fee is charged again on renewal. $0.20 is per listing per four months, and again every time an item sells if auto-renew is on. A 100-listing shop pays $20 every cycle before a single sale, plus GST on it.
- Offsite Ads can take 12–15% of an order on top of everything above, and once your shop passes the revenue threshold it is mandatory. It is order-specific, so it is deliberately excluded from the table above — but it is real, and it lands on your biggest orders.
Free tools — no account, nothing stored
- Etsy fee calculator — all 32 seller countries, every fee on its own line.
- VAT and GST on Etsy fees — Etsy’s two country groups in Etsy’s own words, and the rate applied in each.
- Regulatory Operating Fee — which 8 countries pay it, and what changed on 22 June 2026.
- Etsy fee & policy changes — dated log of what Etsy changed and when, every entry linked to Etsy’s own page.
- Etsy title checker — the 140-character limit and the first 40 characters a buyer actually sees.
- Etsy tag checker — all 13 slots, the 20-character limit, duplicate coverage.
Common questions
What are Etsy fees in India in 2026?
An Indian seller pays a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee on item price plus shipping, payment processing of 5% + ₹25.00, a 0.05% Regulatory Operating Fee, and 18% GST on all of those fees. A $30 item with $6 shipping costs about $5.45 in total fees, or roughly 15.2% of the gross order.
Can Indian sellers avoid the 18% GST on Etsy fees?
Etsy's help page on VAT collection lists India among the countries where adding a tax ID to your account means the charge is not applied — you receive a monthly invoice confirming you were not charged. On a $36 order that removes $0.83 and takes the total from 15.2% to 12.8% of the gross, worth roughly $553 a year on a shop turning over $2,000 a month. Registering for GST in India carries its own obligations and costs, so whether it is worth it is a question for a chartered accountant.
How much is Etsy's regulatory operating fee in India?
0.05%, which is about 1.8 cents on a $36 order and the lowest rate Etsy charges in any country. It was cut from 0.29% on 22 June 2026, so guides still quoting 0.29% overstate this line by nearly six times. Only eight of the 32 seller countries pay it at all; Hungary is highest at 1.97%.
Are Etsy fees higher in India than in the United States?
Yes, but less than most guides suggest. On a $36 gross order an Indian seller pays about 15.2% and a US seller 10.8% — a difference of $1.58. With a GSTIN on file the Indian figure drops to 12.8%, and the gap to $0.75. To take home what a US seller takes home you would need to list at $37.83 instead of $36.
Does Etsy charge fees on shipping in India?
Yes. The 6.5% transaction fee applies to shipping charged to the buyer as well as to the item price, and so does the GST that rides on it. Offering "free shipping" by building the cost into the item price does not avoid this — the fee applies to the total either way.
Is the ₹25 payment fee charged per order or per item?
Per order. It is the fixed half of payment processing, which Etsy charges once on the order alongside the 5% — not once per item in the basket. At the reference rate this page uses, ₹25.00 is about $0.26.
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