Etsy fees in the UK
A UK seller keeps meaningfully less than a US seller on an identical order, and the two lines responsible are the ones most fee breakdowns skip. Below is every line on a real order, in the order Etsy charges them, with nothing folded together to make the total look smaller.
Fee mechanics only. Nothing here is tax advice — registration and liability questions belong with an accountant. Not affiliated with Etsy, Inc.
A $30 item with $6 shipping, sold from the UK
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 | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Item price | $30.00 | |
| Shipping charged to the buyer | $6.00 | Etsy charges its transaction fee on this too — a point that surprises most sellers |
| Gross order value | $36.00 | |
| Listing fee | −$0.20 | Flat $0.20 per listing, charged in USD everywhere, and again on every renewal |
| Transaction fee (6.5%) | −$2.34 | On item price and shipping |
| Payment processing (4.0% + $0.25) | −$1.69 | The fixed part is 0.20 GBP, shown here converted to USD |
| Regulatory operating fee (0.25%) | −$0.09 | Charged on the same base as the transaction fee |
| VAT / tax on Etsy fees (20.0%) | −$0.86 | Applied to the fees above, not to your sale price |
| Total Etsy takes | −$5.19 | 14.4% of the gross order |
| Your cost — materials, labour, packaging | −$8.00 | |
| What you actually keep | $22.81 |
Etsy takes 14.4% of the gross order. A US seller pays 10.8% on the identical order — the difference is explained below.
What is specific to the UK
The headline 6.5% is the same everywhere. These are the lines that actually differ.
The same order, sold from every country Etsy supports
Same $30 item, same $6 shipping, same $8 cost. Sorted from cheapest to most expensive. This is the table that shows how much of your margin is decided by geography.
| Seller country | Etsy takes | % of gross | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $3.87 | 10.8% | $24.13 |
| Canada | $3.99 | 11.1% | $24.01 |
| Australia | $4.16 | 11.6% | $23.84 |
| New Zealand | $4.34 | 12.0% | $23.66 |
| Switzerland | $4.67 | 13.0% | $23.33 |
| Japan | $4.67 | 13.0% | $23.33 |
| Singapore | $4.74 | 13.2% | $23.26 |
| Brazil | $4.75 | 13.2% | $23.25 |
| South Africa | $4.76 | 13.2% | $23.24 |
| Romania | $5.00 | 13.9% | $23.00 |
| Mexico | $5.05 | 14.0% | $22.95 |
| Bulgaria | $5.11 | 14.2% | $22.89 |
| Germany | $5.12 | 14.2% | $22.88 |
| Czech Republic | $5.14 | 14.3% | $22.86 |
| Austria | $5.16 | 14.3% | $22.84 |
| United Kingdom ← | $5.19 | 14.4% | $22.81 |
| Netherlands | $5.21 | 14.5% | $22.79 |
| Belgium | $5.21 | 14.5% | $22.79 |
| Poland | $5.26 | 14.6% | $22.74 |
| Ireland | $5.29 | 14.7% | $22.71 |
| Portugal | $5.29 | 14.7% | $22.71 |
| Sweden | $5.33 | 14.8% | $22.67 |
| Norway | $5.33 | 14.8% | $22.67 |
| Greece | $5.34 | 14.8% | $22.66 |
| Finland | $5.34 | 14.8% | $22.66 |
| France | $5.34 | 14.8% | $22.66 |
| Italy | $5.36 | 14.9% | $22.64 |
| Spain | $5.38 | 15.0% | $22.62 |
| Hungary | $5.40 | 15.0% | $22.60 |
| Denmark | $5.43 | 15.1% | $22.57 |
| Turkey | $5.66 | 15.7% | $22.34 |
| India | $5.69 | 15.8% | $22.31 |
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.
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.
- 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 is paying $20 every cycle before a single sale.
- 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.
- 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.
- Etsy photo checker — size, upload limits, and what the thumbnail crop cuts off.
Common questions
What are Etsy fees in the UK in 2026?
A UK seller pays a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee on item price plus shipping, payment processing of 4% + £0.20, a 0.25% Regulatory Operating Fee, and then 20% VAT on all of those fees. On a $30 item with $6 shipping that comes to about $5.19, or roughly 14.4% of the gross order.
Do UK Etsy sellers pay VAT on Etsy fees?
Yes. Etsy charges 20% VAT on its own fees to UK sellers — the listing fee, transaction fee, payment processing and regulatory fee. This is separate from any VAT you may owe on your sales. If you are VAT-registered this is generally input VAT and may be recoverable; below the registration threshold you absorb it. Ask an accountant about your own position.
What is the Etsy Regulatory Operating Fee?
It is an extra percentage Etsy charges sellers in certain countries to cover the cost of digital services regulation. In the UK it is 0.25%, charged on item price plus shipping — the same base as the transaction fee. It is not optional and it is not included in the headline 6.5%.
Are Etsy fees higher in the UK than in the US?
Yes, noticeably. On an identical $30 + $6 shipping order a US seller pays about 10.8% and a UK seller about 14.4%. The gap comes from three things: higher payment processing (4% + £0.20 vs 3% + $0.25), the 0.25% regulatory fee, and 20% VAT applied on top of all the fees.
Does Etsy charge fees on shipping in the UK?
Yes. The 6.5% transaction fee applies to the shipping you charge the buyer as well as the item price, and so does the regulatory fee. This is the single most common surprise for new sellers — pricing shipping "at cost" still costs you 6.5% of it.
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