Commission Calculator
See what a marketplace commission really takes, compare two platforms, and find the price needed to keep your margin.
A fifteen percent commission sounds small until it is taken off every sale along with the payment processing and the fixed per transaction charge. This calculator works out what actually arrives in the bank, what share of the sale the platform keeps, and the price needed to hold a chosen margin after the fees. It reports the effective fee rate, which is usually higher than the headline commission and is the figure to compare between platforms.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Selling price, Cost of the goods sold, Marketplace commission, Payment processing, Fixed charge per transaction, Listing or renewal fee per sale, Shipping and other costs you pay, Target margin
- What you get
- Total platform and payment fees, Effective fee rate, What arrives after the fees, Your cost of the sale, Profit on the sale, Margin on the sale, Markup on the cost, Price that just covers the fees and the cost, This sale loses money, The target margin is achievable, Price to hold the target margin, Fees and margin together take the whole price, Price increase needed, Profit if you sold it yourself with no fees, Platform share of the sale, Cost as a share of the sale, Your profit as a share of the sale, Sales to make 1000 of profit, Effective fee rate on a ten dollar sale
- Formula shown
- Yes, every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only, always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Commission Calculator
- 1 Enter Selling price
- 2 Enter Cost of the goods sold, Materials, labour and packaging for this item.
- 3 Enter Marketplace commission (%), The headline rate the platform quotes.
- 4 Enter Payment processing (%)
- 5 Enter Fixed charge per transaction, The flat part of the processing charge. It hurts small sales far more than large ones.
- 6 Enter Listing or renewal fee per sale, A listing fee, a renewal, a promoted listing charge or a subscription amortised per sale.
- 7 Enter Shipping and other costs you pay, Anything else the sale costs you rather than the buyer.
- 8 Enter Target margin (%), Optional. A MARGIN, which is a share of the selling price. Used to find the price that holds it after the fees.
- 9 Press Calculate. You get Total platform and payment fees, Effective fee rate, What arrives after the fees, Your cost of the sale, Profit on the sale, Margin on the sale, Markup on the cost, Price that just covers the fees and the cost, This sale loses money, The target margin is achievable, Price to hold the target margin, Fees and margin together take the whole price, Price increase needed, Profit if you sold it yourself with no fees, Platform share of the sale, Cost as a share of the sale, Your profit as a share of the sale, Sales to make 1000 of profit, Effective fee rate on a ten dollar sale, and every intermediate step stays visible under "How is this calculated?"
- 10 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result, that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
A 45 dollar sale at 15 percent commission
A typical marketplace sale with card processing.
You enter
- Selling price
- $45.00
- Cost of the goods sold
- $15.00
- Marketplace commission
- 15%
- Payment processing
- 3%
- Fixed charge per transaction
- $0.30
- Listing or renewal fee per sale
- $0.00
- Shipping and other costs you pay
- $0.00
- Target margin
- 40%
You get
- Total platform and payment fees
- $8.40
- Effective fee rate
- 18.7%
- What arrives after the fees
- $36.60
- Your cost of the sale
- $15.00
- Profit on the sale
- $21.60
- Margin on the sale
- 48.0%
- Markup on the cost
- 144.0%
- Price that just covers the fees and the cost
- $18.66
- This sale loses money
- 0
- The target margin is achievable
- 1
- Price to hold the target margin
- $36.43
- Fees and margin together take the whole price
- 0
- Price increase needed
- $0.00
- Profit if you sold it yourself with no fees
- $30.00
- Platform share of the sale
- 18.7%
- Cost as a share of the sale
- 33.3%
- Your profit as a share of the sale
- 48.0%
- Sales to make 1000 of profit
- 47
- Effective fee rate on a ten dollar sale
- 21.0%
Fees of 8.40, an effective rate of 18.7 percent, profit of 21.60, and a price of 36.43 needed for a 40 percent margin, which the current price already clears.
A small item on the same platform
A 10 dollar item where the fixed charge dominates.
You enter
- Selling price
- $10.00
- Cost of the goods sold
- $3.00
- Marketplace commission
- 15%
- Payment processing
- 3%
- Fixed charge per transaction
- $0.30
- Listing or renewal fee per sale
- $0.20
- Shipping and other costs you pay
- $0.00
- Target margin
- 40%
You get
- Total platform and payment fees
- $2.30
- Effective fee rate
- 23.0%
- What arrives after the fees
- $7.70
- Your cost of the sale
- $3.00
- Profit on the sale
- $4.70
- Margin on the sale
- 47.0%
- Markup on the cost
- 156.7%
- Price that just covers the fees and the cost
- $4.27
- This sale loses money
- 0
- The target margin is achievable
- 1
- Price to hold the target margin
- $8.33
- Fees and margin together take the whole price
- 0
- Price increase needed
- $0.00
- Profit if you sold it yourself with no fees
- $7.00
- Platform share of the sale
- 23.0%
- Cost as a share of the sale
- 30.0%
- Your profit as a share of the sale
- 47.0%
- Sales to make 1000 of profit
- 213
- Effective fee rate on a ten dollar sale
- 23.0%
Fees of 2.30, an effective rate of 23 percent, and a profit of 4.70. Small items are where the fixed charge bites.
An impossible fee structure
A 30 percent commission with a 20 percent processing fee and a 60 percent margin target.
You enter
- Selling price
- $45.00
- Cost of the goods sold
- $15.00
- Marketplace commission
- 30%
- Payment processing
- 20%
- Fixed charge per transaction
- $0.30
- Listing or renewal fee per sale
- $0.00
- Shipping and other costs you pay
- $0.00
- Target margin
- 60%
You get
- Total platform and payment fees
- $22.80
- Effective fee rate
- 50.7%
- What arrives after the fees
- $22.20
- Your cost of the sale
- $15.00
- Profit on the sale
- $7.20
- Margin on the sale
- 16.0%
- Markup on the cost
- 48.0%
- Price that just covers the fees and the cost
- $30.60
- This sale loses money
- 0
- The target margin is achievable
- 0
- Price to hold the target margin
- $0.00
- Fees and margin together take the whole price
- 1
- Price increase needed
- $0.00
- Profit if you sold it yourself with no fees
- $30.00
- Platform share of the sale
- 50.7%
- Cost as a share of the sale
- 33.3%
- Your profit as a share of the sale
- 16.0%
- Sales to make 1000 of profit
- 139
- Effective fee rate on a ten dollar sale
- 53.0%
The denominator is minus 0.10, so the tool reports the request as impossible and returns a price of zero rather than a negative number.
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Frequently asked questions
How much does a marketplace commission really cost?
More than the headline figure, because the payment processing and the fixed per transaction charge are added to it. A fifteen percent commission with a three percent processing charge and a thirty cent fixed charge has an effective rate of about 18.7 percent on a 45 dollar sale, and about 21 percent on a ten dollar sale. The smaller the sale, the higher the effective rate, because the fixed charge does not shrink with it.
How do I compare two selling platforms?
Work out the effective fee rate at your actual selling price rather than comparing the headline commissions. A platform charging twenty percent with no fixed charge and one charging fifteen percent with a fifty cent charge are identical on a ten dollar sale and quite different on a hundred dollar sale. Once you have the effective rate, compare what each platform brings in reach and sales, because a cheaper platform that sells nothing costs more than an expensive one that sells.
What price do I need to keep my margin after fees?
Divide the cost plus any fixed charge by one minus the commission minus the processing fee minus your target margin. On a 15 dollar cost, a fifteen percent commission, a three percent processing fee and a thirty cent fixed charge, a forty percent margin needs a price of 15.30 divided by 0.42, which is 36.43. This calculator reports that figure and flags the case where the shares reach a hundred percent and no price exists.
What if the fees and my margin add up to more than the price?
Then the request is arithmetically impossible and the tool says so rather than returning a negative price. A twenty percent commission, a twenty percent processing fee and a sixty percent margin add to one hundred percent, so there is nothing left to cover the cost of the goods. The available answers are a lower margin, a cheaper platform, or a higher priced product. Selling anyway and hoping is how a maker works for a year and makes nothing.
Is it worth paying a commission at all?
If the platform brings buyers you would not otherwise reach, and the margin after the fee is still worth your time, then yes. A commission buys distribution, and distribution is the hardest thing for a small maker to build. What is not worth it is a platform where the fee is high and you are one of five hundred sellers of the same product, because the distribution is not really there. Compare the profit per sale, not the commission rate.
Terms used here
Short, plain-language definitions of the words this calculator uses.