Why does Amazon have both a referral fee and a per-item fee?

Amazon's Individual selling plan charges a $0.99 per-item fee on top of the category referral fee; sellers on the Professional plan instead pay a flat $39.99/month with no per-item fee, which usually pays off at higher sales volumes.

Does this include advertising costs (like Amazon PPC)?

No — this covers marketplace referral, per-order, and payment processing fees only. Advertising spend is a separate cost you'd need to subtract from net profit yourself.

What if I sell through my own website instead of a marketplace?

Use the 'Generic / your own site' preset, which reflects a typical flat card-processing fee (around 2.9% + $0.30) with no marketplace referral fee — then adjust to your actual payment processor's rates.

Why is there a separate 'seller-paid shipping cost' field from 'shipping charged to buyer'?

These are often different amounts — many sellers charge a flat shipping fee to the buyer that doesn't exactly match their real shipping cost, so both are tracked separately for an accurate profit calculation.

Does profit margin use order total or just the item price as the denominator?

Order total (item price + shipping charged to the buyer), since that's the actual amount the buyer pays and the base most marketplace fees are calculated against.

All tools

Finance

E-commerce Fee Calculator

Net profit per sale after marketplace referral, payment processing, and per-order fees.

🔒 Runs entirely in your browser — nothing here is ever uploaded

Remove ads →

Last reviewed 2026-08-30

About the E-commerce Fee Calculator

Calculates net profit per sale after marketplace referral fees, payment processing fees, and per-order fixed fees, with real published fee-stack presets for Amazon and Etsy that stay fully editable.

100% Free Runs in Your Browser No Sign-Up Required

How to use it

Choose a platform preset (Amazon, Etsy, or generic/your own site) to prefill typical fees, or leave it generic and enter your own.
Enter the sale price and any shipping charged to the buyer.
Enter your cost of goods sold and your actual seller-paid shipping cost.
Adjust the referral/transaction fee %, fixed per-order fee, and payment processing fee/fixed if your actual rates differ.
Read your net profit per sale and profit margin.

Formula

Order total = sale price + shipping charged to buyer. Referral/transaction fee = order total × referral %. Payment processing fee = order total × payment % + payment fixed fee. Total fees = referral fee + fixed per-order fee + payment processing fee. Net profit = order total − cost of goods sold − seller-paid shipping − total fees. Profit margin = net profit ÷ order total.

Worked example

A $25 item sold on Amazon (Individual plan, general category) with $8 cost of goods, free shipping to the buyer, and no seller-paid shipping cost: 15% referral fee ($3.75) plus the $0.99 per-item fee, for total fees of $4.74 — leaving a net profit of $12.26, a 49% margin.

Platform fee-stack presets (representative rates, 2026)

Platform fee-stack presets (representative rates, 2026)
Platform	Referral/transaction fee	Fixed fee
Amazon (Individual plan, general category)	15%	$0.99/item
Amazon (Professional plan)	15%	$39.99/month flat, no per-item fee
Etsy	6.5% + 3%+$0.25 payment processing (US)	$0.20 listing fee

Interpreting your result

The preset values are real, currently-published rates for one representative case each — Amazon's 15% referral fee is the general-category rate (actual range is 5%-45% by product category) with the Individual-plan $0.99/item fee (a Professional plan charges $39.99/month flat instead); Etsy's 6.5% transaction fee plus 3%+$0.25 payment processing (US) and a $0.20 listing fee. Fee structures vary by platform, product category, seller plan, and processor, and change over time — verify current rates on your actual platform before relying on this for pricing or business decisions.

Recommendations

• Amazon's referral fee varies enormously by category (5%-45%) — always check your specific product category's actual rate rather than assuming the general 15% preset applies.
• The Professional selling plan ($39.99/month flat, no per-item fee) usually beats the Individual plan's $0.99/item fee once you're selling more than about 40 items/month — factor that into your real economics if volume matters.
• A negative net profit means your combined costs and fees exceed what you collect — check whether raising price, cutting costs, or switching plans/platforms fixes it before listing.

Frequently asked questions

No — they represent one common, real, currently-published scenario for each platform (e.g. Amazon's general-category Individual-plan rate). Actual fees vary by category, seller plan, and processor — always verify your own account's actual rates.