Marketplace Fee and Profit Calculator

Who this is for

What is left once the platform has taken its share. Enter the fees from your own marketplace's fee page once, then each item's price, postage and costs, and the sheet shows the fees, what you receive and the profit per item.

Makers selling on an online marketplace or through a hosted shop, and anyone deciding whether a price still works once listing, transaction, payment and advertising fees are taken off.

What this helps you track

• Your platform's fees, entered once from its own fee page
• The fees taken from each sale, item by item
• What actually reaches you after fees
• Profit per item once materials and postage are paid
• The profit margin on each item and across the list

How to use it

1. Write the platform name and copy its current fees from its own fee page: listing fee per item, transaction percentage, payment percentage and fixed fee, and any advertising percentage you pay.
2. Add a line for each item: its sale price, the postage you charge, what the item cost you to make and what the postage costs you.
3. Read the fees, net received, profit and margin for each line, worked out in the browser and the workbook.
4. Try different sale prices on a line to see where the profit lands, and adjust the price if it does not cover your costs.
5. To compare two platforms, fill one sheet for each with the same items and set them side by side.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Where do I get the fee figures?

From your own platform's current fee or pricing page, or from a recent sales statement. The sheet does not supply any fee; platforms change them, and they can differ by country and by seller account.

Which amount are the percentages taken from?

The sheet applies them to the sale price plus the postage you charge, since many platforms charge on the whole amount the buyer pays. If yours works differently, check its fee page and adjust the workbook formula to match.

Does the item cost include my time?

Only if you put it there. Using the unit cost from the handmade product costing calculator, which includes labour at your own rate, gives a profit figure that means something.

Why is the margin lower than I expected?

Percentage fees are taken from the whole sale, not just from the profit, so a small change in fees makes a large change in margin on a low-priced item. Try the price column at a few levels to see the effect.