Every seller eventually asks the same question: which platform leaves me with the most money at the end of a sale? The answer depends on many variables — category, country, account age, shipping method — but there is still value in a fair side-by-side comparison using the same product across all six platforms.
This guide runs the same $30 sale through Amazon FBA, Etsy, eBay, TikTok Shop, Poshmark, and Shopify. Same product cost. Same shipping assumption. Same no-advertising baseline. The goal is to see how the fee structure alone changes what you keep.
Marketplace Fee Comparator Etsy Fee Calculator Amazon FBA Fee Calculator TikTok Shop Fee Calculator
Assumptions for every platform
To keep the comparison fair, every platform uses the same base numbers:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $30.00 |
| Product cost | $8.00 |
| Freight and duties | $1.50 |
| Landed cost (product + freight) | $9.50 |
| US-based seller, domestic order | Assumed |
| Standard category (not restricted) | Assumed |
| Advertising | Not included |
| Returns | Not included |
Ad spend and returns are excluded because they vary enormously by category and strategy. What is left is the cleanest possible comparison: platform fees only, on the same sale.
The six platforms, one at a time
Amazon FBA
Amazon charges a referral fee (usually 15% for most categories), plus FBA fulfillment fees based on size and weight. For a small, lightweight item under 1 lb:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $30.00 |
| Referral fee (15%) | –$4.50 |
| FBA fulfillment (small standard, under 1 lb) | –$3.50 |
| Storage (small item, amortized) | –$0.30 |
| Landed cost | –$9.50 |
| Net before ads and returns | $12.20 |
Amazon handles storage, packing, shipping, and customer service. Fulfillment is included in the FBA fee, which is why no separate shipping line appears.
Etsy
Etsy charges a small listing fee, a transaction fee, and payment processing. Domestic US sellers also see no regulatory operating fee:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $30.00 |
| Listing fee | –$0.20 |
| Transaction fee (6.5%) | –$1.95 |
| Payment processing (3% + $0.25) | –$1.15 |
| Landed cost | –$9.50 |
| Shipping (paid by seller, estimated) | –$4.50 |
| Net before ads and returns | $12.70 |
Etsy listings also renew every four months at $0.20 each. Offsite Ads, if applicable, would add 12–15% on specific sales — not included here.
eBay
eBay's final value fee varies by category. A typical rate for a general category item is around 13%:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $30.00 |
| Final value fee (~13%) | –$3.90 |
| Per-order fee | –$0.30 |
| Landed cost | –$9.50 |
| Shipping (estimated) | –$4.50 |
| Net before ads and returns | $11.80 |
Promoted listings, if enabled, would add on top of this. Not included.
TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop's commission structure has evolved, and rates can vary by category and seller tier. A common referral rate is around 6–8%, with payment processing on top:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $30.00 |
| Referral fee (7%) | –$2.10 |
| Payment processing (~2.5%) | –$0.75 |
| Landed cost | –$9.50 |
| Shipping (estimated) | –$4.50 |
| Net before ads and returns | $13.15 |
TikTok Shop often pairs with creator commissions or affiliate fees. Those are not included here.
Poshmark
Poshmark's fee structure is simple and predictable. Sales under $15 have a flat fee; sales $15 and above take a flat 20% commission, with no separate listing or processing fees:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $30.00 |
| Commission (20%) | –$6.00 |
| Landed cost | –$9.50 |
| Shipping (often buyer-paid for heavier items; estimated here) | –$4.50 |
| Net before ads and returns | $10.00 |
Poshmark's flat structure is easy to model, which many sellers find helpful when pricing.
Shopify
Shopify has no per-sale commission. The costs are the monthly subscription plus payment processing. The subscription does not appear on the per-sale math, so the per-sale take-home looks highest:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $30.00 |
| Payment processing (2.9% + $0.30) | –$1.17 |
| Landed cost | –$9.50 |
| Shipping (estimated) | –$4.50 |
| Net before ads and returns | $14.83 |
The catch: Shopify charges a monthly subscription ($39 on Basic) whether or not you sell. At low volume, that fixed cost is significant. At higher volume, it becomes negligible per sale.
Side by side
Here is every platform's net take-home on the same $30 sale, before ads and returns:
| Platform | Platform fees | Net take-home | What the fee includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | ~$1.17 | $14.83 | Storefront tools, no audience |
| TikTok Shop | ~$2.85 | $13.15 | Video-driven buyer audience |
| Etsy | ~$3.30 | $12.70 | Search-driven buyer audience |
| Amazon FBA | ~$8.30 | $12.20 | Audience + fulfillment + Prime |
| eBay | ~$4.20 | $11.80 | Buyer audience + auctions |
| Poshmark | ~$6.00 | $10.00 | Buyer audience + flat pricing |
The spread between highest and lowest take-home is about $4.83 per sale — about 16% of the sale price. On 100 sales a month, that spread is $483.
What these numbers don't capture
The per-sale comparison is useful, but it leaves out the biggest variable: whether the sale happens at all.
Shopify shows the highest per-sale take-home. But Shopify provides no buyers. Every sale has to come from advertising, content, or an existing audience. That traffic has a cost — sometimes higher than the fee difference.
Amazon FBA shows one of the lower per-sale numbers, but its fee covers fulfillment, storage, packaging, shipping, customer service, and the Prime badge. Many of those costs exist on every other platform too — they're just paid to a different vendor instead of the platform.
Etsy's per-sale number sits in the middle. What it buys is access to an audience that already arrives intending to purchase. For a new seller with no traffic, that is often worth more than a few points of fee difference.
Poshmark's flat 20% is the highest per-sale cost in this comparison, and it buys a specific audience — mostly resale fashion and accessories — where many sellers find the flat rate easy to plan around.
The right question
Not "which platform has the lowest fees?" but "which platform produces the most net profit at the volume I can realistically drive on it?"
A platform that takes 20% but produces 200 sales beats a platform that takes 3% and produces 20 sales. The math is not close.
How to use this comparison
- Use it to sense-check pricing. If your product is priced the same on every platform, your net profit will vary by 15–20% depending on where the sale happens.
- Use it to compare platforms with a traffic plan. If you have an audience, the low-fee platforms become more attractive. If you don't, the built-in-audience platforms usually win overall.
- Don't use it in isolation. Combine it with a traffic and conversion model. A fee comparison on paper is only useful when sales actually happen.
What to check before you commit
Fee rates change. Categories differ. Account age and seller tier affect rates on some platforms. Regulatory fees apply in certain countries. Before you commit to a pricing strategy on any platform, run your specific product through that platform's calculator and confirm the current numbers directly with the platform.
The comparison above is intended to show the shape of the differences — not to serve as the final word on any specific case.
Compare fees Etsy fees Amazon FBA fees eBay fees TikTok Shop fees Poshmark fees Shopify fees