eBay vs Etsy vs Mercari Fees: Compare Seller Profit and Buyer Total

Define a genuinely comparable sale

Assume a physical item is eligible for sale on all three platforms and can sell for $50 plus $5 buyer shipping. Its acquisition cost is $20, actual postage $5 and packaging $1. Exclude sales tax, ads, subscriptions, optional upgrades, refunds, seller taxes and currency conversion. No platform is assumed to produce faster sales or higher demand.

The US fee assumptions checked September 5, 2026 are:

• eBay: non-Store most-category 13.6% plus $0.40 at this total. eBay schedule
• Etsy: one $0.20 listing allocation, 6.5% transaction fee, and US Etsy Payments at 3% plus $0.25. Etsy fee basics, US payment fee
• Mercari: 10% seller fee and separate 3.6% buyer protection fee on item plus buyer shipping, with no additional payment-processing fee in this structure. Mercari US fee FAQ

Matched seller-price comparison

Etsy’s transaction fee rounds to $3.58, payment processing is $1.90 and the listing allocation is $0.20. Mercari’s $1.98 buyer charge is not deducted from the seller’s $55 a second time. Its effect here is on checkout price.

These are contribution figures before overhead and income tax, not predictions of realized profit or payout timing.

Hold the buyer’s budget constant instead

The first table holds seller price constant. Suppose the buyer instead has a strict $55 pretax budget including mandatory buyer fees. Under the assumed Mercari structure:

Item-plus-shipping subtotal = $55 ÷ 1.036 = $53.0888...

At $53.09, buyer protection rounds to $1.91 and the total is $55. Mercari’s seller fee rounds to $5.31, leaving $53.09 − $5.31 − $26 = $21.78 contribution.

That is different from the first table’s $23.50. The example shows why a platform with lower seller fees need not preserve its advantage when the buyer’s all-in budget is fixed. It does not prove that buyers in your category impose that budget.

Add the costs that can reverse a small difference

Check the exact category and account schedule on eBay. For Etsy, an attributed Offsite Ad can add a substantial charge; do not treat all orders as ad-free if your shop participates. Etsy Offsite Ads Incorporate actual tax treatment, currency conversion, unsold listing renewals, subscription allocations and observed return losses where applicable.

Platform eligibility comes before fees. A spreadsheet row for a digital file, restricted product or incompatible selling method is not evidence the marketplace allows it. Confirm the intended listing against current rules before transferring a catalog.

Finally compare achievable selling price, likelihood of sale, time to sale and seller labor using your own evidence. Keep those estimates separate from the fee calculations so an optimistic demand assumption cannot masquerade as a fee advantage.