Amazon vs Etsy vs Shopify: Complete Fee Comparison for Sellers
A detailed breakdown of every fee on Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify - referral fees, transaction fees, subscription costs, FBA charges, and payment processing.
Choosing where to sell means understanding the true cost of each platform. A product with a 50% margin on paper can become barely profitable after platform fees eat into every transaction. Here’s a transparent comparison.
Fee Summary at a Glance
| Fee Type | Amazon (Professional) | Etsy | Shopify (Basic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly subscription | $39.99 | $0 | $39/month |
| Listing fee | $0 | $0.20/listing | $0 |
| Referral/Transaction fee | 8–45% (category) | 6.5% transaction | 0% |
| Payment processing | Included in referral | 3% + $0.25 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Closing/regulatory fee | $1.80 (media only) | $0 | $0 |
| FBA fulfillment | $3.22–$10+ per unit | N/A | N/A |
Amazon Fees: The Full Breakdown
Selling plan
- Individual plan: $0/month + $0.99 per item sold. Only viable if you sell fewer than 40 items/month.
- Professional plan: $39.99/month. Required for Buy Box eligibility, advertising, and many categories.
Referral fees
Amazon charges a percentage of each sale, varying by category:
| Category | Referral Fee |
|---|---|
| Most categories (default) | 15% |
| Electronics | 8% |
| Computers | 8% |
| Camera & Photo | 8% |
| Video Games & Consoles | 8–15% |
| Clothing & Accessories | 17% |
| Jewelry | 20% (5% on portion over $250) |
| Grocery | 8–15% |
| Amazon Device Accessories | 45% |
| Books | 15% |
| Automotive | 12% |
| Beauty | 8–15% |
| Home & Garden | 15% |
| Toys | 15% |
Minimum referral fee: $0.30 per item in most categories.
FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) fees
If you use FBA, Amazon stores, picks, packs, and ships your products. Fees depend on size and weight:
Standard-size items:
- Small (10 oz or less): $3.22
- Large (up to 3 lbs): $4.50–$5.75
- Extra-large: $6.50+
Oversize items:
- Small oversize: $9.73+
- Large oversize: $15.00+
Monthly storage fees:
- January–September: $0.87 per cubic foot
- October–December: $2.40 per cubic foot (peak season)
Long-term storage surcharge: Items stored over 181 days incur additional fees. Over 365 days: $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.15 per unit (whichever is greater).
Example: A $30 kitchen gadget on Amazon FBA
- Product cost: $8
- Amazon referral fee (15%): $4.50
- FBA fee (standard, 1.5 lbs): $5.00
- Monthly storage (small item): ~$0.10
- Total Amazon fees: $9.60
- Your profit: $30 - $8 - $9.60 = $12.40 (41.3% margin)
Hidden Amazon costs to watch:
- Inbound shipping to FBA warehouses: You pay to ship inventory to Amazon
- Returns processing: Free for customers, but Amazon charges you a return processing fee in some categories
- Advertising (PPC): Practically required for visibility. Typical ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale) is 15–30%
- Product photography: Amazon listing standards require professional-quality images
Etsy Fees: The Full Breakdown
Listing fee
$0.20 per listing, good for 4 months or until the item sells. Auto-renew listings cost another $0.20 when they renew. Multi-quantity listings charge $0.20 per unit sold.
Transaction fee
6.5% of the total sale price (including the shipping you charge the buyer). This is Etsy’s primary revenue source from sellers.
Payment processing (Etsy Payments)
3% + $0.25 per transaction for US sellers. International rates vary slightly.
Offsite Ads fee
If Etsy’s offsite advertising (on Google, Facebook, etc.) leads to a sale:
- Sellers under $10,000/year revenue: 15% of the attributed sale (can opt out)
- Sellers over $10,000/year revenue: 12% of the attributed sale (cannot opt out)
This is the most controversial Etsy fee. If a customer clicks an Etsy-placed Google ad and buys from you within 30 days, you’re charged the fee even if the customer would have found you anyway.
Etsy Plus subscription
$10/month. Gets you 15 listing credits, $5 in Etsy Ads credits, customizable shop features, and discounts on custom domain names. Worth it if you list frequently.
Example: A $30 handmade item on Etsy
- Product cost: $8
- Listing fee: $0.20
- Transaction fee (6.5%): $1.95
- Payment processing (3% + $0.25): $1.15
- Shipping label (if using Etsy labels): ~$4.50
- Total Etsy fees: $3.30 (excluding shipping)
- Your profit: $30 - $8 - $3.30 = $18.70 (62.3% margin)
If an Offsite Ads sale applies: add $4.50 (15%), dropping profit to $14.20.
Shopify Fees: The Full Breakdown
Subscription plans
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Card Rate | Transaction Fee (3rd-party payment) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2% |
| Shopify | $105 | 2.7% + $0.30 | 1% |
| Advanced | $399 | 2.5% + $0.30 | 0.6% |
If you use Shopify Payments (their built-in payment processor), the transaction fee drops to 0%. This is the expected setup for most sellers.
What Shopify doesn’t charge:
- No listing fees
- No referral fees
- No commissions on sales
- No mandatory advertising fees
What Shopify does cost beyond the subscription:
- Theme: Free themes available, premium themes $150–$400 (one-time)
- Apps: Most useful apps cost $5–$100/month (reviews, email marketing, upsells, inventory management)
- Domain: ~$14/year
- Email marketing: Shopify Email free for first 10,000 emails/month, then $1/1,000
Example: A $30 product on Shopify (Basic plan)
- Product cost: $8
- Shopify Payments (2.9% + $0.30): $1.17
- Monthly subscription (spread across 200 orders): $0.20
- App costs (spread across 200 orders): ~$0.25
- Total Shopify fees: $1.62
- Your profit: $30 - $8 - $1.62 = $20.38 (67.9% margin)
Side-by-Side Comparison
For the same $30 product costing $8 to make:
| Platform | Total Fees | Profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon (FBA) | $9.60 | $12.40 | 41.3% |
| Amazon (FBM) | $4.50 | $17.50 | 58.3% |
| Etsy | $3.30 | $18.70 | 62.3% |
| Shopify | $1.62 | $20.38 | 67.9% |
But Fees Aren’t Everything
Amazon’s advantage: Traffic
Amazon gets 2.4 billion monthly visits. You’re paying for access to customers who are already searching for products to buy. No marketing budget needed to get started (though PPC advertising is increasingly necessary).
Etsy’s advantage: Discovery for handmade/vintage
Etsy’s search algorithm surfaces products to buyers actively looking for unique, handmade, or vintage items. The built-in audience is valuable if your product fits the platform.
Shopify’s advantage: Control and margins
You own the customer relationship, the email list, the branding, and the data. But you must drive your own traffic through SEO, social media, paid ads, or content marketing. Traffic costs money and effort.
The Smart Strategy: Multi-Channel
Most successful sellers don’t choose one platform - they use multiple:
- Start on Amazon or Etsy to validate demand and generate initial sales
- Build a Shopify store alongside the marketplace presence
- Drive repeat customers to Shopify using package inserts, email marketing, and social media
- Keep marketplace listings active for discovery and incremental sales
This way, marketplaces fund customer acquisition while your own store captures the high-margin repeat purchases.
Calculating Your True Cost
When evaluating platforms, include all costs:
- Platform fees (subscription + per-transaction)
- Payment processing
- Fulfillment (shipping, packaging, warehouse)
- Advertising (PPC on Amazon, promoted listings on Etsy, Facebook/Google ads for Shopify)
- Returns and refunds
- Photography and listing creation time
- Customer service time
The platform with the lowest listed fees isn’t always the cheapest. A Shopify store with $2,000/month in Facebook ad spend may cost more than selling on Amazon where customers find you organically.
Run the numbers for your specific products, price points, and sales volume before committing to a platform.
Try the calculator: profit margin calculator