Etsy charges fees on the tariff too: the fee-on-fee problem

Facts checked 2026-11-03 · HTS Revision 22 (2026)

Say your item needs a $10 duty. If you raise the price by exactly $10, Etsy’s 6.5% transaction fee (Etsy) and the payment processing percentage, e.g. 4% for a UK bank account (Etsy), take about $1.05 of that $10. Then the duty itself grows, because duty is charged on the higher declared price. You end up short.

The gross-up

Let f be your total percentage fees and d the duty rate. Ignoring fixed fees, each extra dollar of price leaves you 1 − f − d. To recover an amount X you need to raise the price by X ÷ (1 − f − d). With f = 11% and d = 16.5%, that is X ÷ 0.725, so covering $10 needs about $13.80.

Real fee schedules add fixed parts (processing per order, listing fee) and carrier minimums, so DDPCalc solves the exact price numerically and shows how much of your fees are “fees on the duty”.

Offsite Ads

If a sale comes through Etsy Offsite Ads, a 15% fee (12% for shops past $10,000 in 365 days) applies to the order total, capped at $100 per order (Etsy Help). You can tick “assume an Offsite Ads sale” in the calculator to see a worst case.

Other marketplaces

eBay’s final value fee for most categories is 13.6% of the total amount of the sale up to $7,500, plus a per-order fee, for US-registered sellers (eBay). The same gross-up logic applies; pick eBay or Shopify in the calculator.

FAQ

Does Etsy charge fees on the tariff I add to my price?

Yes. Etsy’s transaction fee is 6.5% of the item price plus shipping, and processing fees are a percentage of the total sale, so any duty you build into the price is also subject to those fees.

How do I cover it?

Solve for the price where profit after all fees equals your target (a gross-up) instead of adding the duty once.

Sources

1. Etsy Fees & Payments Policy
2. Etsy Help: payment processing fees
3. Etsy Help: Offsite Ads
4. eBay selling fees

Estimate and general information only, not legal, tax or customs advice.