Does the 6.5% replace the listing fee?
No. The fees policy lists them as separate charges. You can pay $0.20 to list and then 6.5% if it sells. A listing that never sells still costs the listing fee.
Etsy transaction fee
Etsy’s 6.5% transaction fee on a digital download.
The transaction fee is not the whole Etsy bill. On a digital download it sits on top of a listing fee and payment processing. The rates below are from Etsy’s fees policy and the US processing table, read 8 Oct 2026.
What the 6.5% applies to
Etsy’s fees policy says a sale through Etsy.com is charged a transaction fee of 6.5% of the price you display for each listing, plus shipping and gift wrapping. A digital download usually has no shipping. For a US seller, the transaction fee does not apply to sales tax. Optional personalization is added to the displayed price and then the same 6.5% applies.
The listing fee is separate: $0.20 USD when you create or renew a listing on Etsy.com, whether or not it sells. Listings expire after four months. Editing a listing does not add another listing fee.
Processing is a third line
US Etsy Payments processing, from the help article read the same day, is 3% plus $0.25 per order. Other countries use other rates. Offsite Ads, when they apply, are another percent on top and are not in the calculator.
On a $20 digital sale the published pieces in that scope are $0.20 to list, $1.30 from 6.5% of $20, and $0.85 from 3% of $20 plus $0.25. That is $2.35 before Offsite Ads. The calculator repeats this arithmetic for a price and a sales count you type, so you do not have to trust one example.
What a Quay sale charges instead
Harbor has no listing fee and no 6.5% transaction fee. It keeps an application fee percent on the paid order. Studio can replace most or all of that percent with a monthly subscription. Both amounts are on the pricing page because they come from this server’s environment, not from Etsy’s policy.
Stripe’s card fee is extra on your connected account. Quay is not the merchant of record and does not file sales tax or EU VAT. You also do not receive Etsy search. Use this when the buyer already has a reason to open your link.
Related
Questions
Are Offsite Ads included in the $2.35 example?
No. That example is the $0.20 listing fee, 6.5% of $20, and US processing of 3% plus $0.25. Offsite Ads are described on Etsy’s fees policy and depend on the shop. They are omitted on purpose.