Marketplace fee statements are honest and still confusing. Stripe might separate card network costs from platform fees. PayPal tiers differ for micropayments. Etsy stacks listing, transaction, and payment processing lines. eBay final value fees change with category caps and promoted listings. A planning calculator should not pretend to download your CSV. It should let you type the percentages and fixed lines you already see on your statement, then iterate quickly while repricing SKUs.
Stripe: percent plus fixed is the mental model
The Stripe fee calculator combines a percentage and a fixed per charge. Pull both numbers from your dashboard export for the month you care about. International cards, FX, Radar, Billing, and VAT on fees are manual overlays. That is not laziness; it is realism. Your spreadsheet already does the same folding when finance says “use 1.7% blended for EU cards this quarter.”
PayPal: domestic goods and services vs friends and family
The PayPal fee calculator targets commercial-style percent plus fixed fees. Friends and family transfers are usually a different product with different risk. If your statement shows micropayment pricing, lower the percent and fixed inputs accordingly.
Etsy: listing plus stacked percents
The Etsy fee calculator sums a flat listing fee with transaction and payment processing percentages on item price. Offsite ads and regulatory fees can dominate margin for some shops. Model them as extra percent lines in your own sheet, then type the net blended inputs here when you want a quick answer during a pricing call.
eBay: final value fee plus per-order fixed
The eBay fee calculator focuses on final value percent and a fixed closing fee. Promoted listings and insertion fees belong as separate rows. If your category caps FVF, reflect the cap by lowering the effective percent you type.
Comparison: what each marketplace statement emphasizes
- Stripe: transparency into card costs for some statements, still needs blending for planning.
- PayPal: strong consumer brand, fee tables vary by account and region.
- Etsy: stacked percents on small tickets hurt unless prices include fees consciously.
- eBay: promoted listing spend can be optional but sometimes feels mandatory for visibility.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting VAT on fees in regions where it applies, then blaming the SKU margin.
- Using US fee tables while selling primarily in the UK or EU.
- Ignoring refunds and chargebacks when setting cash reserves.
- Comparing gross marketplace sales to net bank deposits without a bridge table.
Pair payout math with ROI vs ROAS trust boundaries and margin thinking in markup vs margin formulas.