The Cheapest Way to Sell Online: Marketplace Fees Compared (2026)
Last updated May 2026
Where you sell can change your profit by 10% or more on the same item. Here is how the major platforms' fees compare in 2026, from cheapest to most expensive.
The lowest-fee options
Vinted charges sellers nothing — buyers pay a separate protection fee, so your listing price is essentially your payout. Bonanza's base fee is around 3.5%, and Facebook Marketplace charges 5% on shipped orders (free for local pickup).
These are great for clothing, secondhand goods, and casual selling where you want to keep almost everything.
The mid-range marketplaces
Etsy (around 10–11%), Mercari (10%), eBay (about 13.6% + per-order fee), and Depop (US: 3.3% + $0.45 payment only) sit in the middle. They bring large, built-in audiences in exchange for higher fees.
The higher-fee platforms
Amazon's referral fee is typically 15%, and live-selling platforms like Whatnot take around 9.5% all-in. You pay more, but you reach buyers who are ready to purchase.
Payment processors are not marketplaces
Tools like PayPal, Stripe, and Square charge only ~3% because they just move money — they do not bring you buyers. They are for your own store or invoices, not for finding customers.
How to actually decide
The cheapest platform on paper is not always the most profitable, because audience and sell-through matter too. Enter your numbers in our compare tool to see your exact net profit on every platform at once, then weigh fees against where your item will actually sell.