How it works
The sums behind every number on the calculator, and the fee tables it uses. Fees were last checked on 5 October 2026.
One order, start to finish
The calculator looks at one order: one item (or a multi-buy of several) at the price you set, plus any postage you charge. That is the order total, what the customer pays.
- VAT. If you are VAT registered, the VAT in the order total goes to HMRC, not to you. What is left is the net sale. If you are not registered, the whole order total is yours, but you also can't reclaim the VAT the platforms add to their fees, so 20% is added to eBay and Amazon fees, to ad spend and to subscriptions.
- Platform fees. Worked out on the order total inc VAT and postage, as the platforms do (tables below).
- Advertising. Your ad rate times the order total. On eBay (Promoted Listings) and Etsy (Offsite Ads) the fee is only charged on orders that came through an ad, so you also give the share of your orders that do. Amazon's ACoS and a Google or Meta ads cost of sale (1 divided by your ROAS) are already measured across all your sales, so there the rate applies to every order.
- Your costs. The product, postage, packaging, your time (minutes to pack times an hourly rate), a returns allowance (a share of the net sale), and the platform subscription plus any other monthly costs spread over your orders a month. Every one of these is optional: leave it at zero to see the margin before it.
- Profit is the net sale less everything above.
Margin: gross price or net sale?
The headline margin is the profit as a share of the price the customer pays, VAT included. That is how most sellers think about it, because it is the number on the listing. Accountants measure margin against the net sale (the price without VAT), which gives a higher percentage for a VAT-registered seller and the same one if you are not registered. The toggle under the results switches between the two, and the target-margin price follows whichever you choose. The profit in pounds is the same either way.
The target price and break-even
Leave the price blank and the calculator finds the lowest price that reaches your target margin on each platform, rounded up to your chosen ending (.99, .49/.99, .95 or exact pennies). Fees are stepped, so this is solved piece by piece rather than guessed: it copes with Amazon's whole-price bands (Home Products at 8% up to £20 and 15% above), minimum fees and eBay's £10 per-order step. Break-even is the same sum at 0% with no rounding.
Scenarios
The sliders under the results change the price, add a discount, change the ad rate or the postage charged, or make it a multi-buy order, without touching what you typed. The cards show the scenario's profit and how far it moved.
eBay
Final value fee by category, charged per item on the total inc postage and VAT, with marginal tiers where a category has them. Top Rated Sellers get 10% off the final value fee only. A regulatory operating fee of 0.35% on the total, and a per-order fee of 30p (orders of £10 or less, 10p in Home, Furniture & DIY) or 40p. Shops: Basic shop £27, Featured shop £77, Anchor shop £437 a month.
| Category | Final value fee |
|---|---|
| Everything Else | 12.9% |
| Antiques | 10.9% |
| Art | 10.9% |
| Baby | 10.9% |
| Books, Comics & Magazines | 9.9% |
| Business, Office & Industrial | 12.5% |
| Cameras & Photography | 9.9% |
| Cameras: digital, film, camcorders, lenses | 6.9% up to £1000, 3% above |
| Clothes, Shoes & Accessories | 11.9% |
| Clothes: women's bags & handbags | 12.9% up to £800, 7% above |
| Coins | 10.9% up to £450, 3% above |
| Collectables | 10.9% |
| Computers, Tablets & Networking | 9.9% |
| Computers: laptops, desktops, tablets, storage, printers | 6.9% up to £1000, 3% above |
| Crafts | 12.9% |
| Dolls & Bears | 10.9% |
| Event Tickets | 12.9% |
| Films & TV | 9.9% |
| Garden & Patio | 10.9% |
| Health & Beauty | 10.9% |
| Health & Beauty: hair extensions & wigs | 11.9% |
| Health & Beauty: electronic smoking | 12.9% |
| Holidays & Travel | 7.9% up to £650, 3% above |
| Home, Furniture & DIY | 11.9% up to £500, 7.9% above |
| Home: appliances, DIY tools & workshop | 6.9% up to £400, 3% above |
| Home: power strips & surge protectors | 9.9% up to £250, 7.9% above |
| Home: furniture, bath, plumbing & fixtures | 10.9% up to £500, 7.9% up to £1000, 3% above |
| Jewellery & Watches | 14.9% up to £1000, 4% above |
| Jewellery: watches, parts & accessories | 12.9% up to £750, 3% above |
| Mobile Phones & Communication | 9.9% |
| Mobile & smart phones | 6.9% up to £1000, 3% above |
| Music | 9.9% |
| Musical Instruments & DJ Equipment | 10.9% |
| Pet Supplies | 12.9% |
| Pottery, Ceramics & Glass | 10.9% |
| Sound & Vision | 9.9% |
| Sound & Vision: TVs, headphones, hi-fi, home cinema | 6.9% up to £1000, 3% above |
| Sporting Goods | 10.9% |
| Sports Memorabilia | 10.9% |
| Stamps | 10.9% |
| Toys & Games | 10.9% |
| Toys: tents | 10.9% up to £250, 7.9% above |
| Vehicle Parts & Accessories | 9.5% up to £750, 3% above |
| Vehicle parts: tyres, sat nav, power tools | 6.9% up to £750, 3% above |
| Video Games & Consoles | 9.9% |
| Video game consoles | 6.9% up to £400, 2% above |
| Wholesale & Job Lots | 12.9% |
Amazon (fulfilled by you)
Referral fee by category on the total inc delivery and VAT, either marginal (a rate per portion of the price) or whole-price (the price picks one rate for the whole amount), with a 25p minimum where it applies. A 50p closing fee on media items, 75p per item on the Individual plan (the Professional plan is £25 a month), and a 2% digital services fee on those fees. FBA fees are not included.
| Category | Referral fee |
|---|---|
| Everything else | 15%, min 25p |
| Amazon Device Accessories | 45%, min 25p |
| Automotive & Powersports | 15% up to £45, 9% above, min 25p |
| Baby Products | 8% up to £10, 15% above (whole price), min 25p |
| Beauty, Health & Personal Care | 8% up to £10, 15% above (whole price), min 25p |
| Beer, Wine & Spirits | 10%, min 25p |
| Books (media) | 15% |
| Business, Industrial & Scientific | 15%, min 25p |
| Clothing & Accessories | 5% up to £15, 10% up to £20, 15% above (whole price), min 25p |
| Commercial Electrical & Energy | 12%, min 25p |
| Compact Appliances | 15%, min 25p |
| Computers | 7%, min 25p |
| Consumer Electronics | 7%, min 25p |
| Cycling Accessories | 15%, min 25p |
| Electronic Accessories | 15% up to £100, 8% above, min 25p |
| Eyewear | 15%, min 25p |
| Footwear | 15%, min 25p |
| Full-Size Appliances | 7%, min 25p |
| Furniture | 15% up to £175, 10% above, min 25p |
| Furniture Accessories | 13%, min 25p |
| Grocery & Gourmet | 5% up to £10, 15% above (whole price) |
| Handmade | 12%, min 25p |
| Home Products | 8% up to £20, 15% above (whole price), min 25p |
| Home Linen & Rugs | 15%, min 25p |
| Jewellery | 20% up to £225, 5% above, min 25p |
| Kitchen | 15%, min 25p |
| Lawn & Garden | 15%, min 25p |
| Luggage & Luggage Accessories | 15%, min 25p |
| Mattresses | 15%, min 25p |
| Music, Video & DVD (media) | 15% |
| Musical Instruments & AV Production | 12%, min 25p |
| Office Products | 15%, min 25p |
| Packing Materials | 15%, min 25p |
| Pet Clothing & Food | 5% up to £10, 15% above (whole price), min 25p |
| Pet Supplies | 15%, min 25p |
| Rucksacks & Handbags | 15%, min 25p |
| Software (media) | 15% |
| Sports & Outdoors | 15%, min 25p |
| Tools & Home Improvement | 13%, min 25p |
| Toys & Games | 15%, min 25p |
| Tyres | 7%, min 25p |
| Video Games & Gaming Accessories (media) | 15% |
| Video Game Consoles (media) | 8% |
| Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements | 5% up to £10, 15% above (whole price), min 25p |
| Watches | 15% up to £225, 5% above, min 25p |
Shopify
Shopify Payments' UK card rate by plan, a higher rate for Amex and non-UK cards, and PayPal at 2.9% + 30p on the share of orders paid that way. With Shopify Payments on there is no extra transaction fee on PayPal. Payment fees carry no VAT. Plan prices are per month, ex VAT.
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly (per month) | UK cards | Amex & non-UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £25 | £19 | 2% + 25p | 3.1% + 25p |
| Grow | £65 | £49 | 1.7% + 25p | 2.7% + 25p |
| Advanced | £344 | £259 | 1.5% + 25p | 2.5% + 25p |
| Plus | £1800 | £1800 | 1.3% + 25p | 2.3% + 25p |
Etsy
A transaction fee of 6.5% on the total the buyer pays inc postage, Etsy Payments at 4% + 20p for a UK bank account, a regulatory operating fee of 0.48% (up from 0.32% on 22 June 2026), and the listing fee of US$0.20 per item (about 16p, which you can change), renewed with each sale. Offsite Ads, when an order comes through one, are 15% of the order, or 12% once a shop has passed US$10,000 in a year: enter the rate that applies to you and the share of orders that come that way. Etsy adds 20% VAT to all of these fees unless you have given it a VAT number. Etsy's own fee pages refuse automated reads, so these figures were checked against seller guides on 13 October 2026; confirm them against Etsy's fees policy if a penny matters.
What it leaves out
- Amazon FBA fees, and Amazon's clothing rule over £40 (FBA and Seller Fulfilled Prime only).
- eBay's trainers rate (7% at £100 or more) and NFT categories: use the custom rate for these. eBay's Below Standard penalty and international fee.
- Google Ads' 2% UK surcharge: fold it into your ad rate.
- Klarna, Shop Pay Instalments, currency conversion, refund admin fees and chargebacks.
Fees change. If a number here looks out of date, let us know.