Marketplace Fee Comparison Calculator
Enter one product scenario and compare modeled fees, net profit, margin, and effective fee rate across Amazon FBM, eBay, Etsy, Shopify, TikTok Shop, and Walmart Marketplace.
Last reviewed September 30, 2026
How to use this calculator
- Enter one Product Price, optional Shipping Charged to Buyer, and optional Sales Tax Collected — the same for every channel.
- Enter your Seller Costs once — these apply identically to all six rows.
- Open each platform's configuration block and set its category, plan, or rate — these are genuinely different per platform and cannot be unified.
- Press Calculate, then compare the rows by Net Profit. Results are ordered from highest to lowest modeled Net Profit, with the highest modeled profit highlighted.
- Expand a row's fee breakdown to see that platform's real fee line items and assumptions.
What this comparison measures
This tool answers one narrow question: for the exact scenario you enter, what does each platform's published fee structure produce? It does not measure which platform will sell more of your product, has more buyers searching for it, or fits your brand strategically — see why highest modeled profit does not mean best platform below.
Why fee bases differ by platform
Amazon FBM, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop, and Walmart Marketplace each publish their own category or rate system — Amazon and Walmart each use 38-option schedules, eBay uses 11 categories built around a handful of high-value special cases, Etsy charges one flat rate regardless of category, and TikTok Shop uses 4 rate modes. These systems don't map cleanly onto each other, so this calculator gives each platform its own real category/rate selector rather than forcing a single dropdown that would misrepresent at least some sellers.
Amazon vs. eBay fees
eBay's current CartEconomics engine routes Sales Tax Collected into its Final Value Fee base — the current CartEconomics Amazon FBM engine has no sales-tax input at all. As a result, entering Sales Tax in this comparison can increase the modeled eBay fee while having no modeled effect on the Amazon FBM row.
Amazon vs. Etsy fees
Etsy layers a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee, and an explicit 3%+$0.25 payment-processing fee — Amazon FBM has no separate payment-processing fee at all. Etsy's transaction fee excludes tax from its base while its payment-processing fee includes it, a split that doesn't exist on Amazon.
Amazon vs. Walmart seller fees
Both charge one category-dependent referral fee. Walmart's row excludes separately stated sales tax from that fee's base under the sourced Walmart rule used by the standalone Walmart Marketplace calculator. Amazon's row is unaffected by sales tax for a different reason: the current CartEconomics Amazon FBM engine has no sales-tax input to route it into. These can produce similar modeled behavior in this comparison, but they are not the same policy fact and are not presented as equivalent.
Shopify vs. marketplaces
Shopify is a direct-store benchmark, not a marketplace — it charges no percentage sales commission at all. Its modeled "Platform Fees" are entirely payment processing (plus an optional third-party transaction fee), and its Channel Costs can include a separate, manually entered Plan Allocation. Comparing Shopify's numbers against the five marketplaces means comparing the cost of accepting payment and hosting your own store against the cost of being listed in someone else's marketplace — a different kind of cost, not a directly interchangeable one.
Shipping charges and fee bases
Buyer-paid shipping is included in at least some modeled fee bases across all six channels, but the exact treatment differs by platform and fee type:
- Amazon FBM — included in the referral-fee base.
- eBay — included in the Final Value Fee base.
- Etsy — included in the relevant transaction/payment fee bases, per Etsy's own engine.
- Shopify — included in Customer Payment and therefore the modeled processing-fee base.
- TikTok Shop — included in the Referral Fee and Campaign Service Fee bases, but excluded from the Creator/Affiliate Commission base.
- Walmart Marketplace — Shipping & Handling Charged to Buyer is included in the referral-fee base.
Sales-tax treatment
- Amazon FBM — sales tax is not modeled by the current CartEconomics Amazon FBM engine; this shared input has no destination on this row.
- eBay — tax increases eBay's Final Value Fee base.
- Etsy — tax affects the Payment Processing fee base only, not the Transaction Fee or Offsite Ads base.
- Shopify — tax is included in Customer Payment and therefore the processing-fee base.
- TikTok Shop — the shared tax input maps to the existing engine's tax/retail-delivery field, but is excluded from every platform-fee base in the current model.
- Walmart Marketplace — separately stated sales tax is excluded from the referral-fee base (a directly sourced rule); this shared input has no destination on this row.
Platform-specific assumptions
Each row's expanded fee breakdown shows the specific assumptions used for that platform — for example, eBay's Insertion Fee and Shopify's Plan Allocation both default to $0 unless you enter them, since neither platform's own engine auto-estimates a figure it has no way to know. Gift wrap (Amazon, Walmart) and discounts (Shopify, TikTok Shop) are fixed at $0 for every row, so all six platforms represent the exact same baseline scenario.
Why highest modeled profit does not mean best platform
The row with the highest modeled profit reflects only the fee math for the inputs you entered — it says nothing about traffic, conversion rate, customer demand, competition, sales velocity, account-specific incentives, or strategic fit on that platform. A platform with a lower modeled profit could easily be the better business decision if it sells far more units. This calculator never labels a result "best platform," "winner," or "most profitable marketplace" — only "highest modeled profit," a purely numeric ranking of the entered scenario.
Excluded fulfillment models
This comparison models seller-fulfilled/direct economics only. Amazon FBA and Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) require additional weight, dimension, and fulfillment-fee inputs that don't fit a single shared scenario — use the Amazon FBA Profit & Fee Calculator or the Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) Profit & Fee Calculator directly. 3PL fulfillment costs are covered separately by the 3PL Fulfillment Cost Calculator.
Assumptions and Limitations
- This is an estimate, not a settlement reconciliation for any platform.
- Models exactly one unit per platform, for a completed, non-refunded sale, in USD, for US sellers.
- Amazon FBA, Walmart Fulfillment Services, and 3PL fulfillment are not modeled here — see Excluded fulfillment models above.
- Storage fees, returns, refunds, multi-item orders, and mixed-category orders are not modeled on any platform.
- International marketplaces, VAT, and custom negotiated platform rates are not modeled.
- Temporary platform incentives not already modeled by a platform's own standalone calculator are not included.
- eBay Store tiers above No Store/Starter Store are not modeled — matching the standalone eBay calculator's own scope.
- Gift wrap (Amazon, Walmart) and discounts (Shopify, TikTok Shop) are fixed at $0 for every row so all six platforms share one baseline scenario.
- Marketplace traffic, conversion rate, customer demand, competition, sales velocity, and strategic fit are not measured — see the disclaimer below the results.
- Each platform's fee math is delegated entirely to that platform's own CartEconomics calculator engine — see Sources below for each platform's own citations and last-reviewed date.
- This calculator is for general informational purposes only and is not tax, financial, legal, or investment advice.
See our methodology for how we build, document, and review every calculator's formulas.
Frequently asked questions
Which sales channel has the lowest fees?
It depends entirely on your price, shipping, tax, and category/plan choices — check the Effective Fee Rate column for your own scenario rather than assuming a universal answer.
Which gives the highest modeled profit?
Whichever row is highlighted "Highest modeled profit" for the numbers you entered. This can change completely with a different price, category, or cost structure.
Is Amazon cheaper than eBay?
It depends on your category and whether you collect sales tax — eBay's fee base includes tax, while sales tax is not modeled by the current CartEconomics Amazon FBM engine. Compare your own scenario's Amazon and eBay rows directly.
Is Etsy cheaper than eBay?
It depends on price and category — Etsy adds an explicit payment-processing fee that eBay doesn't charge separately, but eBay's percentage rate varies far more by category than Etsy's flat rate does.
Is Walmart cheaper than Amazon?
It depends on the category/schedule selected for each — both use large, category-dependent rate tables, so compare your own scenario's two rows rather than assuming either is always cheaper.
Is Shopify cheaper than selling on a marketplace?
Often, on pure payment-processing cost, since Shopify charges no percentage sales commission — but Shopify is a direct-store benchmark, not a marketplace, so it doesn't include the marketplace's built-in customer traffic. Compare the Net Profit numbers, not just the fee rate, and remember this tool doesn't model traffic differences at all.
Why do seller fees differ?
Each platform publishes its own independent fee schedule, fee base definition, and sales-tax treatment — see Why fee bases differ by platform above.
Do platforms charge fees on shipping?
Buyer-paid shipping is included in at least some modeled fee bases across all six channels, but the exact treatment differs by platform and fee type — see Shipping charges and fee bases above.
Are payment-processing fees included?
Only where a platform's own engine models one explicitly — Etsy and Shopify both do; Amazon FBM, eBay, TikTok Shop, and Walmart Marketplace do not model a separate payment-processing fee.
Does this include fulfillment costs?
Only what you enter manually as Actual Shipping / Fulfillment Cost — a shared seller cost applied identically to all six rows. No platform-charged fulfillment fee (like Amazon FBA's or Walmart WFS's) is modeled.
Does this include Amazon FBA?
No. Use the dedicated Amazon FBA Profit & Fee Calculator, which models FBA's weight/dimension-based fulfillment fees.
Does this include Walmart WFS?
No. Use the dedicated Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) Profit & Fee Calculator for that fulfillment model.
Why can't one category apply everywhere?
Amazon, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop, and Walmart each use structurally different category or rate systems with no reliable 1:1 mapping — see Why fee bases differ by platform above.
Does higher modeled profit mean the platform is better?
No — see Why highest modeled profit does not mean best platform above. It reflects only the entered scenario's fee math, not traffic, demand, competition, or strategic fit.
Are advertising costs included?
A generic Advertising Cost applies identically to every row as a shared seller cost. Platform-native ad programs (Promoted Listings, Offsite Ads, Campaign Service Fee) are separate, platform-specific inputs — both can apply to the same row at once.
Are returns included?
No. Returns and refunds are not modeled by any of the six underlying platform engines.
How accurate is this comparison?
Each platform's numbers come directly from that platform's own already-sourced CartEconomics calculator engine — see each platform's own page for its official source citations and last-reviewed date. This comparison adds no new fee rates of its own.
Sources / engine methodology
This page maintains no independent copy of any platform's fee schedule. Every result is calculated by delegating to the corresponding CartEconomics platform-specific engine — visit that calculator's own page for its official source citations, exact rate tables, and last-reviewed date:
- Amazon FBM Profit & Fee Calculator
- eBay Fee & Profit Calculator
- Etsy Fee & Profit Calculator
- Shopify Profit & Fee Calculator
- TikTok Shop Fee & Profit Calculator
- Walmart Marketplace Profit & Fee Calculator
Last reviewed: 2026-09-30.
Using Amazon FBA or Walmart WFS instead? See the Amazon FBA Profit & Fee Calculator or the Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) Profit & Fee Calculator. See how one sale affects your overall numbers with the E-commerce Profit Calculator, or find a price that hits your target margin with the Product Pricing Calculator.
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