Etsy takes three fees from almost every US order. The listing fee is a flat $0.20, charged when you publish and again each time a multi-quantity listing renews after a sale. The transaction fee is 6.5% of what the buyer pays for the item and shipping, plus gift wrap if you offer it. Payment processing is 3% plus $0.25, and it is the only one of the three that also counts the sales tax Etsy collected.
That tax detail is why the calculator asks for a sales tax rate. Etsy remits the tax, so none of it reaches you, but 3% of it still comes out of your deposit. On a $50 order in an 8% tax state that is 12 cents: small on one sale, noticeable across a year of orders.
Offsite Ads apply only when Etsy attributes the order to an ad it ran on another site within 30 days of the click. The rate is 15% for shops under $10,000 in sales over the past 365 days, which can opt out, and 12% for shops above that line, where the program is mandatory. Either way the fee is capped at $100 per order.
Profit is the net payout minus your item cost, the postage you actually paid, and packaging. Margin divides that profit by what the buyer paid before tax. ROI divides it by the item cost alone, which is how most makers judge whether a product is worth restocking.
Fees = $0.20 listing + 6.5% x (item + shipping) + 3% x (item + shipping + tax) + $0.25 [+ 15% or 12% Offsite Ads on item + shipping, max $100]