Etsy vs Depop Fees: The Same $55 Sale, Two Different Payouts
Depop's only automatic charge on a US sale is payment processing — 3.3% + $0.45 on whatever the buyer pays, shipping included. Etsy's baseline runs heavier: a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee and 3% + $0.25 in processing, which together land near 9.5% + $0.45 per order. This page walks one order through both stacks at $42, $88 and $130, then switches optional advertising on — Offsite Ads on one side, Boost on the other — to show exactly where the verdict moves.
United States, USD, personal seller plans. Etsy rates compiled from Etsy's legal fees page, Etsy Payments policy and Offsite Ads help; Depop rates from Depop's published seller fees help, checked November 2026. Last updated .
On the headline sale — a $50 item with $5 of buyer-paid shipping — Etsy keeps $5.68 and the seller banks $44.32; Depop keeps $2.27 and the seller banks $47.73. Feebrief is independent of both platforms and embeds no calculator on this page; the full per-platform breakdowns live on the Etsy seller fees and Depop fees pages.
What banks on a $42 sale: $37 item + $5 shipping
Picture the same $37 leaving two shops — hand-thrown mugs listed on Etsy, a vintage tee listed on Depop — with $5 of buyer-paid shipping attached and sales tax set to $0. For parity we assume a $5.00 shipping label on both sides; your real label cost usually depends on weight, size and service.
| Line | Etsy | Depop |
|---|---|---|
| Platform keeps | $4.44 | $1.84 |
| Payout to the seller | $37.56 | $40.16 |
| Banked after a $5.00 label | $32.56 | $35.16 |
The math, one line each, so you can re-run it:
- Etsy: $0.20 listing + (6.5% × $42 = $2.73) + (3% × $42 + $0.25 = $1.51) → $4.44 kept; $42 − $4.44 = $37.56 paid out; $37.56 − $5.00 label = $32.56 banked.
- Depop: (3.3% × $42 = $1.39) + $0.45 → $1.84 kept; $42 − $1.84 = $40.16 paid out — shipping money included; $40.16 − $5.00 label = $35.16 banked.
Depop wins this basket by $2.60, and the source of the win is worth naming: both stacks carry exactly $0.45 of flat cents (Etsy's $0.20 listing plus its $0.25 processing fixed; Depop's $0.45 processing fixed), so the spread is pure percentage — roughly 9.5% of the payment against 3.3%. On any ad-free order the gap is simply 6.2% of what the buyer paid. Totals are rounded to the nearest cent.
Always-on costs only: what each side charges before ads
Every rate below is dated and sourced in Feebrief's fee records; see the methodology for how we check and date them. The column that typically trips sellers up is the last one — what each fee is actually charged on.
| Cost | Etsy | Depop | Base note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing charge | $0.20 per listing, good for four months or until sold | None | Etsy bills it whether the item sells or not, typically renewed quarterly; Depop lists free. |
| Selling commission | 6.5% transaction fee | None on US sales | Etsy's 6.5% covers item price + shipping + gift wrap; US sales tax excluded. |
| Payment processing | 3% + $0.25 per order | 3.3% + $0.45 per payment | Etsy: gross order including shipping (and tax where applicable). Depop: the full buyer payment, shipping included. |
| Shipping money | Buyer-paid shipping feeds the percentage bases above; label bought separately | Seller receives the shipping money in the payout, then buys the label themselves | Neither side lets shipping through fee-free; label cost assumed $5.00 in our baskets. |
| Optional advertising | Offsite Ads: 15% under $10,000 trailing 365-day sales (opt-out); 12% and mandatory at $10,000+; max $100 per order | Boost: 12%, seller-selected per listing | Both run on the attributed or paid amount — neither belongs to the always-on stack. |
The structural difference in one sentence: Etsy bills a listing fee, a commission and processing on every US order, while Depop bills processing alone and leaves commission and listing at zero. Deeper detail stays on the dedicated pages — the full Etsy fee stack and the Depop fee breakdown.
Scale check: the same order at $88 and $130, ads and Boost off
Same construction as the $42 basket — item price plus $5 buyer-paid shipping, tax $0, $5.00 label on both sides. The $42 row repeats for the trend.
| Order total | Etsy fees | Etsy banks | Depop fees | Depop banks | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $42 ($37 + $5) | $4.44 | $32.56 | $1.84 | $35.16 | Depop +$2.60 |
| $88 ($83 + $5) | $8.81 | $74.19 | $3.35 | $79.65 | Depop +$5.46 |
| $130 ($125 + $5) | $12.80 | $112.20 | $4.74 | $120.26 | Depop +$8.06 |
Two things move as the price climbs. In percentage terms the platforms converge slightly — Etsy's all-in take drifts from about 10.6% of the order down to 9.8% and Depop's from about 4.4% to 3.6%, because flat cents matter less on bigger payments. In dollars the gap only widens, at that steady 6.2% of the order value. Cheap listings are where the flat $0.45 bites hardest: on the $42 basket Etsy is already taking more than a tenth of the payment before any advertising is involved.
Flip cases: Etsy Offsite Ads on vs Depop Boost on
The $88 basket is the test bench. With advertising off it banks $74.19 on Etsy and $79.65 on Depop. Each optional ad program is examined on its own side first.
Etsy with Offsite Ads on
Offsite Ads bills 15% of the attributed order while your trailing 365-day sales sit under $10,000 (you may opt out); shops at $10,000 or more pay 12%, cannot opt out, and never pay more than $100 per order. On $88: the 15% tier adds $13.20, lifting total fees to $22.01 and cutting the banked figure to $60.99; the 12% tier adds $10.56, for $19.37 in fees and $63.63 banked. Against Depop's ad-free $79.65, Depop now banks $18.66 more in the 15% case. Tier mechanics and the cap are unpacked on the Offsite Ads fee page.
Depop with Boost on
Boost is a per-listing switch: turn it on and Depop takes 12% of the total payment, shipping included. On $88 that is $10.56, so fees climb from $3.35 to $13.91 and the banked amount falls from $79.65 to $69.09 — now $5.10 behind Etsy's ad-free $74.19. The underdog position reverses. You are paying for reach, not owing a fee on every sale; the mechanics live on the Boost fee explained page.
Run both ad programs at once and Depop still finishes ahead at this price: $69.09 beats $60.99 by $8.10, because a 12% Boost undercuts a 15% Offsite fee. And when Etsy sits in its 12% tier, the two ad fees are identical percentages on the same $88 — they cancel, and the result collapses back to the familiar $5.46 ad-free gap.
Live math lives on one page only
This page is deliberately static — nothing here calculates anything. If you want to re-run your own numbers on the Depop side, the live fee estimator sits on the Depop fee page. There is no Etsy calculator anywhere on Feebrief; the Etsy side stays a documented stack — listing, transaction, processing, Offsite tiers — on the Etsy seller fees page.
Etsy vs Depop fees FAQ
Which platform has lower fees for sellers?
Depop, as long as advertising stays off on both sides. Its only automatic charge is payment processing at 3.3% + $0.45, while Etsy's baseline of listing, transaction and processing together runs near 9.5% + $0.45. On the $55 headline order, Depop keeps $2.27 and Etsy keeps $5.68, a $3.41 spread. Switch on Boost or take an Offsite Ads order and the answer can reverse.
Do both platforms charge fees on shipping?
Yes, just through different pipes. Depop's 3.3% + $0.45 runs on the whole buyer payment with shipping included, and the shipping money reaches your payout before you spend it on the label. Etsy's 6.5% and 3% + $0.25 lines are applied to item plus shipping in the examples on this page. Neither platform treats buyer-paid shipping as fee-free.
Can Depop's cost edge disappear?
Yes, in both directions. Boost at 12% adds $10.56 to the $88 basket and drops Depop's banked amount to $69.09, under Etsy's ad-free $74.19. Going the other way, an Etsy order attributed to Offsite Ads adds 15% (or 12% above $10,000 in trailing 365-day sales), cutting Etsy's $88 banked figure to $60.99 or $63.63. With both ad programs running, Depop still finishes ahead at this price, and when Etsy sits in its 12% tier the ad fees cancel, restoring the $5.46 ad-free gap.
Where to read next, plus sources and the fine print
Related pages
- Depop seller fees and the live Depop fee estimator
- The full Etsy fee stack, including Offsite Ads tiers
- How Depop Boost fees work
- Offsite Ads in detail: 15% vs 12% and the $100 cap
- Etsy vs Poshmark fees
- All resale marketplace fee comparisons
Sources
Etsy figures were compiled on 2026-11-01 from Etsy's legal fees page, the Etsy Payments policy and the Offsite Ads help article. Depop figures were checked in November 2026 against Depop's own published seller fees help. Both sets flow into Feebrief's dated fee records; the methodology page explains how rates are verified and when records get revised.
Disclaimer
Feebrief is an independent fee-reference site — not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting as an official calculator for Etsy or Depop. Worked figures assume US addresses, USD, personal seller plans, no sales tax and a $5.00 label on both platforms purely for comparability; your actual label cost and tax situation may differ. Rates may change with little notice, so confirm on Etsy's and Depop's own fee pages before pricing your items. See the disclosure page for how this site is funded.