Pricing Bible
A pricing bible for Etsy shops that actually keep money
September 2026. Written for the Canopio shop audit. Not tax or legal advice. Confirm live rates in Shop Manager.
What this is for
Most “fee calculators” stop at one order. The job that pays is different: which live listings lose money after Etsy’s cut, and what to charge instead. Connect Etsy on the audit page (CSV still works). Use the free calculator to learn the shape of one sale. Use this note so the numbers mean something when you change a price.
The 2026 stack, in one breath
On a typical US sale Etsy still takes a 6.5% transaction fee on item + shipping − discount, plus payment processing (often 3% + $0.25 in the US), plus $0.20 when a listing is published or renewed. Offsite Ads, when they apply, take 15% if the shop has never made $10,000 in any consecutive 365-day period (those shops can opt out), or 12% once it has, and participation is then mandatory for the life of the shop. Either way the fee is capped at $100 per order. Your product, shipping you pay, and packaging come out after that — they are not “Etsy fees,” but they are why a $3 sticker can go negative while a $25 print does not.
| Line | Usual hit |
|---|---|
| Transaction | 6.5% of gross |
| Processing (US) | 3% + $0.25 |
| Listing | $0.20 per publish/renew |
| Offsite Ads | 12% or 15%, $100 cap |
UK and DE processing presets differ. Pick the country on the audit page rather than copying a US spreadsheet.
Why cheap listings die
Fixed pieces do not care that the sticker is $3. Processing’s $0.25 and the listing’s $0.20 are the same dollars you pay on an $80 custom portrait. Add shipping you actually spend and a 40% product cost, and the $3 row goes red while the portrait still looks healthy. That is not a rounding bug. It is the fee shape. If a SKU cannot carry the fixed slice, raise the price, sell it only in a bundle, or stop renewing it.
A margin floor, not a vibe
Pick a target before you look at suggested prices. 30% after fees and costs is a workable default for physical goods that still have returns, packaging surprises, and the odd Offsite hit. Digital-only shops can sit higher; made-to-order with expensive shipping may need a lower floor and a shipping charge that actually covers the label. The audit’s “suggested” column inverts the same engine as the free calculator so that, after rounding to cents, the new price lands near your target. It does not promise conversion. It promises the math is honest if the sale happens.
How to read the status labels
- Losing money — profit is below zero. Do not advertise this row until the price or the cost moves.
- Critically thin — you keep something, but under 10%. One Offsite click or a packing upgrade wipes it.
- Workable, tight — 10% to 25%. Fine for a loss-leader you chose on purpose. Dangerous if you thought it was your hero SKU.
- Healthy — 25% or better at the costs you entered. Still re-run if Offsite is on.
Shop-wide cost is a first pass
Etsy’s listings export does not include your COGS. A percent of price or a flat dollar per item is good enough to surface the disasters. After you see the red rows, override the expensive ones in your own sheet if a single SKU has a wildly different cost. Do not skip the first pass because the percent is imperfect — the $3 sticker is usually still a $3 sticker.
Offsite is not “a little extra marketing”
Fifteen percent of gross on a thin listing is not a marketing budget. It is often the entire margin. Run the audit once as organic and once with Offsite on. If a row only works in the first view, either raise the price to survive the second, or keep Offsite off for that SKU in Etsy’s controls if you can. The $100 cap only helps large orders. It does not save stickers.
The matrix
The 1,200-row matrix is a lookup, not a forecast. Ten prices, ten costs, three ad modes (none / 12% / 15%), four processing countries. Find the cell closest to a new SKU before you publish it. If every nearby cell is red, the idea was never a listing — it was a discount code in disguise.
Sold-order backtest
Live listings tell you what you are asking. Order items tell you what actually sold. We do not slap a $0.20 listing fee on every historical line; that fee was paid when the listing went up, not on each unit. Group by title. If a SKU sold a lot and still shows thin, the catalog audit is not a fluke.
What we will not do
We will not scrape another vendor’s PDF, reuse their trademark, or pretend Etsy endorses this. Rates change. If Etsy moves the 6.5% or the Offsite cap, treat this file as stale until the calculator footer says otherwise.
Print from the browser (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) and save as PDF if you want a copy next to the matrix CSV.