PayPal typically takes around 3.49 percent plus a fixed fee on commercial transactions in the US, with different rates for international payments and currency conversion. On a $50 payment that is roughly $2.24 before any marketplace fee.
The fee applies to the whole payment
Including shipping, including tax. If a buyer pays you $50 for an item plus $8 postage, the fee is calculated on $58, not $50. Sellers who quote a price and treat postage as a pass-through consistently underestimate what lands in their account.
Put your figure into the PayPal Fee Calculator. It also reverse-calculates, so you can work out what to invoice in order to receive an exact amount after fees.
Invoicing to receive a specific amount
This is the part most people get wrong. If you need $100 net and simply add 3.49 percent, you land short, because the fee applies to the larger total. Divide instead: subtract the fixed fee target, then divide by one minus the rate. The calculator handles it, and the difference on a large invoice is real money.
Where the cost climbs
- International payments carry an added percentage.
- Currency conversion is applied on top, and PayPal's rate is not the mid-market rate.
- Chargebacks and disputes can carry their own fee even when resolved in your favour.
- Micropayments. If you sell many small items, PayPal's micropayment pricing is often cheaper than the standard rate. Worth asking about.
Friends and family is not a workaround
Asking a buyer to send a commercial payment as friends and family removes their protection and breaches PayPal's terms. It also removes yours. The saving is a couple of percent; the exposure is the entire transaction.
Where it fits in your margin
On a marketplace, payment processing usually sits alongside a commission, so the combined bite is larger than either number alone. See what a good profit margin looks like for how to work out whether what remains is enough to run on.