Payment fees are small on every sale, and they add up fast. These free fee calculators show what a payment platform really takes, what lands in your account, and what price you should charge if you want to receive a set amount after fees. Put in a sale amount, and you get the fee, your net payout and the effective rate. Every calculator shows its formula, worked examples and where its rates come from, so you can check the math yourself.
Calculators
- Stripe Fee Calculator: see Stripe’s fee and your net payout on a sale, or work out what to charge to receive a set amount.
- PayPal Fee Calculator: see PayPal’s fee and your net payout on a sale, or work out what to charge to receive a set amount.
More are on the way. If there’s a platform you’d like covered, tell me through the contact page.
In short
- Most payment processors charge a percentage of the sale plus a fixed amount on every transaction.
- The fixed part hurts small sales most, so your effective rate (fee ÷ sale) is higher on a $10 sale than on a $500 one.
- To receive a set amount, you can’t just add the fee to the price. Use the gross-up formula below.
- The headline rate isn’t the whole story. Look for fees on international cards, currency conversion, refunds and disputes.
- Rates change, so confirm any figure on the company’s own pricing page before you set a price.
What are payment processing fees?
When a customer pays by card or another online method, a payment processor moves the money from their bank to yours. The processor charges a fee for that, and part of what you pay goes on to the banks and card networks involved. You’ll also see these called transaction fees, card fees or merchant fees.
You usually don’t pay them separately. The processor takes its fee out of each payment, and you receive what’s left. That remainder is your net payout.
How payment fees are calculated
Most fees follow one simple pattern: a percentage of the sale plus a fixed amount.
| What you want | Formula |
|---|---|
| Fee | sale amount × percentage + fixed fee |
| Net payout | sale amount − fee |
| Effective rate | fee ÷ sale amount × 100 |
| Price to receive a set amount (gross-up) | (amount you want + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percentage as a decimal) |
Everything below uses made-up rates of 3% plus $0.30 so the examples don’t go out of date. Real rates depend on the company, the payment method, the country and your account.
Why small sales cost more?
| Sale amount | Fee | You keep | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | $0.60 | $9.40 | 6.0% |
| $15 | $0.75 | $14.25 | 5.0% |
| $50 | $1.80 | $48.20 | 3.6% |
| $100 | $3.30 | $96.70 | 3.3% |
| $500 | $15.30 | $484.70 | 3.1% |
On a $10 sale, the fee is double the advertised 3%, because the fixed $0.30 is a big slice of a small amount. If you sell low-priced items, the fixed fee matters more than the percentage.
Worked examples
Example 1: Fee and net on one sale
You sell something for $60. Fee = 60 × 0.03 + 0.30 = $2.10. You keep 60 − 2.10 = $57.90. Your effective rate is 2.10 ÷ 60 = 3.5%.
Example 2: A month of orders
You take 200 orders of $40 each. The fee per order is 40 × 0.03 + 0.30 = $1.50, so 200 orders cost $300 in fees. On $8,000 of sales, that’s an effective rate of 3.75%, and you keep $7,700.
Example 3: What to charge to receive a set amount
You want to receive $100 after the fee. Price = (100 + 0.30) ÷ (1 − 0.03) = $103.40. Check it: the fee on $103.40 is about $3.40, which leaves you $100.00.
| You want to receive | You charge |
|---|---|
| $20 | $20.93 |
| $50 | $51.86 |
| $100 | $103.40 |
| $250 | $258.04 |
Example 4: which plan is cheaper?
Say Plan A charges 2.9% plus $0.30, and Plan B charges 2.6% plus $0.50.
- On a $20 sale, A costs $0.88 and B costs $1.02. A is cheaper.
- On a $100 sale, A costs $3.20 and B costs $3.10. B is cheaper.
The two plans cost the same at about $66.67. Below that, A wins. Above it, B wins. So the best plan depends on your average sale size, not just the percentage.
Why you can’t just add the fee to the price?
If you want to receive $100 and you add the 3% fee to the price ($103), the processor takes 3% of $103, not of $100. You end up with slightly less than you wanted. A gross-up calculates the price that leaves you exactly what you want after the fee, and it’s the safe way to pass fees on.
Fees you might not expect
The headline rate rarely tells the whole story. Depending on the company, you may also pay:
- Extra fees for international cards or for currency conversion.
- Fees for refunds. Some platforms keep the fixed fee even when you refund a sale.
- Dispute or chargeback fees when a customer challenges a payment.
- Different rates for different payment methods, such as cards, bank transfers and digital wallets.
- Payout fees, for example for faster payouts to your bank.
- Monthly or setup fees, on some plans.
- Marketplace fees on top of payment fees, if you sell on a platform that takes its own cut.
Different platforms structure their fees differently. PayPal, for example, can charge different rates depending on the type of payment, the country and whether currency conversion is involved, so it’s worth checking each platform’s own pricing page.
Always read the official pricing page of the company you use before you set a price.
Ways to handle fees in your pricing?
- Absorb them. Treat fees as a cost of doing business and keep prices as they are. This works if your margin is healthy.
- Build them into your price. Use the gross-up formula to find the price that leaves you what you need.
- Set a minimum order. The fixed fee is a larger share of tiny orders, so a minimum protects your margin.
- Offer a cheaper payment method for large invoices, such as a bank transfer, if it suits your customers.
- Add a surcharge for card payments. Rules on this vary by country, state and card network, so check the local rules and your processor’s terms first.
How to lower your payment fees
- Compare plans and processors using your own average sale size, as in Example 4.
- Ask about lower rates if your volume is high. Some companies negotiate.
- Avoid unnecessary refunds and disputes, which can cost fees even when you return the money.
- Check your currency settings, so you aren’t paying conversion fees when you don’t need to.
- Review your fees every few months. Pricing changes, and a plan that was best last year may not be best now.
Common fee mistakes
- Looking only at the percentage and forgetting the fixed fee.
- Adding the fee to the price instead of using a gross-up.
- Not counting international card and currency conversion fees.
- Forgetting that refunds and disputes can cost money.
- Assuming a platform’s rates are the same in every country.
- Using last year’s rates.
Fee calculator FAQ
How do you calculate payment processing fees?
Multiply the sale amount by the percentage, then add the fixed fee. With 3% plus $0.30 on a $100 sale, the fee is 100 × 0.03 + 0.30 = $3.30.
What is an effective rate?
It’s the fee as a share of the sale amount: fee ÷ sale × 100. It’s usually higher than the advertised percentage, because the fixed fee is spread over the sale.
How do I charge enough to cover fees?
Use the gross-up formula: (amount you want + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percentage as a decimal). With 3% plus $0.30, to receive $100 you charge $103.40.
Why are fees higher on small sales?
Because of the fixed fee. A $0.30 fee is 3% of a $10 sale but only 0.06% of a $500 sale, so the effective rate is much higher on small ones.
Do I get fees back when I refund a customer?
It depends on the company. Some return the percentage but keep the fixed fee, and some keep both. Check the refund policy on the platform’s pricing page.
Are fees the same in every country?
No. Rates, extra fees and available payment methods vary by country, so use the rates for the country your account is based in.
Can I trust the rates in these calculators?
I take them from each company’s official pricing page and show the date I last checked them. Rates change, so confirm any figure on the platform’s own website before you rely on it.
How I keep these calculators accurate
Fee rates change, so every calculator on this page uses the company’s own official pricing page as its source and shows the date I last verified it. I test each calculator against hand-calculated examples before it goes live, and I recheck rates regularly. You can read more on the How We Calculate page.
HowCalculate isn’t affiliated with any company mentioned on this site. Calculator results are estimates, not financial advice, and you should confirm important figures on the platform’s own website.
Questions or requests?
If you spot a mistake, a rate that has changed or a platform you’d like to see covered, contact me and I’ll take a look. Running ads as well? See the Marketing Calculators for CPM, ROAS, CTR, CPA and CAC.