Etsy Fees on International Sales: Extra Costs to Know About
Selling to international buyers on Etsy? The transaction and listing fees are the same, but payment processing rates vary by country.
How international sales affect Etsy fees
The short version: if you're a US-based digital seller, your fees are almost the same whether the buyer is in Ohio or Australia. The listing fee ($0.20) and transaction fee (6.5%) don't change based on the buyer's location.
What can differ: payment processing rates. Etsy Payments processing fees vary by the seller's country, not the buyer's country. US sellers pay 3% + $0.25. UK sellers pay 4% + $0.20 GBP. Canadian sellers pay 3% + $0.25 CAD.
If you're a US seller, your processing rate is 3% + $0.25 USD regardless of where your buyer is. The buyer's location doesn't increase your fees.
Currency conversion
When an international buyer pays in their local currency, Etsy handles the conversion. The buyer pays in their currency. You receive USD (or whatever your shop currency is). Etsy uses their own exchange rate, which includes a small spread over the market rate.
You don't control this spread and it's not listed as a separate fee. It's baked into the exchange rate. In practice, you might receive 1-3% less than the mid-market rate on international sales. On a $20 equivalent sale, that's $0.20-0.60 in hidden currency conversion cost.
This is minor for most sellers. If 15% of your sales are international (typical for US-based digital product sellers), the currency spread costs you maybe $5-10 per month. Not worth worrying about unless you're doing high volume.
VAT, GST, and international tax
Etsy handles VAT collection for digital products sold to EU buyers. They charge the buyer the appropriate VAT rate, collect it, and remit it to the relevant tax authority. This comes out of the buyer's payment, not your revenue. You don't owe anything extra.
Same for Australian GST and other destination-based digital taxes. Etsy collects and remits them as the marketplace facilitator.
This is actually a significant advantage of selling digital products through Etsy vs selling through your own website. On your own site, YOU would be responsible for collecting and remitting EU VAT. The compliance burden is real and expensive for small sellers. Etsy handles it for free as part of their platform.
On Gumroad, VAT handling depends on your account setup. Gumroad can act as the merchant of record in some cases. For a comparison of how each platform handles international tax, our [Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy post](/blog/gumroad-vs-lemonsqueezy-for-digital-products) covers the tax handling differences in detail. Lemon Squeezy specifically built their platform around handling this.
Offsite ads and international buyers
Etsy's offsite ads program runs ads on Google and social media globally. An international buyer clicking an offsite ad and purchasing triggers the same 15% fee as a domestic offsite ad sale. No difference in the fee rate.
If anything, offsite ads on international searches can be less efficient because the buyer behavior differs by country. Conversion rates from offsite ads vary significantly by market. But the fee is the same 15% regardless.
For the complete Etsy fee breakdown (domestic), see [Etsy fees explained](/blog/etsy-fees-explained-what-you-actually-keep). For the digital product specific math, check [Etsy fees for digital products](/blog/etsy-fees-digital-products-what-you-pay). And use our [Etsy fee calculator](/tools/etsy-fee-calculator) to see your take-home at any price point.