Marketplace Fee Comparison

Case study · illustrated math

Same $29.99 SKU, inked as a ledger

One Home & Kitchen unit. Cost $8.00. Seller shipping $4.50 (Temu uses the $1.50 warehouse inbound estimate). No ads. No creator cut. Three channels that usually survive the first cut — drawn as fee waterfalls, not lifestyle photos.

Shopify

$15.93 keep

No referral line. Processing + amortized plan only.

Price $29.99

COGS −$8.00

Fees −$6.06

Net $15.93

Margin 53.1%

TikTok Shop

$15.69 keep

Flat 6% all-in referral. Processing included.

Price $29.99

COGS −$8.00

Fees −$6.30

Net $15.69

Margin 52.3%

Amazon FBA

$11.27 keep

15% Home & Kitchen + FBA estimate $6.02.

Price $29.99

COGS −$8.00

Fees −$10.72

Net $11.27

Margin 37.6%

The fork: if you already own demand, Shopify’s missing referral line wins ($15.93 vs TikTok’s $15.69). If the marketplace has to find the buyer, TikTok’s flat 6% beats Amazon FBA’s $11.27 after the $6.02 Large Standard stand-in. Change the four inputs above — the live bars are the same ledger, recalculating.

The cheapest channel on a $29.99 Home & Kitchen SKU is not the one with the lowest headline commission. Plug $29.99 / $8.00 / $4.50 / 100 units into the calculator above: Shopify keeps $15.93 per unit (53.1% margin) because Shopify Basic has no marketplace cut — only 2.9% + $0.30 and $39/mo spread across units.

If you already have traffic, that Shopify win holds. If you need the marketplace to find the customer, read TikTok Shop next: a flat 6% referral (processing included) leaves $15.69 on the same SKU, ahead of Amazon FBA’s $11.27 after a 15% Home & Kitchen referral plus the $6.02 Large Standard fulfillment estimate. Open each platform’s own calculator when you need weight-based FBA, FBT, or a Temu supply-price quote.

How the six fee stacks actually differ

This comparison uses 2026 rates from the six fee files, last reviewed 2026-10-01 (earliest date across all six). Amazon’s column is Home & Kitchen at 15%; other Amazon categories run 8%–17%. Temu has no official public fee card — the column uses the dataset typical of 12%.

• Amazon FBA: 15% referral on Home & Kitchen (floor $0.30) + a flat $6.02 fulfillment estimate (~1 lb Large Standard, mid price band, including the 3.5% fuel surcharge) + $0.20 storage placeholder. Processing is inside the referral. Size-band the unit in the Amazon FBA Calculator.
• eBay: 13.6% Final Value Fee (processing included) + $0.30 per order at or under $10.00, or $0.40 above that. Promoted Listings are extra (1%–20%). Use the eBay Fee Calculator when ads are on.
• Etsy: 6.5% transaction + 3% + $0.25 processing + $0.20 listing. Offsite Ads (15% / 12%, cap $100.00) are not in this table — add them in the Etsy Fee Calculator.
• Shopify (Basic): no platform commission. 2.9% + $0.30 Shopify Payments + $39/mo divided by units. Third-party gateways add 2.0% on top of the processor — compare plans in the Shopify Fee Calculator.
• TikTok Shop: flat 6% referral on most categories (5% for jewelry and pre-owned). Processing is already inside that number. FBT fulfillment is not in this table; the dataset’s typical small-to-medium FBT range is $3.58–$8.00. Self-fulfill vs FBT belongs in the TikTok Shop Fee Calculator.
• Temu (marketplace / semi-managed): typical 12% commission (dataset range 8%–15%) + 2.9% + $0.30 processing. Inbound to warehouse is estimated here at $1.50/unit — a page-local input, not a published Temu line. Consignment is a supply-price model; quote it with the Temu Seller Fee Calculator and the supply-price guide. Verify in your seller dashboard.

Worked example: $29.99 Home & Kitchen, 100 units

Same inputs as the live defaults. Cost $8.00, seller-paid shipping $4.50 (Temu uses the $1.50 warehouse inbound estimate instead). Recalculate by typing those four numbers above.

Shopify’s $15.93 edges TikTok Shop’s $15.69 and Temu’s $15.72. Amazon FBA finishes last at $11.27 because the $6.02 fulfillment estimate plus 15% referral is heavier than a 6% all-in referral. If your Amazon size tier is Small Standard, reopen this SKU in the FBA calculator — the comparison here is intentionally conservative.

If A, then X — winner scenes by price and category

The live banner always picks the highest net after this simplified stack. Traffic, returns, and ads are not in the table. Use the forks below, then change the four inputs to match your SKU.

• If you already have demand (email, organic, or a paid funnel you can hold under the fee gap) then Shopify Basic wins the mid- and high-ticket rows ($29.99 and $79.99) — there is no referral line. The gap vs TikTok Shop on the default SKU is $0.24 per unit. If your blended CAC is larger than that gap, the fee “win” is cosmetic — check break-even ROAS before you leave a marketplace. The $9.99 row is a different fork: Temu’s cheaper inbound estimate can beat Shopify (see the next bullet).
• If you need marketplace demand on a ~$29.99 Home & Kitchen SKU and you self-fulfill, then TikTok Shop’s 6% all-in referral usually beats Amazon FBA and eBay on take-home ($15.69 vs $11.27 on the defaults). Jewelry or pre-owned drops TikTok to 5% — reopen the TikTok Shop calculator on that category. Two-platform narrative: TikTok Shop vs Amazon.
• If the SKU is ~$9.99 and Temu inbound is cheaper than your own label, then Temu’s typical 12% + processing can beat the self-fulfilled channels because this table ships Temu at $1.50 vs $3.00 seller shipping. On $9.99 / $3.50 / $3.00 / 200 units, the simplified winner is Temu at $3.20/unit (32.0%). Amazon FBA’s $6.02 estimate can go negative at this AOV — size the unit before you list. Temu consignment is a different quote: supply-price method.
• If the SKU is ~$79.99, then percentage take dominates and Shopify still leads on fees (Shopify at $47.90/unit, 59.9% on $79.99 / $22.00 / $6.50 / 40 units). Amazon FBA only closes the gap if your real fulfillment tier is well below the $6.02 Large Standard stand-in, or if Prime conversion is worth the extra take. Pair with the Amazon FBA vs Shopify guide when the question is demand vs brand, not the fee line.
• If the Amazon category is Electronics (8%) not Home & Kitchen (15%), Amazon’s referral line drops by 7% of price — $2.10 on the $29.99 SKU — but FBA still sits on top. Clothing & Shoes at 17% moves the other way. The comparison column does not switch categories; the FBA calculator does.

Open the matching single-platform calculator

This page is the side-by-side. Each channel’s weight, ads, and plan-tier math lives on its own tool:

• Amazon FBA Calculator — referral by category, size-banded FBA, storage
• eBay Fee Calculator — Final Value Fee, per-order, Promoted Listings
• Etsy Fee Calculator — listing, transaction, processing, Offsite Ads
• Shopify Fee Calculator — plan, Shopify Payments vs third-party
• TikTok Shop Fee Calculator — 6% / 5% referral, FBT
• Temu Seller Fee Calculator — marketplace vs consignment planning

Two-channel write-ups: TikTok Shop vs Amazon, Amazon FBA vs Shopify, Temu vs AliExpress.

Frequently asked questions

Which marketplace has the lowest selling fees in 2026?

On fee take alone, Shopify Basic has no referral cut — only 2.9% + $0.30 Shopify Payments plus $39/mo amortized. Among marketplaces that bring demand, TikTok Shop is a flat 6% (processing included) on most categories. Amazon Home & Kitchen is 15% plus an FBA fulfillment estimate; eBay is 13.6% plus a per-order fee. “Lowest fee” is not the same as highest profit once traffic cost is included.

How do I reproduce the $29.99 comparison in the calculator?

Set Selling Price to $29.99, Product Cost to $8.00, Shipping Cost to $4.50, and Monthly Units to 100. The table uses Home & Kitchen 15% for Amazon, Shopify Basic, TikTok Shop “most categories,” and Temu’s typical 12% marketplace commission. On that SKU the live winner is Shopify at $15.93/unit (53.1% margin).

Why does Amazon FBA often lose this comparison?

The Amazon column assumes Home & Kitchen at 15% plus a ~1 lb Large Standard FBA estimate of $6.02 (mid band, including the 3.5% fuel surcharge) and a $0.20 storage placeholder. That fulfillment line is a simplified stand-in — actual FBA is size- and weight-banded. Electronics referral is 8%; Clothing & Shoes is 17%. Run the dedicated Amazon FBA calculator for your size tier.

Does this include ads, creator commissions, or Etsy Offsite Ads?

No. TikTok creator commission is a seller-set extra (see the creator-commission guide). Etsy Offsite Ads are 15% optional or 12% mandatory above the shop threshold, capped at $100.00 per order. Shopify’s fee win disappears if you spend more on acquisition than the marketplace referral you avoided. Use the break-even ROAS calculator before treating Shopify as “cheapest.”

Temu publishes no official fee card — what rate does this use?

The Temu column uses our dataset’s typical marketplace commission of 12% (range 8%–15%) plus 2.9% + $0.30 processing, and a page-local $1.50 inbound-to-warehouse shipping estimate. Consignment is a supply-price payout, not this marketplace stack — quote that on the Temu supply-price page. Verify in your seller dashboard.