Etsy's Offsite Ads fee is 15% for an attributed order in the standard participating tier and 12% for the reduced-rate tier Etsy assigns after the shop passes its sales threshold. The fee is capped at $100 for one order. The cap limits this fee line only; transaction, payment-processing, listing, and other applicable charges still remain.
1. The short answer: first confirm that the order was attributed
Offsite Ads can place Etsy listings on external advertising channels. Etsy's policy says a fee can apply when a buyer clicks an Offsite Ad and then purchases from the shop within 30 days. The purchased item does not have to be the same listing that appeared in the ad.
Do not apply 12% or 15% to every order as an assumed marketing average. For an existing sale, use the attribution and fee shown by Etsy. For a future-price scenario, compare a non-attributed order with the applicable attributed-order rate so the exposure is visible.
2. Why one shop can see 15% and another 12%
Etsy uses a shop's sales over a rolling 365-day period to determine Offsite Ads participation and the applicable rate. The current guidance describes 15% for participating shops that have always made less than $10,000 in any consecutive 365-day period and a reduced 12% rate after a shop has made $10,000 or more in one of those periods.
| Shop situation | Attributed-order rate | Participation | What to enter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participating below the threshold | 15% | The policy allows eligible shops below the threshold to opt out. | Select 15% only when Etsy shows that tier for the shop and the order is attributed. |
| Reduced-rate tier | 12% | The policy makes participation mandatory after the shop reaches the stated sales threshold, including if later sales fall below it. | Select 12% and confirm the eligibility control in MarginGauge. |
A single order amount cannot reveal the shop's tier. Check the Offsite Ads section in Shop Manager or the actual statement rather than inferring 12% from a large order or 15% from a small one.
3. Attribution is an order fact, not a pricing guess
Etsy's Advertising & Marketing Policy describes a 30-day attribution window after the buyer clicks an Offsite Ad. If the buyer later places an order from that shop during the window, the order can be attributed even when it contains a different listing. Etsy also says multiple qualifying clicks can still result in one Offsite Ads fee on an order.
MarginGauge does not decide whether Etsy's attribution is correct and does not recreate click history. It asks for a scenario: no attribution, Offsite Ads at 15%, or Offsite Ads at 12%. Use Etsy's records for a completed order and use explicit sensitivity cases for pricing.
4. What amount the percentage uses
For the supported US model, the Offsite Ads base is seller order revenue: merchandise after a seller-funded item discount, plus buyer-paid personalization, shipping, and gift wrap. Marketplace sales tax collected from the buyer is excluded from this advertising fee base for US orders.
Offsite Ads fee = min(round-cent(applicable rate x seller order revenue), $100.00)
An Etsy-funded coupon does not reduce the seller's revenue or ordinary fee bases in the current official guidance. A seller-funded discount does reduce merchandise revenue before the Offsite Ads percentage is applied. Sales tax can still increase the separate payment-processing fee even though it does not enter the Offsite Ads base.
5. A $130 order at 15%, 12%, and no attribution
Assume one item priced at $120.00 and $10.00 buyer-paid shipping. Product cost is $45.00, packaging is $5.00, and the actual shipping label is $10.00. There is no sales tax, discount, personalization, gift wrap, Texas seller-fee tax, or allocated Etsy Ads spend.
The seller order revenue is $130.00. Before Offsite Ads, the engine calculates an $8.45 transaction fee, $4.15 payment-processing fee, and $0.20 listing allocation, or $12.80 in Etsy fees.
| Scenario | Offsite Ads fee | Total Etsy fees | Operating costs | Contribution profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No attribution | $0.00 | $12.80 | $60.00 | $57.20 | 44.00% |
| 15% attributed order | $19.50 | $32.30 | $60.00 | $37.70 | 29.00% |
| 12% attributed order | $15.60 | $28.40 | $60.00 | $41.60 | 32.00% |
At 15%, attribution removes $19.50 from contribution compared with the same non-attributed order. At 12%, it removes $15.60. The $3.90 difference between the two attributed cases comes from the shop tier, not from a change in product cost or the other Etsy fee lines.
6. The $100 cap applies per order
At $1,000.00 of seller order revenue, 15% would be $150 and 12% would be $120 before the limit. The existing engine returns $100.00 for the 15% case and $100.00 for the 12% case.
The cap does not make the rest of the order fee-free. On this $1,000 no-tax, one-item example, the standard transaction, payment-processing, and listing lines total $95.45. Adding the capped Offsite Ads line produces $195.45 in total modeled Etsy fees before seller operating costs.
Do not split an order to model the cap. The official rule is a maximum Offsite Ads fee for a single order. MarginGauge applies the cap to the order being calculated and does not infer separate buyer checkouts or later adjustments.
7. Model the attributed and non-attributed outcomes
Open the Etsy Profit Calculator and enter the complete order first. Keep shipping charged separate from the actual label cost. Then run the order with no attribution and with the applicable Offsite Ads tier.
- Use the 12% scenario only after confirming Etsy assigned the reduced-rate tier.
- Use the 15% scenario for a participating shop when Etsy shows that rate.
- Use no attribution when the order was not attributed or when testing the ordinary case.
- Include seller-funded discounts before comparing the fee; do not subtract marketplace sales tax from seller revenue.
- Keep Etsy Ads spend, product costs, labor, packaging, and actual shipping in their own cost fields.
For the full fee map, read Etsy Fees for US Sellers. To understand contribution rather than payout, read How to Calculate Etsy Profit Per Order. To build the fee into a future price, use How to Price Etsy Products for Profit.
Compare both attribution outcomes
Run the same order with no attribution and with your confirmed 12% or 15% tier. The difference is the contribution exposure for that scenario.
Open the Etsy Profit CalculatorOfficial sources and limits
- Etsy Fees & Payments Policy: Offsite Ads rates, the rolling sales threshold, included order amounts, US sales-tax exclusion, and the $100 per-order cap. Page last updated February 13, 2026; reviewed September 16, 2026.
- Etsy Advertising & Marketing Policy: program participation, 30-day click attribution, attributed shop orders, rates, and the per-order cap. Page last updated June 8, 2026; reviewed September 16, 2026.
- How Etsy's Offsite Ads Work: the exact $10,000 tier boundary, enrollment controls, attribution, and where to review attributed orders; reviewed September 16, 2026.
- How Etsy Funded Coupons Work For Sellers: seller proceeds and ordinary fee treatment for Etsy-funded promotions; reviewed September 16, 2026.
Review dates record when MarginGauge checked a source; they do not replace Etsy's published page-update dates or establish an unpublished business-effective date. The calculator uses line-level half-up cent rounding as a disclosed product convention because Etsy does not publish every intermediate rounding step.
This guide does not recreate ad clicks, challenge attribution, calculate refunds or fee credits, model currency conversion, or infer historical tiers. Contribution is not a payout forecast or accounting net income. MarginGauge is independent of Etsy, Inc. Corrections: [email protected].