How Seller Payouts Work on a Marketplace

You sold something — so what actually lands in your account, and when? Here's a plain-English walk through how marketplace payouts work and what gets taken out along the way.

From sale price to payout

When a buyer pays, the money doesn't go straight to you untouched. It passes through the payment processor and the marketplace, and a few things are deducted before the rest becomes your payout:

• Payment processing fee — the card networks' charge, usually around 3%, that every platform pays. Unavoidable anywhere.
• Platform commission — the marketplace's cut of the sale, which varies enormously between platforms and is the biggest lever on your take-home.
• Any extra fees — some platforms add listing, promotion or currency-conversion charges.

What's left after these is your payout.

Why commission dominates the maths

Because the payment fee is roughly the same everywhere, the difference in what sellers keep comes down almost entirely to commission. A marketplace taking 15% leaves you ~82% after processing; one taking 40% leaves you ~57%; one taking 0% leaves you ~97%. On the same sale, the payout can differ by hundreds of dollars purely because of commission. See our fees explained article for the full breakdown.

Timing and getting paid

Payouts typically settle to your connected account after the sale completes, with timing depending on the platform and payment provider. To get paid smoothly, connect your payout details correctly and keep them up to date. The simplest way to maximise what actually reaches you is to sell where commission is zero — you still pay the ~3% processor, but nothing on top, so your payout is as close to the full sale price as it can be.

Frequently asked questions

Related: Marketplace fees explained · What does 0% commission actually mean? · Marketplace fees · Sell art online with 0% commission