Etsy's regulatory operating fee, country by country
A small percentage that only exists in some countries, charged on item price plus shipping. It is easy to miss, it changed recently, and a lot of the numbers published online are still the old ones.
What the fee is, in one paragraph
Some governments tax large digital marketplaces on the revenue they earn locally — a digital services tax, or something close to it. Etsy pays it, and then passes a slice of it on to sellers whose bank account sits in that country. That slice is the regulatory operating fee. Etsy charges it on item price + shipping + gift wrap — the same base as the 6.5% transaction fee, so sales tax is excluded.
Two things follow from that. First, it is a percentage of the order, not a flat charge, so it grows as your prices grow. Second, it is not universal: the same order sold by a US shop carries no such fee at all.
The current rates
| Country | Rate | Changed to this on 22 June 2026? |
|---|---|---|
| Hungary | 1.97% | Newly added |
| Türkiye | 1.67% | Yes |
| Vietnam | 1.24% | Yes |
| France | 1.14% | Yes — up from 0.47% |
| Spain | 0.88% | Yes — up from 0.72% |
| Italy | 0.80% | Yes — up from 0.32% |
| Canada | 0.50% | Yes |
| United Kingdom | 0.48% | Yes — up from 0.32% |
| India | 0.05% | Yes |
Countries where Etsy does not charge it
The fee only applies where the tax it recovers exists. On Etsy's published rate list, no regulatory operating fee appears for the United States, Germany, Australia or New Zealand, nor for most other EU states — the Netherlands and Ireland pay the same 4% + €0.30 processing as France, Italy and Spain but carry no regulatory fee at all. Etsy's own country table is the definitive list; treat any summary, including this one, as a guide rather than the source of truth.
That creates one of the odder facts about selling on Etsy: a German shop and a French shop pay different fees on an identical order, even though both are inside the EU and both pay the same 4% + €0.30 payment processing.
What it actually costs you
Here is a €100 item with free shipping, no sales tax and no advertising, sold by shops in five countries. The 6.5% transaction fee and the 4% + €0.30 processing are identical in all five. Only the regulatory fee moves — and it moves the effective rate with it.
| Shop bank account in | Regulatory fee | Total Etsy fees | You keep | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | €0.00 | €10.98 | €89.02 | 11.0% |
| Netherlands | €0.00 | €10.98 | €89.02 | 11.0% |
| Italy | €0.80 | €11.78 | €88.22 | 11.8% |
| Spain | €0.88 | €11.86 | €88.14 | 11.9% |
| France | €1.14 | €12.12 | €87.88 | 12.1% |
On a €100 order the spread is €1.14 — around 1.1 percentage points of the order. That looks small until you multiply it by every order you ship. At 200 orders a year averaging €60, the difference between a German shop and a French shop is roughly €137.
Why your own numbers might disagree
- Old rates. Anything published before late June 2026 is quoting the pre-update percentages.
- Country of your bank account, not of your buyer. Etsy sets this fee by where your bank account is. A UK shop owes 0.48% whether the buyer is in Manchester or Miami.
- The wrong base. Applying it to the item price only, and forgetting shipping, understates the fee — shipping is included.
- VAT charged on the fee itself. In the UK and the EU, Etsy also adds VAT to its own fees. If you are VAT-registered that is usually reclaimable; if you are not, it is a further real cost on top of the percentage shown here.
Quick answers
Is this the same thing as VAT or sales tax?
No. VAT and sales tax are taxes on the buyer, collected and remitted by Etsy or by you. The regulatory operating fee is a fee charged to you, and it never comes back.
Can I avoid it?
Not by pricing differently — it is a percentage of the order, so it applies at every price point. It is set by the country of the bank account your shop pays out to, so it is a cost of operating from that country rather than something you manage.
Does it apply to digital products?
Etsy applies it to orders, not to product categories. Digital orders do not carry shipping, so the base is smaller, but the percentage is the same.
How do I see it on my own numbers?
Use the fee calculator, pick your country, and the regulatory line appears in the fee breakdown automatically — or is marked "not charged in your country" if you are in one of the countries where it does not apply. For a country-level walkthrough see the UK, EU and Canada pages.
Rates last verified October 2026 against Etsy's published fee pages. Regulatory operating fees changed on 22 June 2026 and can change again without notice — always confirm your own rate against Etsy's Fees & Payments Policy before pricing. This page is general information, not tax advice.