Whatnot Fee Calculator

Whatnot charges commission on the item's final sale price only, not on buyer-paid shipping or tax. The official seller fees page we fetched on 11 November 2026 says that figure is based on publicly available standard commission rates as of September 2026, starting at 8% and going as low as 3% for qualified volume. Payment processing is 2.9% of the total order value plus $0.30 per order. This calculator defaults to the published starting commission of 8% and lets you type a lower rate if your Seller Hub shows one. It does not invent a tier table that the public page did not publish. OpenFeeCalculator is not affiliated with Whatnot.

Commission on GMV, processing on the whole order

The official page is unusually explicit about the difference. Commission is charged on gross merchandise value: the item price only. Shipping and applicable taxes are excluded from that percentage. Processing is charged on gross transaction value: everything the buyer pays, including shipping and tax, at 2.9% plus $0.30. A $10 item with $4.99 shipping and $0.85 tax therefore pays $0.80 in commission (8% of $10) and $0.76 in processing (2.9% of $15.84 + $0.30). Marketplaces that take a single percentage of the full intake are not comparable until you split those two lines.

commission = your rate × item price   (default 8%, not below 3% unless you override it)
processing = 2.9% × (item + shipping + tax) + $0.30
payout = total charged − tax remitted − commission − processing
profit = payout − cost of goods − your shipping cost

The same page says selling $15,000 or more in a four-week period unlocks reduced commission, that the rate resets each period based on the previous period's sales, and that private shows and local pickup do not count toward the total. Because the public page does not publish the full step-down table, we do not guess the rate at $15,000 or $30,000. If Seller Hub shows you 5%, type 5. Custom rates as low as 3% are mentioned for qualified high-volume sellers; treat that as a possible floor, not as a promise.

Worked example at the starting 8% rate

Live selling and categories

The public page says the commission rate may vary by category even though every completed sale counts toward your four-week total. It does not list a Coins rate or a trading-card rate on the marketing page we fetched, so this calculator will not invent one. If your category is cheaper or more expensive in Seller Hub, override the percentage. Live shows and marketplace sales both count, with the exceptions the page names.

Commission on the item, processing on the order

Whatnot's public 'How Fees Work' page, checked on 11 November 2026 and describing standard rates as of September 2026, starts standard commission at 8% of the item price only. Processing is 2.9% + $0.30 on the order total, which can include shipping and other amounts the official page treats as part of that total. Adding 8% and 2.9% together and multiplying by one number is the usual mistake. A $40 item with $6 shipping is not '10.9% of $46.' Commission is 8% of $40, or $3.20; processing is 2.9% of the official order total plus $0.30. Use the split the page publishes.

Unpublished tiers stay unpublished

Sellers sometimes quote a lower Whatnot rate for a category such as coins. If that tier was not on the public fees page we fetched, it is not in our JSON and this calculator will not offer it as a hidden default. You may enter a custom commission only when you actually have a documented rate of your own; that is a convenience, not a claim that we found an official coins row. Live shows, giveaways and shipping products outside the published processing rule are also out of scope. Compare Whatnot with eBay trading cards only after you respect those different bases — an 8% item commission is not 'cheaper 13.25%' by itself.

How to use this calculator

1. Enter the item price separately from shipping and tax. Commission uses only the item price. Processing uses the full order. Mixing those bases is the usual error on Whatnot.
2. Leave commission at 8% unless Seller Hub says otherwise. Type a lower percentage only when you can see it in your account. Do not guess a volume tier.
3. Include shipping and tax in the intake fields. They do not change the 8%, but they do change the 2.9% + $0.30 line and the remittance of tax.
4. Compare with eBay trading cards if you sell in both places. eBay's trading-card row is a different base and a different rate. Use both calculators rather than a single remembered percentage.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and updates

• How Fees Work · Whatnot (standard rates as of September 2026), checked 2026-11-11.