Etsy Offsite Ads fees: 12% vs 15% and eligibility

An Etsy Offsite Ads fee applies to an attributed order, not every Etsy sale. For the supported US model, use the program rate shown for your shop's activated status and apply the per-order cap. Do not choose a rate from the size of the current order. Start with your order's advertising record and shop status, then estimate the cost in the Etsy fee calculator.

Check attribution before selecting a rate

The Etsy Advertising & Marketing Policy explains participation and attribution; the official Etsy fee policy describes orders placed within 30 days of an Offsite Ads click and an exception when the last relevant click is an Etsy Ad. Use Etsy's attribution record; the calculator cannot inspect clicks or decide which program earned the sale. A buyer who found your shop elsewhere is not enough evidence to mark the order attributed.

Offsite Ads and Etsy Ads are different inputs

Offsite Ads is an attributed-order percentage. Etsy Ads spend is a separate advertising expense. Do not enter an Etsy Ads daily budget as the Offsite Ads percentage. If you allocate actual Etsy Ads spend to a sale, record that allocation in Other costs and label your assumption in your records.

Confirm your activated qualification

Etsy's threshold uses qualifying shop sales over the prior 365 days, with monthly calculation and activation timing. The policy distinguishes sellers below the $10,000 qualifying threshold from sellers whose qualification has activated. It also describes persistent qualification and participation after qualifying. The fee policy specifies 15% before activated qualification and 12% after qualification takes effect; qualifying shops retain the 12% rate and required participation even if later sales decline. Sellers still below the qualifying threshold may have an opt-out option. Confirm the actual effective status in Etsy’s records: the calculator does not establish eligibility, activate a discount or let you freely select an official rate.

The qualification calculation is not the same as the order's advertising fee basis. In particular, separately charged shipping, tax and gift wrap are not a reason to infer threshold qualification from the current checkout total. If you cannot confirm whether the lower-sales or activated qualified rate applies, do not guess. Check your account notification and current official policy before using a scenario for pricing.

Apply the fee to the supported US basis

The calculator's three statuses are: no attributed order, attributed before activated qualification, and attributed after qualification. It does not infer attribution, opt-out eligibility or activation dates. A cap limits the advertising fee component, not the transaction, processing or total selling fees. Our model rounds each fee component half-up; exact official half-cent tie handling remains unverified.

Measure the change in order profit

A dated worked example

Illustration using snapshot 2026-10-11, one domestic US order, USD, no gift wrap or account adjustments. Item $100.00, shipping charged $10.00, collected tax $8.00, product cost $30.00, fulfillment cost $5.00, other costs $1.00. US bank account, one allocated listing charge, 15% attributed Offsite Ads status.

Seller revenue (tax excluded)

$110.00

Transaction fee

$7.15

Etsy Payments processing

$3.54

Payment processing fixed fee

$0.25

Allocated listing / renewal fees

$0.20

Attributed Offsite Ads

$16.50

Total selling fees

$27.64

Operating costs

$36.00

Net profit

$46.36

Profit margin

42.15%

Amounts use our half-up per-component estimate assumption. Official half-cent tie handling remains unverified. This reconciled example is not a promise of invoice equality.

Hold the order constant across three conditional statuses

The table reuses the order above: item $100.00, charged shipping $10.00, collected tax $8.00, no gift wrap, one allocated listing charge, product cost $30.00, fulfillment $5.00 and other costs $1.00. It assumes a domestic US sale, US bank and USD payment account. Only Offsite Ads status changes. All three results come from the existing engine using the historical 2026-10-11 snapshot, not a live rate feed.

No attribution means no Offsite Ads charge for this order; it does not establish that the shop is eligible to opt out. The 12% scenario requires an attributed order and activated qualification under Etsy's qualifying-sales rules. The 15% scenario requires an attributed order before that qualification has activated. These are conditional scenarios, not three freely selectable prices for the same actual order. Confirm attribution and the shop's activated rate in Etsy's records; crossing a threshold in your own spreadsheet does not establish the activation date. The official fee policy governs the threshold, participation and attribution conditions.

Compare this with the same inputs in the Etsy selling fees example, where no Offsite Ads fee applies. Only advertising status changes. With price and operating costs held constant, the additional ad fee reduces profit by the same dollar amount. This is a controlled sensitivity check, not an estimate of how many sales advertising will generate.

Use the result for a pricing decision

Record both an attributed and non-attributed scenario for a product you are pricing. Check whether the attributed scenario still covers materials, fulfillment and your chosen overhead allocation. If it does not, reconsider the item price or cost assumptions using your own business priorities. A more expensive item can still have a lower margin if its costs grow too.

The target profit tool can explore a custom flat percentage and fixed fee, but it does not reverse Etsy's mixed tax bases or capped advertising model. After selecting a candidate price, return to the Etsy fee calculator and run it forward with the actual conditions. Do not describe that custom target as an exact Etsy break-even price. Our methodology explains the supported scope; refunds, international transactions and unconfirmed account conditions require separate review.