Whatnot fee calculator
Enter what the item sold for in your live and what the buyer paid for shipping to see both Whatnot fees and what you keep, or flip the mode to find the price you need.
You keep
$21.97
$3.03 in fees on a $25.00 order (12.12%)
How to use it
- Enter the price the item sold for in the live, whether that was the final bid or a buy-it-now.
- Add what the buyer paid for shipping and, if you know it, the sales tax on the order. Processing is charged on both.
- Read what you keep and the effective rate. Compare it with a few price points to see how the $0.30 bites on small sales.
- Switch the mode to find the price that nets an exact amount after both fees.
Worked example
A card sells in a live for $25.00, the buyer pays $4.00 shipping and $1.75 sales tax.
Order total is $30.75. Commission: $25.00 × 8% = $2.00. Processing: $30.75 × 2.9% + $0.30 = $1.19. Fees total $3.19, 10.4% of the order. You keep $27.56, which covers the $4.00 label and hands $1.75 of tax on, leaving $21.81 on the card.
A $2.00 item with the same shipping and no tax: commission $0.16, processing $0.47, fees $0.63, which is 10.5% of the order but 31.5% of the item.
How this is calculated
Whatnot charges two fees on every sale. The commission is 8% of the item price, the amount the item sold for in the live, not counting shipping. Payment processing is 2.9% plus $0.30 of the total the buyer paid, which includes the item, the shipping and any sales tax Whatnot collected. Both are rounded to the cent on their own, and your payout is the order total minus both. The $0.30 is why very cheap items, the $1 and $2 starts that livestream selling runs on, carry a much higher effective rate than the headline 8%.
order total = item price + shipping + sales tax the buyer paid
commission = item price × 8%
payment processing = order total × 2.9% + $0.30
you keep = order total − commission − payment processing. Each fee is rounded to the cent on its own.
Rates, sources and limits
- Whatnot (US) rates effective 1 Jan 2021, checked 23 Sep 2026. Source
Standard US seller rates. Category promotions and seller-level programs can change the commission; check your seller dashboard.
Rates current as of 2026. Last reviewed 23 Sep 2026 by the CalcRabbit team. Estimates only, not financial, tax or medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is the commission charged on shipping?
No. The 8% commission applies to the item price only. The 2.9% + $0.30 payment processing applies to the whole order, including shipping and sales tax.
Why do my $1 starts lose money?
The $0.30 fixed processing fee doesn't scale down. A $1 item with $4 shipping pays $0.08 commission and $0.45 processing, so 53% of the item price goes to fees before you buy a label. Bundling several small wins into one shipment helps, because the $0.30 is per order, not per item.
Who pays for shipping on Whatnot?
The buyer pays a shipping charge set by the seller's shipping profile, and Whatnot's label cost is deducted from the seller's payout. Enter your actual label cost in the profit calculator to see the full picture; this calculator shows the fees only.
Does Whatnot collect sales tax?
Yes, as a marketplace facilitator it collects and remits sales tax for the buyer's state. It never reaches you, but the processing fee is charged on it, which is why there's a field for it.