Whatnot fees calculator: what you actually keep

Two fees come out of every sale

A Whatnot fees calculator only needs two platform charges, plus what you paid for the item. Commission is Whatnot's cut of the sale price. Payment processing is the card fee on the whole order.

Sellers mix these up and then cannot tell why an $100 auction did not put $100 in the account. The rates below are the US schedule Whatnot published for sellers. Your Seller Hub receipt is the source of truth on a given order, because volume can move the commission down.

Commission is on the item, not the shipping

Whatnot calculates commission on the item price. Buyer-paid shipping and tax are not in that base. On the standard US tier, most categories start at 8%. Sports and TCG start at 8%. Fashion and other categories start at 8%. Coins and money start at 4%.

Sell more across a four-week window and the next window can be cheaper. Sports and TCG step down slowly. Fashion steps down faster. Crossing into a higher tier during this period does not cut tonight's rate. It cuts the next period. There is nothing to apply for.

On some high-value categories, Whatnot has charged no commission on the part of a single order above $1,500. Processing still applies to the full order. If you sell jewelry, watches, cards, or similar, read that note in Seller Hub before you trust a flat 8% on a $3,000 piece.

Processing is 2.9% plus 30 cents

In the US, Canada, and Australia, processing is 2.9% plus 30 cents per order. The percent hits what the buyer paid: item, shipping they paid, and tax. That is why free shipping lowers this fee a little. You paid the postage instead, which usually costs more than the fee you saved.

Whatnot's own example is a $50 item where the buyer pays $58.70 all-in. Commission at 8% is $4. Processing on $58.70 is about $2. Earnings before your cost are $44. Your cost is still missing from that $44.

Use the calculator before the auction starts

The useful moment is not Monday. It is the second before you set a start price. Put in the sale you hope for, what you paid, and any shipping you are covering. The page shows commission, processing, and profit. It also shows the sale price where profit hits zero. Start the auction under that and you are paying the buyer to take it.

NxtSale uses the same idea on a live show: cost is already on the item, so you see profit when it sells instead of reconstructing fees from a CSV. The calculator is there either way. Run your next few starts through it once so the fee shape is in your head.