You open a new order, check what you earned, and something looks off: one fee is far bigger than usual. That is almost always the Offsite Ads fee. It only shows up on some orders, it is a percentage of the whole order, and for small shops it is the most expensive fee Etsy charges. It is also the one most sellers never read the rules for.
This guide goes through the rules as Etsy states them in its Fees & Payments Policy, then the math on real orders, so you can decide whether to stay in and how to price for it.
What Etsy Offsite Ads are
Etsy buys advertising outside its own site, from a network of partners such as social networks and search engines, and uses it to show listings to people who are not on Etsy yet. You don't create the ads, pick the listings or set a budget. Etsy does all of that.
You pay nothing for the ads being shown or clicked. You only pay when an ad leads to a sale. Etsy calls that an attributed order: a buyer clicks an Offsite Ad for one of your listings and then orders from your shop within 30 days of that click. The order does not have to be for the listing in the ad: anything from your shop counts.
One exception: if the buyer's last click before ordering was an Etsy Ad (the on-site ads you pay for per click), only the Etsy Ads cost applies to that order, not the Offsite Ads fee.
The two rates: 15% or 12%
- 15% of the order total if your shop made less than $10,000 in sales over the previous 365 days.
- 12% once your shop has made $10,000 or more over the previous 365 days. Etsy checks this on the first day of each month.
Two details matter here. First, the $10,000 counts your item sales and leaves out separately charged shipping, taxes, gift wrap and Etsy's own fees. Second, once a shop reaches the threshold, it stays on the 12% rate for the life of the shop, even if sales drop later.
What the fee is calculated on
The percentage applies to the order total: the price of the items plus the shipping and gift wrap you charge. For US sellers, sales tax is not included. In other countries, any tax included in your listing prices is part of the total.
That shipping detail is what surprises people. Charging $8 for shipping on a 15% attributed order costs you $1.20 in Offsite Ads fee on the shipping alone, on top of the usual transaction and processing fees on that $8.
The $100 cap per order
However big the order, the Offsite Ads fee on a single attributed order never goes above $100. In practice the cap only matters for large orders:
- At 15%, the cap starts to help on orders above $666.67.
- At 12%, it starts to help on orders above $833.33.
For a shop selling $20 to $60 items, the cap will almost never apply. For furniture, wedding dresses, custom art or bulk orders, it changes the math a lot.
The math on real orders
All examples below use the standard fees for a US seller paid through Etsy Payments: $0.20 listing fee, 6.5% transaction fee on the order total, and 3% + $0.25 payment processing. No sales tax is included, to keep the numbers readable.
Example 1: a $30 item with $5 shipping
| No Offsite Ads | Offsite Ads at 15% | Offsite Ads at 12% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order total | $35.00 | $35.00 | $35.00 |
| Listing fee | $0.20 | $0.20 | $0.20 |
| Transaction fee (6.5%) | $2.28 | $2.28 | $2.28 |
| Processing (3% + $0.25) | $1.30 | $1.30 | $1.30 |
| Offsite Ads fee | โ | $5.25 | $4.20 |
| You keep | $31.22 (89.2%) | $25.97 (74.2%) | $27.02 (77.2%) |
On a normal sale, Etsy's fees take a little under 11% of this order. On an attributed order in a small shop, they take almost 26%. You still have to pay for materials, packaging and the shipping label out of what is left.
Example 2: a $900 custom order
| 15% shop | 12% shop | |
|---|---|---|
| Offsite Ads fee before the cap | $135.00 | $108.00 |
| Offsite Ads fee charged | $100.00 | $100.00 |
| Other fees ($0.20 + $58.50 + $27.25) | $85.95 | $85.95 |
| You keep | $714.05 (79.3%) | $714.05 (79.3%) |
Because of the cap, the effective Offsite Ads rate on this order is about 11%, whichever rate the shop is on.
Example 3: a cheap item
Take a $12 digital download in a shop under $10,000. Standard fees are $0.20 + $0.78 + $0.61 = $1.59. An attributed order adds $1.80 of Offsite Ads fee. You keep $8.61 instead of $10.41. With digital products there is no material cost, so the sale is still profitable; with a $12 physical item that costs $6 to make and $4 to ship, it may not be.
Should you opt out?
If your shop has made less than $10,000 in the last 365 days, Offsite Ads are optional and you can turn them off in your Shop Manager settings. Once you reach $10,000, you are enrolled and can no longer opt out.
There is no single right answer. These questions usually decide it:
- Can your margin absorb 15%? Take your price, subtract the standard fees, your costs and the shipping label. If the remaining profit is less than 15% of the order total, every attributed order loses money. Opting out, or raising prices, protects you.
- Are these buyers you would get anyway? The fee applies to orders that follow an ad click within 30 days, even if the buyer would have found you another way. Shops with strong repeat customers or their own social following pay the fee on some of those sales too.
- Do you need reach more than margin right now? A new shop with few sales and healthy margins may accept the fee for the extra visibility. A busy shop with thin margins usually won't.
- Is $10,000 coming soon? If you are close, plan for the 12% fee now: it becomes permanent and mandatory, so your prices should be ready for it.
How to price for Offsite Ads
If you stay in, the safest approach is to make sure an attributed order still pays you what you need. For a US seller with free shipping and no other ads, the standard fees leave you 0.905 ร price โ $0.45. On an attributed order at 15%, that becomes 0.755 ร price โ $0.45 (as long as the fee stays under the $100 cap).
So if you want to keep $20 after Etsy's fees:
- Normal sale: ($20 + $0.45) รท 0.905 = $22.60
- Attributed sale at 15%: ($20 + $0.45) รท 0.755 = $27.09
- Attributed sale at 12%: ($20 + $0.45) รท 0.785 = $26.05
Most sellers don't price every item for the worst case. A common middle ground is to set prices so a normal sale is comfortable and an attributed sale still breaks even. The full method, including charged shipping, is in our guide to the (goal + 0.45) รท 0.905 pricing formula, and the Etsy pricing calculator works it out from your costs.
Offsite Ads vs Etsy Ads
The names are close, but they work differently:
| Offsite Ads | Etsy Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Where ads appear | Outside Etsy (partner sites) | Inside Etsy search and pages |
| Who decides | Etsy | You (budget and listings) |
| You pay | A % of attributed orders only | Per click, sale or not |
| Optional? | Yes under $10,000/year, no above | Always optional |
For the on-site version, the Etsy Ads guide for beginners explains budgets and when they pay off, and the Etsy Ads calculator gives you a break-even cost per click.
A quick checklist
- Check whether your shop is under or over $10,000 in the last 365 days.
- Under $10,000: decide on purpose whether to stay in, based on your margins.
- Run your top five listings through the fee calculator with a 15% Offsite Ads fee.
- If any of them lose money on an attributed order, raise the price, cut costs or opt out.
- Review the Offsite Ads lines in your payment account once a month.
Fees are only half of the picture: an ad can only sell a listing that converts once the buyer lands on it. Clear photos, a precise title and all 13 tags do that work. If writing listings is the slow part for you, ListifyAI's Listing Generator drafts the title, tags and description from one product photo, and new accounts get 20 free credits to try it.
Quick answers
Can I opt out of Etsy Offsite Ads?
Yes, if your shop made less than $10,000 in sales over the previous 365 days. Once it reaches $10,000, participation is required and the 12% rate applies for the life of the shop.
Is the Offsite Ads fee charged on shipping?
Yes. It is a percentage of the order total, which includes the item price plus the shipping and gift wrap you charge. US sales tax is not included.
Does the Offsite Ads fee apply to all my sales?
No. Only to attributed orders: a buyer clicked an Offsite Ad for one of your listings and ordered from your shop within 30 days. If their last click was an Etsy Ad, only the Etsy Ads cost applies.
What does the $100 cap mean?
The Offsite Ads fee on one attributed order can never be more than $100. It starts to matter on orders above about $667 at 15% or $833 at 12%.