PayPal Goods and Services Fee Calculator
See exactly what PayPal takes from a Goods and Services payment — or work backwards from the amount you need to keep.
The short answer
Formula. Fee = sale amount × 2.99% for US domestic Goods & Services payments (no fixed fee); card-funded payments add a $0.49 fixed fee. Net = sale − fee.
Example. A $100.00 domestic sale costs $2.99 and you keep $97.01; to keep a clean $100.00 on a card-funded payment, ask for $103.59.
The payment the buyer sends you.
Rate settings (preset — edit to match PayPal's page for your account)
Presets follow PayPal's published US fees, reviewed October 2026. Changing a number switches you to your own math — nothing is saved.
How the math works
PayPal's Goods and Services fee has two parts: a percentage of the payment and, for some payment types, a small fixed fee. On a $100.00 domestic payment funded from a bank account or PayPal balance at the standard 2.99% rate with no fixed fee, you pay $2.99 and keep $97.01. If the buyer pays with a card, a fixed fee (about 49 cents as of October 2026) is added on top, and cross-border payments run a higher percentage — around 3.49% plus the fixed fee. The buyer and seller protection that comes with Goods and Services is what you are paying for; friends and family payments avoid the seller fee but carry no protection and cannot be used for selling.
The reverse direction trips people up: you cannot get $100 net by charging $103, because the percentage fee grows with the charge. The exact charge is (target + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − rate) — $103.59 to net $100.00 on a card-funded US payment at 2.99% + $0.49. The calculator above does this to the cent, picking the smallest charge (in whole cents) whose net meets or beats your target.
Rates drift. PayPal updates fees by country and payment method, and charity, micropayment, and merchant-processing accounts pay different numbers. Every figure here is an editable preset, so set it to what PayPal's own fees page shows for your account and the arithmetic is exact.
Sources & review date
- US rates from PayPal's published merchant fee schedule, October 2026: 2.99% domestic Goods & Services, card-funded 2.99% + $0.49, international 3.49% + $0.49.
- Canada and other regions not yet verified — use the custom-rate inputs on the page.
Last reviewed: October 2026. Numbers that drift (fees, prices, densities) are editable inputs on this page.
PayPal fee FAQs
How much does PayPal take from a $50 sale?
At the standard 2.99% US domestic rate, $1.50 — you keep $48.50. If the buyer used a card, add the fixed fee (about 49 cents), making the fee $1.99 and your net $48.01. Type your own numbers above to check any amount.
Do I pay fees on the shipping I charge?
Yes. The Goods and Services percentage applies to the entire payment, shipping included. If you sell an item for $40 with $10 shipping, the fee is calculated on $50 — build that into your pricing.
Is Goods and Services the same as invoicing?
The fees are similar, but they are different products: an invoice can include card surcharge options and line items, while Goods and Services is the send-money flow. Both count as commercial transactions, so both carry the commercial fee — check the rate card for invoices in your account if that is how you bill.
What about refunds?
When you refund a Goods and Services payment, PayPal returns the money to the buyer but keeps the original processing fee. On small sales where a fixed fee applies, that can be a noticeable share of the item price.