How art marketplace commissions actually work is rarely explained in plain language. Most platforms bury the real mechanics in fine print full of percentages and thresholds that only make sense once an artist is already mid-sale. This guide walks through what a commission actually is, how it typically gets calculated, and how Immibrand’s own sliding structure works as a concrete example.
In this article:
- What a Marketplace Commission Actually Is
- Flat Commission vs. Sliding Commission
- When Commission Gets Calculated (and Why Timing Matters)
- What a Commission Does and Doesn’t Cover
- Why Some Platforms Combine Commission With Other Fees
- A Note on the Word “Commission”
- How to Read Any Platform’s Fee Structure Before Committing
- A Worked Example
- Best For
- Frequently Asked Questions
What a Marketplace Commission Actually Is
A marketplace commission is the percentage of a sale a platform keeps in exchange for the buyer discovery, payment processing, and infrastructure it provides. It is distinct from a listing fee, a flat charge just to have a product live whether or not it sells, a subscription, a recurring charge to keep a shop open at all, and payment processing, the cost of actually moving money, which is usually separate from the platform’s own cut. Some platforms charge only a commission. Some layer a subscription or listing fee on top. Understanding which fees are actually commission versus something else is the first step to comparing platforms honestly.
Flat Commission vs. Sliding Commission
A flat commission charges the same percentage on every sale regardless of price, whether the sale is $20 or $20,000. A sliding commission changes the percentage based on the sale price itself, typically charging a lower rate on lower-priced sales and a higher rate on higher-priced ones. Immibrand uses a sliding structure: 10 percent on sales from $1 to $499, 15 percent from $500 to $999, and 20 percent at $1,000 and above. The logic behind a sliding structure is that lower-priced sales, often an artist’s entry point for new collectors, keep more of their value intact, while higher-priced sales, which usually represent an established collector relationship already, absorb a larger share.
When Commission Gets Calculated (and Why Timing Matters)
Some platforms calculate commission at the moment of sale and lock it there permanently. Others reserve the right to recalculate rates retroactively if a platform’s own fee structure changes later. The difference matters more than it sounds. A rate locked at the moment of sale means an artist knows exactly what they will keep the instant a sale happens, with no chance of a later fee-structure change reaching backward into a transaction that already closed.
What a Commission Does and Doesn’t Cover
Two platforms quoting the same headline commission rate can still land on very different real costs, because “commission” typically covers only part of what a sale actually involves:
| Typically Covered by Commission | Typically Not Covered |
|---|---|
| Buyer discovery and search visibility | Payment processing (usually a separate, smaller pass-through fee) |
| Browsing and marketplace infrastructure | Shipping (almost always the artist’s own cost) |
| The marketplace itself existing and staying online | Materials and production cost (entirely outside the platform’s fee) |
This separation also explains why an artist should never assume a lower commission automatically means a cheaper platform overall. A lower commission paired with expensive, bundled payment processing can end up costing more than a higher commission with transparent, separate processing fees.
Why Some Platforms Combine Commission With Other Fees
Not every platform relies on commission alone.
Commission Plus a Required Subscription
Some combine a lower commission rate with a required monthly subscription, effectively charging twice, once just to keep a shop open, and again on every sale.
Commission Plus a Mandatory Listing Fee
Others combine commission with a mandatory listing fee per item, meaning an artist pays something even on products that never sell. Recognizing when a platform’s advertised commission is only part of the real cost, not the whole story, is essential before comparing two platforms’ rates directly against each other.
A Note on the Word “Commission”
The word commission carries two different meanings in the art-selling world, and mixing them up causes real confusion. A marketplace commission, the subject of this guide, is the percentage a platform keeps from a sale. A custom commission is an entirely different thing, a client-requested piece an artist creates to order, priced entirely on its own terms and unrelated to any platform’s fee structure. An artist reading about commission rates should check which meaning is actually being discussed, since the two have nothing to do with each other beyond sharing a name.
How to Read Any Platform’s Fee Structure Before Committing
Before comparing platforms by commission rate alone, it helps to ask the same four questions of each one:
- Is there a subscription required just to keep a shop open?
- Is there a per-listing fee charged regardless of whether an item sells?
- Is payment processing bundled into the commission, or charged separately?
- Is the commission calculated on the full sale price, or on profit after costs?
Two platforms quoting the same headline percentage can end up with very different real costs once these four questions are answered.
A Worked Example
Sliding vs. Flat on the Same Sale
A single $750 sale makes the difference between a flat and sliding structure concrete:
- Sliding, 15 percent band: $112.50 commission, artist keeps $637.50 before payment processing
- Flat 25 percent: $187.50 commission, artist keeps $562.50
- Difference on this single sale: $75, purely from the flat-versus-sliding structure at this price point
The full price range shows the same pattern holding at other sale prices:
| Sale Price | Sliding (10/15/20%) | Flat 25% |
|---|---|---|
| $300 | $270 kept (10%) | $225 kept |
| $750 | $637.50 kept (15%) | $562.50 kept |
| $2,000 | $1,600 kept (20%) | $1,500 kept |
When a Subscription Requirement Changes the Math
Now consider a platform charging a lower 20 percent commission but requiring a $150 monthly subscription just to keep a shop open:
- At $1,000 in monthly sales: $200 commission plus $150 subscription is $350 combined, effectively 35 percent of that month’s revenue, well above the 20 percent headline rate.
- At $5,000 in monthly sales: $1,000 commission plus the same fixed $150 subscription is $1,150, or 23 percent, much closer to the 20 percent headline.
A fixed subscription fee always matters more to a smaller shop than a larger one, simply because it represents a bigger share of less revenue.
Best For
A sliding commission structure is best for an artist whose catalog spans a range of price points, since it keeps more value on entry-tier sales specifically. A flat commission is simpler to calculate at a glance but does not adjust for the fact that lower-priced sales and higher-priced sales are not the same kind of transaction for either the artist or the platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a commission and a listing fee?
A commission is a percentage taken from a completed sale. A listing fee is a flat charge just to have a product live on the platform, whether or not it ever sells.
Does Immibrand’s commission apply the same way to every sale?
Immibrand uses a sliding scale: 10 percent from $1 to $499, 15 percent from $500 to $999, and 20 percent at $1,000 and above, calculated on the full sale price and locked at the moment of sale.
Can a platform change the commission on a sale after it’s already happened?
On platforms that lock commission at order time, no. That protection matters specifically because some platforms reserve the right to apply fee-structure changes retroactively.
Does the commission cover shipping or materials?
No. Commission covers the platform’s own discovery and infrastructure role. Shipping and materials remain the artist’s own cost, entirely separate from the platform’s fee.
Why can two platforms with the same commission rate cost an artist differently?
Because commission is only one part of the real cost. Subscriptions, listing fees, and whether payment processing is bundled in all change the actual total, even when the headline commission percentage matches.
Does a subscription requirement matter more for lower-volume or higher-volume shops?
It matters more for lower-volume shops, since a fixed monthly subscription represents a much larger share of revenue for a shop making $200 a month than one making $5,000 a month.
Does “commission” always mean the platform’s fee?
No. Commission can also mean a client-requested custom piece, entirely separate from a platform’s percentage-based fee. Always check which meaning is being used in context.
Can a lower commission rate still cost more overall?
Yes, if payment processing, listing fees, or a required subscription are bundled in ways that are not obvious from the headline commission rate alone.
Is a sliding commission harder to calculate than a flat one?
Not in practice. A sliding structure only requires knowing which band a sale price falls into, the same lookup an artist would do to check a tax bracket, and most platforms display the resulting take-home directly rather than requiring manual math.
Does a sliding commission ever work against an artist selling mostly high-priced work?
It can mean a slightly higher rate on those specific sales compared to a low flat rate, but the trade-off is that entry-tier sales, often what introduces a new collector to an artist’s work in the first place, keep meaningfully more value intact under a sliding structure.
For a real-world look at flat-commission math, Saatchi Art’s 40 percent cut on a $2,000 sale is worth comparing directly. And once commission math is clear, pricing across your original, edition, and print tiers is the natural next step.
Want to see the sliding commission applied to your own catalog? Sign up to sell on Immibrand, it’s built in from day one.
