Every marketplace commission conversation focuses on the platform’s own cut, but there’s a second, separate cost sitting underneath it that rarely gets its own explanation: payment processing. Whether a platform charges 0 percent or 50 percent commission, the card network and payment processor still take their own cut of every transaction, on top of whatever the platform itself charges. This piece breaks down what payment processing actually costs, how it differs from platform commission, and where it can quietly add up across a full year of sales.
In this article:
- Payment Processing Is a Separate Cost From Platform Commission
- What Payment Processors Typically Charge
- A Worked $500 Sale, Commission Plus Processing
- Why “$0 Commission” Never Means a Fee-Free Sale
- Whether the Seller or the Platform Absorbs the Processing Fee
- International Sales Add Another Layer
- How Immibrand Handles Payment Processing
- How to Actually Read a Payout Statement
- Ways to Reduce the Practical Impact of Processing Fees
- Best For
- Frequently Asked Questions
Payment Processing Is a Separate Cost From Platform Commission
This distinction is the single most important thing to understand before comparing any two platforms’ advertised rates.
Two Different Costs, Often Confused as One
Platform commission is what a marketplace charges for hosting, discovery, and infrastructure. Payment processing is what Stripe, PayPal, or another processor charges for actually moving money from a buyer’s card to a seller’s account. These are genuinely separate costs that happen to both come out of the same sale, and conflating them into one number understates how many layers a sale’s value actually passes through.
Who Actually Charges the Processing Fee
The processor, not the marketplace, sets and collects this fee, though the marketplace typically handles passing it through automatically as part of checkout. A platform advertising “$0 commission” is only describing its own cut, processing fees still apply underneath that regardless of the platform’s own rate.
What Payment Processors Typically Charge
Actual rates are worth knowing even though they’re a secondary cost to platform commission.
| Processor | Typical Domestic Rate | Typical International/Currency Conversion Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | ~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction | Additional ~1-2% typically added for international cards |
| PayPal (goods/services) | ~2.99% + fixed fee | Additional currency conversion fee typically applies |
Exact rates vary by processor, transaction volume, and region, and both companies adjust published rates periodically, these figures are a useful reference point for the general scale of the cost, not a locked-in number to rely on without checking current published rates.
A Worked $500 Sale, Commission Plus Processing
Seeing both costs stacked on the same sale makes the distinction concrete.
Take a $500 sale on a marketplace charging a 15 percent commission, with a processing fee of roughly 2.9% + $0.30 layered underneath:
| Step | Amount | Running Total |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | — | $500.00 |
| Minus marketplace commission (15%) | -$75.00 | $425.00 |
| Minus payment processing (~2.9% + $0.30 of the original $500) | -$14.80 | $410.20 |
The processing fee alone removes nearly $15 on a $500 sale, a cost that exists regardless of which marketplace or commission structure is used, since it’s charged by the payment processor, not the platform.
Why “$0 Commission” Never Means a Fee-Free Sale
This is a specific instance of the general principle above worth calling out directly, since it comes up often in platform marketing.
This is worth stating plainly since it’s a common point of confusion: a platform advertising $0 commission, whether on original art, print-on-demand, or any other product type, is only describing its own cut. Payment processing still applies on top, since some entity has to actually move the money from the buyer’s card to the seller’s account, and that entity charges for the service regardless of what the platform itself charges.
Whether the Seller or the Platform Absorbs the Processing Fee
This distinction changes how two platforms’ advertised rates should actually be compared against each other.
This varies by platform, and it’s worth checking directly rather than assuming either way:
- Some platforms pass the processing fee through directly to the seller, subtracted automatically from the payout, the way the worked example above shows.
- Other platforms build an estimated processing cost into their advertised commission rate, effectively absorbing it rather than showing it as a separate line item.
Neither approach is inherently better, but it’s worth knowing which model a specific platform uses before comparing its advertised commission directly against a competitor’s, since a lower advertised commission that separately passes through processing fees isn’t necessarily cheaper overall than a higher one that already includes them.
International Sales Add Another Layer
Domestic processing rates are only part of the picture for an artist with any meaningful international buyer base.
Selling to an international buyer typically adds a currency conversion fee on top of the standard processing rate, since the processor is converting funds between currencies as part of settling the transaction. This additional cost is worth factoring in specifically for artists with a meaningfully international buyer base, rather than assuming domestic processing rates apply universally.
How Immibrand Handles Payment Processing
It’s worth being specific about how this actually works on Immibrand rather than leaving it as a general principle.
Immibrand uses Stripe Connect for payouts, with processing fees passed through at the actual processor rate, not marked up. This applies on top of Immibrand’s own sliding commission (10 to 20 percent) the same way it would on any platform, processing is a separate, pass-through cost rather than an additional platform markup.
How to Actually Read a Payout Statement
Once both costs are understood conceptually, the practical skill is spotting them on a real statement.
Separating Commission, Processing, and Any Other Deductions Line by Line
A payout statement that only shows a single net figure makes it hard to tell how much came from platform commission versus payment processing versus any other deduction. Looking specifically for a line-item breakdown, rather than accepting a single lump-sum deduction, makes it possible to actually verify each cost independently against the platform’s own published rates.
What to Do If the Numbers Don’t Match Published Rates
If a payout doesn’t match what the platform’s published commission and known processing rates would suggest, it’s worth reaching out to the platform’s support directly with the specific transaction in question, rather than assuming a discrepancy is normal. A one-off calculation error is far easier to resolve early than after months of small, unnoticed discrepancies accumulate.
Ways to Reduce the Practical Impact of Processing Fees
- Factor the fee into pricing from the start, rather than being surprised by it at payout time, since it’s a predictable, calculable cost once the rate is known.
- Avoid unnecessary refund/chargeback cycles, since some processors charge an additional fee on disputed transactions on top of the original processing cost.
- Understand the platform’s specific model, pass-through versus built-in, before comparing its advertised commission directly against a competitor’s.
Best For
Understanding payment processing as a distinct cost from platform commission matters for any artist trying to accurately estimate real take-home on a sale, particularly when comparing platforms with different advertised commission rates and different processing-fee models. It’s a small enough cost per transaction to overlook once, but it adds up meaningfully across a full year of sales.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is payment processing the same thing as a platform’s commission?
No. Commission is what the marketplace charges for hosting and discovery, payment processing is a separate fee charged by Stripe, PayPal, or another processor for moving money from the buyer’s card to the seller’s account.
Does a “$0 commission” platform mean a completely fee-free sale?
No. Payment processing still applies on top of a $0 commission, since a processor still has to move the money, regardless of what the platform itself charges.
How much does payment processing typically cost?
Roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction is a common reference point for card processing, though exact rates vary by processor, region, and transaction volume, and can change over time.
Does selling to international buyers cost more in processing fees?
Typically yes, an additional currency conversion fee usually applies on top of the standard domestic processing rate.
Does Immibrand mark up its payment processing fees?
No. Processing fees are passed through at the actual Stripe Connect rate, on top of Immibrand’s own sliding commission, not marked up separately.
Should processing fees be factored into pricing?
Yes. Since the fee is predictable and calculable once the rate is known, building it into pricing from the start avoids being surprised by it at payout time.
How can an artist tell if a payout statement is accurate?
By checking a line-item breakdown against the platform’s own published commission rate and known processing rates separately, rather than accepting a single net figure without being able to verify each deduction independently.
What should an artist do if a payout doesn’t match expected numbers?
Contact the platform’s support directly with the specific transaction, a one-off calculation error is far easier to resolve early than after months of small discrepancies go unnoticed.
Do refunds or chargebacks cost extra in processing fees?
Often yes, some processors charge an additional fee specifically on disputed or reversed transactions, on top of the original processing cost already paid on the sale.
For how platform commission itself works separately from this, see the plain-English commission guide. And for the full breakdown of print-on-demand’s own cost stack, here’s the complete POD margin math.
Ready to sell with processing fees passed through at cost, never marked up? Sign up to sell on Immibrand, it’s free to start.
