PayPal fees: what PayPal takes from each sale

PayPal fees for US sellers in one table

PayPal fees depend on how the buyer pays. A payment made with a PayPal account or Venmo is charged 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction, a standard card payment is charged 2.99% + $0.49 per transaction, and Pay Later costs 4.99% + $0.49 per transaction. Most rates have two parts: a percentage of the payment and a fixed fee per transaction.

The table lists the rates from PayPal's US fee pages for domestic sales. PayPal counts a sale as domestic when both the sender and receiver are registered with or identified by PayPal as residents of the same market. PayPal last updated its merchant fee page on October 1, 2026.

PayPal fee calculator: work out the fee on one sale by hand

Example: a $30 order from a US buyer who pays with a PayPal account, in US dollars. The same steps work for any amount and any rate in the table above.

1. Find the rate for the payment method

   A payment with a PayPal account or Venmo is charged 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction. A standard card payment is charged 2.99% + $0.49 per transaction. Pay Later is 4.99% + $0.49 per transaction.

2. Multiply the payment by the percentage

   Take the percentage part of the rate and apply it to the full amount the buyer paid. For the example, that is the PayPal Checkout percentage of $30.

3. Add the fixed fee

   Add the fixed fee for the currency you receive. For US dollars it is 0.49 USD on PayPal Checkout, Venmo, Pay Later and standard cards. Advanced card processing and Virtual Terminal use the lower fixed fee shown in their rates in the table.

4. Add the international fee if it applies

   If the buyer is outside the US, add 1.50% of the payment on top of the domestic rate.

5. Subtract the fee from the payment

   On the $30 example, PayPal's fee comes to $1.54. The rest of the payment lands in your PayPal balance.

6. Work backwards to receive a set amount

   To receive a set amount after fees, add the fixed fee to it, then divide by one minus the percentage written as a decimal. Charging that price leaves you the amount you wanted, before any international fee.

PayPal fees compared with Stripe, Square and Shopify

The same $30 online sale through other payment options, using each company's own published US rate. PayPal is shown at its PayPal Checkout rate; the others are shown at their standard online card rate.

Standard or advanced card processing

PayPal has two online checkout options for cards, and they cost different amounts. Standard card payments through PayPal Checkout are charged 2.99% + $0.49 per transaction. Advanced card processing through Expanded Checkout is charged 2.89% + $0.29 per transaction.

The difference is who does the work. With PayPal Checkout, PayPal handles unauthorized transactions, chargebacks and compliance reporting. With Expanded Checkout, PayPal says you handle refunds, chargebacks for unauthorized transactions and compliance reporting. The lower rate suits a shop with its own checkout and the time to manage disputes. A small shop that wants PayPal to deal with chargebacks pays the higher card rate for that.

PayPal fees on invoices and payment links

Invoices and payment links follow the same pattern as checkout: the fee depends on how the buyer pays. A payment link paid with PayPal, Venmo or Pay Later is charged 3.49% + 0.49 USD, and one paid by card or a wallet such as Apple Pay is charged 2.99% + 0.49 USD. Pay Later through a payment link costs the same as PayPal, unlike Pay Later at checkout.

An invoice paid with PayPal or Venmo is charged 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction, and one paid by card or Apple Pay is charged 2.99% + $0.49 per transaction. Pay Later on an invoice costs 4.99% + $0.49 per transaction. A buyer who pays by bank transfer (ACH) costs you 1% (capped at $10.00 per transaction), the lowest rate on an invoice, and the cap limits the fee on a large one.

PayPal also sells an optional Invoice Subscription at 14.99 USD per month. An invoice paid by a buyer outside the US adds 1.50% to the domestic rate.

Other PayPal fees: disputes, withdrawals and currency

The sale fee is not the only charge. Disputes, fast withdrawals and currency conversion each have their own fee, and some optional products have a price of their own.

A refund does not undo the sale fee: there is no fee to make the refund, but the fees you paid to receive the payment are not returned. On the $30 example, a full refund sends the whole payment back to the buyer and you are still out the $1.54 fee.

Ways to pay less in PayPal fees

None of these remove the fee on a sale. They cut the parts you can control.

• Take cards through advanced card processing if your site supports it. The rate is 2.89% + $0.29 per transaction instead of 2.99% + $0.49 per transaction, in exchange for handling refunds, chargebacks for unauthorized transactions and compliance reporting yourself.
• If most of your sales are small, look at Micropayments pricing. PayPal says you can apply for it on certain lower value transactions. The rate is 4.99% + fixed fee, and the fixed fee for US dollars is 0.09 USD instead of 0.49 USD. The lower fixed fee helps on small sales; on larger sales the higher percentage costs more than the standard rate.
• Offer bank payment on large invoices. Pay by Bank (ACH) costs 1% (capped at $10.00 per transaction).
• Use a standard withdrawal, which has no fee when no currency conversion is involved, instead of an instant one at 1.50% of amount transferred.
• Price in US dollars, so you are paid in dollars and PayPal does not need to convert the money. Conversion adds a spread of 3.00% to the exchange rate.
• Keep receipts and tracking for every order. PayPal may charge 15.00 USD when a buyer files a dispute, and records help you respond to one.
• Compare PayPal with a card processor. On the $30 example, a card payment costs $1.17 on Stripe and $1.29 on Square Online's free plan, and $1.54 when the buyer pays with PayPal.

Where Nation fits

Questions about PayPal fees