Quick answer
Whatnot takes a commission of 8% on the item price for most categories at the Standard tier, and 4.00% on coins, plus a payment processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on the full order. On a $30 sale with no shipping or tax, that comes to $3.57. Commission drops as your sales grow, because Whatnot resets your tier every 28-days based on what you sold.
Nation, an AI store builder, publishes this page. It is pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai, so it is not in the fee comparison. See where Nation fits.
How much Whatnot takes from sellers
Whatnot charges sellers two fees on each order. The first is commission, which is Whatnot's share of the sale. In the US it starts at 8% for most categories at the Standard tier, which covers $0 – $14,999 in sales over a four-week period. Coins start lower, at 4.00%.
The second is payment processing, the cost of taking the buyer's payment. In the US it is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. The two are charged on different amounts. Commission is charged on Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), which is the sale price of the item, and shipping and tax are left out. Processing is charged on the total order value paid by the buyer, including the item price, buyer-paid shipping, and taxes.
Opening a seller account costs nothing: Whatnot says it is free to start selling, and it has no subscription plan. The table lists every fee and rule that changes what you keep.
What percentage does Whatnot take as your sales grow
Since September 21, 2026, US commission is tiered. Your total sales across all categories in one four-week period set your tier, and that tier sets your rate for the next period. Tiers reset every 28-days, and sales don't carry over or stack across periods.
The rate is locked for the period you are in. Crossing into a higher tier lowers your rate for the next period, not right away. If your sales fall below your current tier's threshold, your tier will drop too at the end of the period. Private shows, local pickup orders, and cancelled orders are subtracted from the total that sets your tier.
Whatnot also advertises rates as low as 3%. Those are custom deals for the highest-volume sellers who work with an account manager, not a tier you can reach by selling more.
Whatnot commission by category
Within a tier, the rate depends on the category of each sale. For a live sale, Whatnot uses the category of the show. For a marketplace sale outside a show, it uses the category of the product. So one seller can pay two different rates in the same period.
Every category starts at the same rate except coins. The categories split apart as you move up the tiers: fashion and the Other category fall fastest, while sports cards and trading card games fall slowly.
Picking a category that does not match what you sell to get a lower rate is considered fee avoidance under Whatnot's policies, and can lead to enforcement action.
Whatnot fee calculator: the fees on one $30 live sale
Example: a $30 trading card sold in a US live show, by a seller at the Standard tier. To keep the sum simple, the buyer pays no shipping and no tax, and no promotion applies.
Find your commission rate
Check your tier and the show's category. A Standard-tier seller in the TCG category pays 8%. A coin show at the same tier would pay 4.00%.
Apply commission to the item price
Commission is charged on Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), which is the sale price of the item. Multiply the $30 price by your rate.
Add payment processing
Processing is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on the total order value paid by the buyer, including the item price, buyer-paid shipping, and taxes. In this example the order total is the $30 item price.
Total the two
Commission and processing come to $3.57 on this $30 sale. When the buyer pays shipping or tax, the percentage part of processing also applies to those amounts, but commission does not.
Whatnot seller fees compared with other resale apps
The same $30 sale on other places to resell, using each platform's own published rates. Fees are only one part of choosing where to sell.
- TikTok Shop $1.80 no monthly plan Referral 6% $1.80
- Mercari $3 no monthly plan Selling fee 10% $3
- Whatnot baseline $3.57 no monthly plan Commission 8% $2.40, Processing 2.9% + $0.30 $1.17
- eBay $4.48 no monthly plan Final value 13.6% $4.08, Per order $0.40
- Poshmark $6 no monthly plan Commission 20% $6
Assumes a $30 item, no shipping or tax charged to the buyer, a standard US card and no promotions or ads. Whatnot uses its Standard-tier rate outside coins. eBay uses its most-categories rate for a seller without a Store. Poshmark's percentage fee applies to sales of $15 and above.
Other rules that change what you keep
A few promotions and programs change what you keep. The commission promotions cut commission only; payment processing is still charged on the full order.
- High-value orders: in select categories such as trading card games, sports singles, coins, and jewelry and watches, Whatnot charges 0% commission on the portion of the sale price over 1,500 on a single order. This is a limited-time promotion.
- Premier Shop: for now, the Premier Shop discount of 10% applies on top of your tier rate. After that it ends: Starting November 1, Premier Shop no longer includes a commission discount.
- Promotional rates: Whatnot names new-seller 0% fees as an example of a promotion, but its fee page does not give the terms. For sales at a promotional rate, eligible sales count toward your total for the period, so they still build your next tier.
- Payouts: once started, payouts arrive within 1–2 business days in most countries. Sellers in the Early Payout program can withdraw earnings as soon as you generate a shipping label, instead of waiting for delivery.
- Outside the US: processing in the EU and UK is 2.42% + €/£0.25 per transaction, plus VAT. In Japan, tiers are not available yet and the fee is 8% + JCT on the final sale price of sold items (4% + JCT on Coins & Money).
Ways to pay less in Whatnot fees
None of these remove payment processing, which every order pays. They cut the commission part.
- Concentrate sales in one four-week period when you can. The tier is set by total sales inside one period, and sales don't carry over or stack across periods.
- Put shows in the category that matches what you sell. The show's category sets the rate for live sales, and coins have the lowest rate of any category.
- Track your projected rate in Seller Hub. Your pace toward the next tier, your current tier, and your projected rate are shown there.
- Remember that shipping is outside commission. Commission is charged on Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), which is the sale price of the item, so buyer-paid shipping adds only the processing percentage.
Where Nation fits
Nation
Category: an AI store builder
Nation says one description of what you make builds the store, then agents handle orders, customers and delivery and run ads, content and social posts, with you approving the work. Because pricing is not announced yet, it is not in the fee comparison.
Limits today
- Status: pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai.
- Pricing and fees: not announced yet.
- Shopper marketplace: no shopper marketplace has been announced.
- Track record: no independent reviews or public stores yet.
Nation publishes this page. Nation is not in the fee comparison until signup is public and pricing is published.
Describe what you makeQuestions about Whatnot fees
How much does Whatnot take from sellers?
Whatnot takes a commission plus a payment processing fee from sellers. In the US, commission starts at 8% of the item price for most categories and 4.00% for coins, and processing is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on the whole order. On a $30 sale with no shipping or tax, that totals $3.57.
What percentage does Whatnot take?
Whatnot takes 8% commission at the Standard tier in most US categories, falling as your four-week sales grow, plus 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for payment processing. Commission is charged on the item price only. Processing is charged on the item price, buyer-paid shipping and tax.
What is the Whatnot commission on coins?
The Whatnot commission on coins is 4.00% at the US Standard tier, the lowest starting rate of any category. It falls through the tiers as 4.00% 3.90% 3.80% 3.70% 3.60% 3.55% 3.50%. Payment processing of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction still applies to every coin order on top of the commission.
Does Whatnot charge fees on shipping?
Whatnot does not charge commission on shipping, because commission is charged on Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), which is the sale price of the item. Payment processing is different: it is charged on the total order value paid by the buyer, including the item price, buyer-paid shipping, and taxes. So buyer-paid shipping adds the processing percentage to your fees, but not commission.
Does it cost money to start selling on Whatnot?
Starting to sell on Whatnot costs nothing, as Whatnot describes it as free to start selling. There is no subscription plan. Fees start only when an item sells: commission on the sale price and payment processing of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on the order total.
How do Whatnot seller tiers work?
Whatnot seller tiers are set by your total sales across all categories in one four-week period. Reaching $15,000 – $34,999 puts you in Tier 1 for the next period, with lower rates per category. Tiers reset every 28-days, and a rate is locked for the whole period.