US commercial transaction rates, by payment type and by currency received — including the one line most calculators get wrong.
When the sender and receiver are registered in different markets, PayPal applies the domestic rate plus 1.50%. A PayPal Checkout payment from abroad is 3.49% + 1.50% = 4.99%, plus the fixed fee — not 1.50% on its own.
PayPal publishes three separate fixed-fee tables: one for standard commercial transactions ($0.49 in USD), one for QR code transactions ($0.09), and one for micropayments ($0.09). Picking the wrong table is a small error per transaction and a large one per month.
There is no way to "pass the fee to the buyer" exactly by adding the fee to the price — the fee is charged on the higher amount too. The formula above is the amount that lands you on your target after that recursion settles.
Source: PayPal, Inc. (official merchant fees page) · verified 2026-09-04
| Payment type | Rate | Fixed fee (USD) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Send/Receive Money for Goods and Services | 2.99% | no fixed fee | This one has NO fixed fee. Many calculators wrongly add $0.49 here. |
| PayPal Checkout | 3.49% | $0.49 | |
| PayPal Guest Checkout | 3.49% | $0.49 | |
| Pay with Venmo | 3.49% | $0.49 | |
| Standard Credit and Debit Card Payments | 2.99% | $0.49 | |
| PayPal Pay Later options | 4.99% | $0.49 | |
| QR code Transactions | 2.29% | $0.09 | |
| QR code via third party integrator | 2.29% | $0.09 | |
| All Other Commercial Transactions | 3.49% | $0.49 | |
| Micropayments (domestic, US) | 4.99% | $0.09 |
International transactions add 1.5% on top. The fixed fee is charged in the currency received: USD $0.49, GBP £0.39, EUR €0.39, CAD 0.59 CAD, AUD 0.59 AUD, NZD 0.69 NZD, SGD 0.69 SGD, CHF 0.49 CHF, JPY 49.00 JPY, HKD 3.79 HKD, SEK 4.09 SEK, NOK 3.90 NOK, DKK 2.90 DKK, PLN 1.89 PLN, CZK 9.00 CZK, HUF 149.00 HUF, ILS 1.60 ILS, MXN 9.00 MXN, BRL 2.90 BRL, MYR 2.00 MYR, PHP 25.00 PHP, THB 15.00 THB, TWD 14.00 TWD.