US commercial transaction rates, by payment type and by currency received —
including the one line most calculators get wrong.
PayPal fee
—
Goods and Services is 2.99% with no fixed fee. PayPal's fee table lists
"Send/Receive Money for Goods and Services" at a flat 2.99% — there is no "+ fixed fee" on that row, unlike
PayPal Checkout. Calculators that add $0.49 here overstate the fee on every small transaction.
How it is calculated
The international surcharge adds, it does not replace
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.
The fixed fee depends on the currency you receive, and on the payment type
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.
Working backwards
net = gross - (gross x rate + fixed)
gross = (net + fixed) / (1 - rate)
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.
What is not included
Currency conversion: PayPal applies a separate conversion spread on top of these rates.
Chargeback and dispute fees, e-check fees, and withdrawal fees.
Rates for accounts registered outside the United States. This page covers the US market table only.