PayPal per Transaction Cost: Current Prices & Fees

PayPal takes its fee out of every payment it processes, and the amount has two parts: a percentage of the sale and a small fixed fee. The percentage depends on how the customer pays, and the fixed fee depends on the currency. Small sales therefore cost proportionally more than large ones.

The rates here come from the PayPal fee pages for U.S. accounts, which list business rates and consumer rates separately. We last checked them on Oct 14, 2026. PayPal revises these pages from time to time, so confirm the current numbers in your account before you set prices.

For a business that receives domestic payments, the percentage ranges from 2.99% to 3.49% for the main payment types. PayPal Checkout is on the higher end, and card payments are lower.

Each of these percentages is paired with a fixed fee, which is why the same sale can cost more than the percentage alone suggests.

On a standard commercial transaction paid in U.S. dollars, the fixed fee is $0.49. QR code payments carry a much smaller fixed fee of $0.09, and personal payments use $0.30.

The fixed fee matters most on small sales. A low-priced item loses a larger share of its price to the fixed amount than an expensive one does, so sellers of inexpensive goods feel the fee more than sellers of large orders.

Take a sale paid through PayPal Checkout. PayPal subtracts 3.49% of the sale price and then the fixed fee of $0.49. What remains is what you receive. Run a few of your typical prices through the same calculation before deciding whether to build the fee into your listing.

When the buyer or seller is outside the United States, PayPal adds a percentage. The extra fee for international commercial transactions is 1.5%, applied on top of the domestic rate. If a currency conversion is involved, PayPal also applies a conversion spread to the exchange rate, so the buyer or seller receives a slightly worse rate than the market. The fixed fee changes with the currency received.

Sending money to friends and family from a PayPal balance or a bank account is free in the domestic case. Paying with a card costs 2.9% plus the fixed fee. Receiving money for goods and services is a commercial transaction and uses the business rates above.

Charitable donations made with the Donate button carry 2.89% plus a fixed fee, and the sender of a donation pays nothing.

Fees can apply even when a sale goes wrong. A chargeback, which happens when a buyer reverses a card payment through the card issuer, can cost the seller $20 in some cases. A standard dispute fee of $15 can apply when a buyer files a dispute or chargeback on a payment made through a PayPal account or checkout.

PayPal explains which payments are covered, so check the dispute rules for your account type. Keeping tracking numbers and records of what you shipped helps you contest claims.

Sellers can choose which payment methods to offer. QR code payments have the lowest percentage in the table. Accounts with high monthly volume can ask PayPal about custom pricing, and charities can apply for discounted rates. Sellers can also compare PayPal against other processors for their typical order size, since a processor with a lower fixed fee can win on small orders and a lower percentage can win on large ones.

Many sellers build the fee into their prices. If you do, start from the amount you want to net and work back to the listed price.