PayPal Fee Calculator

PayPal is the world's largest online payment provider and indispensable for many sellers. But the fees can have a considerable impact on your margin – especially on small amounts or international transactions. Our calculator shows you exactly what PayPal costs per transaction.

How does PayPal calculate its fees?

PayPal charges a percentage fee plus a fixed fee per transaction. For a payment via PayPal Checkout from within the EEA, that is 2.99% + €0.39 of the total amount. This means that on a €50 sale the seller receives €48.12 (fee €1.885, i.e. €48.115 net, rounded). If the payment is sent directly in the PayPal app as “Goods and Services”, 2.49% + €0.35 applies.

Are there cheaper merchant rates?

For Germany, PayPal no longer publishes fixed volume tiers. High-turnover merchants can request individual rates from PayPal's sales team. For lots of very small amounts there is a micropayment rate (4.99% + €0.09) after approval, and 1.50% + €0.35 for charitable organisations.

Hidden costs: currency conversion

The biggest cost factor on international payments is the 3% exchange-rate markup. Together with the additional fee for payments from outside the EEA (up to 4.98% + €0.39), total costs can quickly reach around 8%. Tip: receive payments in euros wherever possible to avoid this markup.

Worked examples: what PayPal costs at €10, €50 and €200

The impact of the fixed fee is often underestimated. With PayPal Checkout from the EEA (2.99% + €0.39), a €10 payment costs exactly €0.69, which is 6.9% of the amount. At €20 it is €0.99 (4.9%), at €50 about €1.89 (3.8%) and at €200 €6.37 (3.2%). The smaller the order, the harder the fixed €0.39 hits your margin. For merchants with many low-priced items this is the most important lever in the calculation.

For buyers from the UK (4.28% + €0.39), €100 of revenue costs €4.67, and for buyers outside the EEA and the UK (4.98% + €0.39) it costs €5.37. If the amount is also converted into another currency, a further 3% is added: €5.37 becomes €8.37, or 8.4% of the amount. The calculator above shows exactly this combination when you switch on currency conversion.

Which rate fits which payment?

Choosing the right rate saves money. Paying for goods and services in the app (2.49% + €0.35) costs €2.84 at €100, against €3.38 for Checkout, a difference of €0.54. With 100 sales of €40 a month, that is about €24 a month or €288 a year. Whether this rate is available to your shop at all depends on how payments are processed, so the PayPal fee page for your merchant account is the authority.

The micropayment rate (4.99% + €0.09) is only available after approval and pays off for small amounts: below €15 it is cheaper than regular Checkout, and at €10 you pay €0.59 instead of €0.69. Above that the relationship flips. The QR code payment at 0.90% with no fixed fee is particularly cheap for in-person selling, costing just €0.45 at €50. Charitable organisations can pay 1.50% + €0.35 after approval.

PayPal, VAT and bookkeeping

For VAT, what counts is the amount the customer pays, not the payout after fees. A sale of €119 gross carries €19 of VAT even if PayPal transfers only about €115 to your account. You book the fees themselves as a business expense, ideally using PayPal's monthly fee statement as the receipt. If you are a small business under section 19 of the German VAT Act (UStG) and do not show VAT, you calculate without this effect, but you should keep an eye on the turnover limits.

In Europe the PayPal service is operated by PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A. in Luxembourg, a credit institution under Luxembourg supervision. You are not required to state the fees in your terms and conditions, but prices must be shown correctly to consumers. Important: according to PayPal, the “Friends and Family” option is intended for personal payments. You should not offer it for commercial sales, even though it appears fee-free.

How to reduce your PayPal costs

First, offer a second payment method as well, such as SEPA Direct Debit or a card through another provider, and check how many customers use it. Second, invoice in euros so that the 3% currency conversion markup does not apply. Third, ask PayPal's sales team about individual rates if your turnover is high, because PayPal no longer publishes fixed volume tiers for Germany. Fourth, do not pass the fees on through surcharges on individual payment methods without checking the legal requirements, because the surcharging ban in section 270a BGB applies to many common payment methods.