Marketplaces desk · Etsy
What changed for online sellers in 2026: the worries, the wins, and who it hits
Ten months in, the main fee you pay when something sells has stood still. Postage, parcels to Europe, eBay payouts and Etsy's photo rules are where 2026 moved. Here's what each change means for a small shop, in plain English.
The short version: If you sell on Etsy, eBay or Mercari, the main fee you pay when something sells is the same today as it was in January. What moved this year is everything around the sale. USPS changed its prices four times, Europe added new charges on parcels, eBay changes how you get paid next week, and Etsy rewrote its photo rules.
None of it is a reason to panic. Most of it is a reason to spend one quiet evening checking your prices.
Find your shop first
Each row is one kind of shop, what changed for it, and the one thing to do, with the date it matters by.
| If you... | What changed for you | Do this, by when |
|---|---|---|
| Sell physical items on Etsy | One unedited photo per listing; postage up | Add the photo to best sellers this week; reprice shipping before December |
| Sell patterns, recipes or other downloads on Etsy | AI-written guides banned; a test lets buyers order printed copies | Check your guides are your own work now; opt out of the print test if you'd rather |
| Resell on eBay | Payout schedules may switch to on-demand from November 4 | After November 4, check your payout schedule in Seller Hub |
| Resell on Mercari | Prepaid label prices changed three times | Recheck what you charge on heavier items this week |
| Sell print on demand | A 40-cent holiday surcharge on US orders | Add it to shipping, or price it in, until January 17 |
| Ship to buyers in the EU | €3 duty since July; €2 handling fee from November 1 | Decide who pays before November 1 |
| Sell less than $20,000 a year | You usually won't get a 1099-K form | Keep your records anyway |
Who can ignore most of this: US shops that sell only downloads that aren't patterns or recipes. The postage and Europe changes don't touch you. Read your row, then skip to the good news.
The fees held still. The cost of getting a parcel there didn't.
Etsy's transaction fee is still 6.5% and a listing still costs 20 cents. Etsy revised its fee policy on October 5 without changing either one. eBay's and Mercari's main selling fees for US sellers haven't moved either.
So if you've been bracing for a fee hike, it hasn't come. The money went somewhere else: the label.
USPS raised its prices on January 18. On April 26 it added a temporary 8% on its main parcel services, which runs until January 17, 2027.
On July 12 it changed how some business label prices are worked out, including for parcels under a pound and for large, light boxes. Then, from October 4, a holiday increase landed on top, also until January 17.
Here's what that means for one order. Say a label cost you $6.00 last year, and you still charge $6.00 for shipping. The 8% on its own adds about 48 cents, before the January and holiday changes.
Etsy also takes 6.5% of what the buyer pays for shipping, which is 39 cents on $6.00. So that $6.00 charge now leaves you well short of what the label costs, and the gap comes out of your profit on every order.
That's the thing most sellers miss this year. The price list on the marketplace looks the same, so it feels like nothing changed. Your margin changed anyway. Etsy Basics walks through setting a shipping price that covers the label and the fee charged on it.
The worrying side
Four changes cost money, or catch people out if they don't know about them.
Mercari labels and print partners. Mercari's prepaid labels changed on January 20, again on May 7 to add the USPS surcharge, and again for some weights on October 19. Print partners Printful and Printify add 40 cents to each US order from October 15 to January 17.
Parcels to Europe. Since July 1 the EU has charged a €3 customs duty on low-value parcels from outside the EU. From November 1 it adds a €2 handling fee. Both are charged once for each different product in the parcel, not for each copy.
So a parcel with two identical mugs counts as one product: €3 of duty and €2 of handling. A parcel with a pen, a notebook and a key ring counts as three: €9 and €6. The handling fee isn't refunded if the buyer sends the parcel back. If you sell to EU buyers, decide before November 1 whether those charges go into your price or come out of your margin.
eBay payouts. eBay's new balance terms take effect for existing US sellers on November 4. Value Added Resource, which reported eBay's notice to sellers, says payout schedules switch to on-demand once a seller is enrolled. Daily, weekly and monthly payouts are still available. You just have to set yours again after November 4, or your money waits at eBay until you ask for it.
Etsy's photo and AI rules. Since October 22, most Etsy listings need at least one unedited photo of the real item on a real background. Print-on-demand items can use a stock mockup you're allowed to use, and downloads have their own rules. AI-written patterns and recipes are banned. The risk to watch: if a listing misses the rules and a buyer opens a case saying the item is different, Etsy may refund the buyer and you may be the one paying.
The good side
The $600 tax form isn't coming. For years, sellers were told that marketplaces and payment apps would send a Form 1099-K once sales passed $600. A 2025 law moved the line back to more than $20,000 and more than 200 sales in a year. A platform can still send one for less, and some states set lower limits. You owe tax on your profit either way.
Etsy is paying back more of its fee for the holidays. Until January 4, invited sellers in Etsy's Share & Save program get the full 6.5% transaction fee back on eligible sales that come through their own shared links. The usual refund is 4%.
Etsy's buyer protection got bigger. Since May 7, Etsy's Purchase Protection covers up to $250 of the refund on eligible orders of any size. Before, only orders of $250 or less were covered. That's a real help on the day a parcel goes missing.
What to do this week
- Reprice shipping against today's postage, not last year's.
- Shipping to the EU: decide before November 1 who pays the new charges.
- Etsy sellers: add one unedited photo to your best sellers, then work down the list.
- eBay sellers: after November 4, open Seller Hub, go to Payments, and set your payout schedule.
- In Share & Save? Share your links now, while the refund is the full 6.5%.
To see what one order really leaves you after Etsy's fees and your new postage, run it through our free fee calculator.
What we're still watching
Several seller guides report that TikTok Shop raised its US referral fee from 6% to 8% in August. TikTok's own public fee table still showed 6% when it was last checked, so we haven't counted it here. If you sell there, your settlement statement is the place to look.
Every fee change from here on gets its own short Fee Watch story, so you won't have to wait for a roundup. Earlier from the desk: this year's holiday shipping dates, and how to work out your own last order day.
What we checked: Etsy's fee, photo, Purchase Protection and Share & Save pages, USPS's own price announcements, Mercari's label page, the EU and Irish customs pages, eBay's new balance terms and the IRS 1099-K page. Most were read on October 27, 2026, and each one is listed below with its date.
Sources, checked 29 Oct 2026
- Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (updated 5 Oct 2026), read 12 Oct 2026. etsy.com
- Etsy Help, 'Newly Crafted: Etsy updates for your shop' (June and September 2026 entries), read 27 Oct 2026. help.etsy.com
- Etsy Share & Save Holiday Promotion Terms, read 27 Oct 2026. etsy.com
- Etsy Listing Image Requirements (last updated 22 Oct 2026), read 25 Oct 2026. etsy.com
- USPS, 'U.S. Postal Service announces transportation-related, time-limited price change', 25 Mar 2026, read 27 Oct 2026. about.usps.com
- USPS, 'USPS announces temporary price change for 2026 holiday shipping season', 25 Aug 2026, read 27 Oct 2026. about.usps.com
- USPS, 'USPS recommends competitive price changes for July 2026', 11 May 2026, read 27 Oct 2026. about.usps.com
- Pirate Ship, '2026 USPS rate changes' (January 18 prices), read 27 Oct 2026. support.pirateship.com
- Etsy Seller Handbook, Purchase Protection changes from 7 May 2026 (published 7 Apr 2026), read 29 Oct 2026. etsy.com
- Irish Revenue, 'How the Union Handling Fee applies' (examples), read 29 Oct 2026. revenue.ie
- Mercari, prepaid label rate updates (January 20, May 7 and October 19, 2026), read 27 Oct 2026. mercari.com
- European Commission, '€3 customs duty on low-value parcels', 29 Jun 2026, read 27 Oct 2026. commission.europa.eu
- Irish Revenue, 'Union Handling Fee', read 27 Oct 2026. revenue.ie
- U.S. eBay balance Terms and Conditions (effective 4 Nov 2026 for existing users), read 27 Oct 2026. pages.ebay.com
- Value Added Resource, 'eBay makes seller balance mandatory, resets payout schedules in November update', read 27 Oct 2026. valueaddedresource.net
- IRS, 'Understanding your Form 1099-K', read 19 Oct 2026. irs.gov
- Printful and Printify holiday shipping surcharge help pages, as read by our research desk on 25 Oct 2026. help.printify.com
Applies to: US sellers on Etsy, eBay and Mercari, print-on-demand shops, and anyone shipping to the EU.
How this was made: researched from the sources below, checked claim by claim and edited by Drew Halden. Editorial responsibility: ePORTS LLC. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice. Spotted an error? Tell us and we'll correct it on this page.