PayPal Goods and Services Fee Calculator
CheckedThis PayPal goods and services fee calculator works out the fee on a G&S payment, domestic or from abroad, and the price to charge to net the full amount. Free, no sign-up, and the result updates as you type.
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Goods and Services is the protected, reportable, fee-bearing way to take a PayPal payment, and for a US seller it costs 2.99% with no fixed fee. Plenty of sites still quote 3.49% + $0.49 for it, but that is PayPal's rate for checkout buttons and invoices, a separate product; on a $200 sale it is the difference between a $5.98 fee and a $7.47 one. Where people get caught is the buyer's location rather than their own. If the payer's PayPal account is registered outside the United States, PayPal adds a 1.5% cross-border surcharge to the same transaction, taking it to 4.49% — and nothing in the listing or the checkout warns you before it lands. On a $200 sale that turns a $5.98 fee into an $8.98 one.
Compare: Stripe vs PayPal fees
How it's calculated
You receive = amount − [amount × (2.99% + cross-border surcharge) + any fixed fee]. To net the full amount, charge (amount + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − combined rate)
LaTeX source
\text{Net} = A - \left[A \times \frac{r + x}{100} + f\right], \qquad G = \frac{A + f}{1 - \frac{r + x}{100}} PayPal fees in 2026
| Fee | Rate |
|---|---|
| Goods and services payment A payment sent to your PayPal account as goods and services. | 2.99% |
| Cross-border surcharge Added when the buyer is outside the US. | 1.5% |
| PayPal Checkout and invoices PayPal buttons on a store, and invoices. | 3.49% + 49¢ |
US rates for a standard account, from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. The calculator above takes its default rates from this table.
Worked examples
A $200 sale to a US buyer
$194.02 received
PayPal takes 2.99% of $200, which is $5.98, with no fixed fee on top, so the real rate is exactly the headline 2.99%. To land exactly $200 in your balance you would need to charge $206.16, because the fee also applies to the $6.16 you added. At the checkout rate of 3.49% + $0.49 the same sale would cost $7.47.
The numbers used
- Payment amount
- 200
- Goods and Services rate
- 2.99
- Fixed fee
- 0
- Cross-border surcharge
- 0
The same $200 sale to a buyer in Canada
$191.02 received
The 1.5% cross-border surcharge takes the rate to 4.49%, so the fee is $8.98 rather than $5.98. Three dollars vanishes with no change to the listing, the shipping or the buyer's behaviour. Netting $200 now means charging $209.40.
The numbers used
- Payment amount
- 200
- Goods and Services rate
- 2.99
- Fixed fee
- 0
- Cross-border surcharge
- 1.5
Questions sellers ask
How to calculate PayPal goods and services charge?
Multiply the full amount the buyer sent by 2.99%. There is no fixed fee, so on $200 the fee is $5.98 and you receive $194.02. Include any shipping the buyer paid in the amount, because PayPal charges on the whole payment rather than the item price. Add 1.5% to the rate if the buyer's account is registered outside the US.
What fee do you pay for goods and services on PayPal?
2.99% with no fixed fee as a US seller receiving a domestic Goods and Services payment. The sender pays nothing. The fee comes out of the payment before it reaches your balance, so a $200 sale arrives as $194.02. The 3.49% + $0.49 figure many sites quote is PayPal's checkout and invoice rate, not Goods and Services.
How much does PayPal charge per transaction of goods and services?
There is no fixed charge per transaction, just 2.99% of the value: $0.30 on $10, $2.99 on $100 and $35.88 on $1,200. With no flat fee the effective rate stays at 2.99% whatever the size, and splitting a sale across two payments costs nothing extra. The $0.49 per-transaction fee belongs to PayPal Checkout and invoices.
Is PayPal G&S 3%?
Almost. The current US rate is 2.99% with no fixed fee, so a Goods and Services payment costs just under 3% whatever the amount. The 3.49% + $0.49 figure people repeat is the rate for PayPal Checkout and invoices. A cross-border Goods and Services payment costs 4.49%, half as much again.
How do I avoid a 3% fee on PayPal?
For a genuine sale you cannot, and switching the buyer to friends and family to dodge it strips both sides of protection and breaks PayPal's terms. What sellers do instead is price the fee in using the gross-up figure above, or take large invoices by bank transfer. Micropayments pricing at 4.99% + $0.09 never beats 2.99% with no fixed fee, so it is not worth opting into for Goods and Services payments.
What is the PayPal Goods and Services fee in the US in 2026?
2.99% with no fixed fee for a domestic Goods and Services payment received by a US account, per PayPal's business fees page as updated on 1 September 2026. Cross-border payments add 1.5%. PayPal Checkout and invoices are priced separately at 3.49% + $0.49, and PayPal Here, QR code payments and negotiated merchant accounts have their own rates, so check your own rate card if you process at volume.
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