Whatnot’s cut has two parts — and the commission you pay depends on what you’re selling.
Quick answer. Whatnot takes two cuts per sale: commission (roughly 4–8%, set by the item’s category, with some tiered rates) plus payment processing (around 2.9% + $0.30). There’s no monthly or listing fee. The category you sell in decides whether you’re nearer 4% or 8%.
Whatnot doesn’t charge a monthly fee, a listing fee or a hosting fee — it only makes money when you make a sale. But two charges come off every sale, and it’s worth understanding both, especially how the commission rate is decided.
The two components
- Commission (seller fee): a percentage of the item’s final sale price, typically in the region of 4–8% depending on the category.
- Payment processing: roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, applied to the total order value including shipping and tax.
So on a typical sale you’re paying commission plus processing. Note that commission is calculated on the item price only (excluding shipping and tax), while the processing fee applies to the whole order.
How the 4% vs 8% is determined
This is the part sellers most often misunderstand. The commission rate isn’t negotiated — it’s driven by the category you’re selling in. Whatnot sets different commission rates for different product categories, and some categories carry promotional or tiered rates. A well-known example is that collectibles and coins can drop to 0% commission on the portion of a sale above a set threshold — so higher-value items can attract a lower effective rate. Other categories sit at a standard rate (often the higher end of the range). The category your show or listing falls under is therefore what decides whether you’re paying nearer 4% or nearer 8%.
Two things to watch
- Rates vary by region (the UK, US, Australia and Canada aren’t identical) and Whatnot changes them from time to time — so always check the current rate for your category in your seller dashboard rather than relying on a figure you saw once.
- Deliberately miscategorising items to attract a lower fee breaches Whatnot’s rules — categorise honestly.
For your accounts, the practical point is that these fees should be recorded as a cost (in a dedicated platform-fees account), so your books show your true margin after Whatnot’s cut — not just the headline sale price.
