Reseller glossary: postage, fee and tax terms, defined from the source
95 terms you meet selling online and shipping by USPS, each defined in one to three sentences from the primary source.
Postal terms come from USPS's Domestic Mail Manual and its Notice 123 price list, tax terms from the IRS and the federal regulations, marketplace facilitator terms from state statutes, and fee terms from each platform's own help or fee pages (Etsy's from its annual report filed with the SEC). Every entry quotes the rule it rests on, names the section or page, links it and gives the date we checked it.
Prices in the definitions are current: postage from the Notice 123 edition effective Oct 4, 2026, read on ; Amazon and eBay terms from copies of their own help and fee pages saved on Oct 14, 2026. Most entries link to a page here that goes deeper, with worked examples.
Tax and legal entries are general information quoted from the IRS, the federal regulations and state statutes, not tax or legal advice. They don't say what anyone should file or whether tax is owed; check with a tax professional about your own situation.
The federal tax regulation's term for an activity, such as one carried on primarily as a hobby, whose expenses aren't deductible as a trade or business (Internal Revenue Code section 162) or as an activity for producing income (section 212), except as section 183 allows. Whether an activity is engaged in for profit is judged by objective standards and all the facts and circumstances: a reasonable expectation of profit isn't required, but the facts must show it was entered into or continued with the objective of making a profit.
Thus, for example, deductions are not allowable under section 162 or 212 for activities which are carried on primarily as a sport, hobby, or for recreation.
Also called: military mail, Army Post Office, Fleet Post Office, Diplomatic Post Office
Army Post Office, Fleet Post Office and Diplomatic Post Office addresses, which the Domestic Mail Manual counts as domestic mail. DMM 101 says lower size and weight limits under DMM 703 may apply to Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Media Mail and Library Mail sent to certain of these addresses.
Domestic mail is mail transmitted within, among, and between the United States of America, its territories and possessions, Army Post Offices (APOs), Fleet Post Offices (FPOs), Diplomatic Post Offices (DPO), and the United Nations, NY.
Federal income tax a payment settlement entity withholds from payouts to a payee who hasn't furnished a taxpayer identification number (TIN) in the required manner. The amount withheld is reported in box 4 of Form 1099-K, and the IRS instructions point filers to Publication 1099 for the applicable rate.
Persons who have not furnished their TINs to you in the manner required are subject to backup withholding on payments required to be aggregately reported in box 1a.
An extra final value fee eBay charges when a US account is evaluated as Below Standard on the 20th of the month: an additional 6% of the total amount of the sale on the next calendar month's sales, rising to 7% after four or more consecutive Below Standard months. A Very High rate of 'item not as described' return requests adds 5% in the affected categories (6% after four or more consecutive Very High months), but an account with both pays only the Below Standard fee.
you'll be charged an additional 6% on the final value fees applicable to sales in the following calendar month
Example: A $40 sale with $5 shipping (no tax) in the month after a Below Standard evaluation: the usual 13.6% of $45 plus $0.40 is $6.52, and the extra 6% adds $2.70.
A 3.6% fee Mercari charges the buyer on the item price plus buyer-paid shipping, for listings created or updated on or after January 6, 2025. It is charged to the buyer at checkout, not taken from the seller's earnings, and Mercari holds the payment until the buyer rates the order or 72 hours pass after carrier-confirmed delivery.
When you buy on Mercari, a Buyer Protection fee of 3.6% is applied to the item price and buyer-paid shipping.
The part of a Form 1099-K's box 1a gross amount from transactions where the card wasn't present at the time of the transaction or the card number was keyed in. The IRS instructions say this typically means online, phone or catalog sales.
Typically, this relates to online sales, phone sales, or catalogue sales.
A USPS receipt, postmarked at the time of mailing, that proves a piece was presented to USPS: PS Form 3817 ($2.45) for fewer than three pieces at a retail counter, or Form 3665 (firm sheet, $0.75 a piece) for three or more. It is not a delivery record, USPS keeps no copy, and the fee is paid per article on top of postage. DMM 503 Exhibit 1.4.1 lists it for Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, Bound Printed Matter, Library Mail and Media Mail.
Certificates of Mailing do not provide a record of delivery, and the Postal Service does not retain copies of either form.
A USPS extra service that gives the sender a mailing receipt and, on request, electronic confirmation of delivery or a delivery attempt; USPS keeps a delivery record with the recipient's signature, which the sender can get by also buying a return receipt. DMM 503 Exhibit 1.4.1 lists only Priority Mail and First-Class Mail as eligible, so it can't be added to Ground Advantage or Media Mail, and it adds no insurance beyond a Priority Mail piece's own included coverage.
Except for Priority Mail pieces with included insurance, no insurance coverage is provided when purchasing Certified Mail.
A fixed $1.80 Amazon charges for each media item sold, in addition to the referral fee. Media here means the Books, DVD, Music, Software and Video category, whose referral fee is 15%.
In addition to the referral fee, media items incur a closing fee $1.80 per item.
Example: A $12.00 book with $5.00 shipping on the Professional plan: the total price is $17.00, so the 15% referral fee is $2.55 and the closing fee another $1.80, $4.35 in all (Amazon's pricing page counts shipping and any gift wrap in the total price).
The USPS price tier for postage bought through approved channels instead of at the Post Office counter (the retail price). For Ground Advantage, DMM 283.1.2 lists PC Postage labels, IBI postage meters, permit imprint and USPS Returns; for Priority Mail, DMM 223.1.2 also lists Click-N-Ship. Media Mail is an exception where the single-piece retail and commercial prices in Notice 123 are the same.
Commercial prices are available when paid by one of the following methods: Registered end-users of USPS-approved PC Postage products when using a qualifying shipping label, managed by the PC Postage system.
What the merchandise sold during the year cost, which a business that makes or buys goods to sell can deduct from gross receipts on Schedule C (lines 35 through 42): inventory at the start of the year, plus purchases and other inventory costs, minus inventory at the end of the year. A business that keeps an inventory values it at the beginning and end of each tax year to figure this (Publication 334).
If you make or buy goods to sell, you can deduct the cost of goods sold from your gross receipts on Schedule C (Form 1040).
Also called: Priority Mail Cubic, Ground Advantage Cubic, cubic tier
A commercial USPS price set by a package's zone and volume tier instead of its weight: Priority Mail Cubic has 5 tiers up to 0.50 cubic foot, Ground Advantage Cubic 10 tiers up to 1 cubic foot. Each piece must weigh 20 pounds or less, have no side over 22 inches (18 inches before July 12, 2026), and not be a roll or tube; measure each side, round down to the nearest 1/4 inch, multiply, and divide by 1,728.
Each cubic mailpiece, including soft packs and padded envelopes under 1.3.4, must measure 1 cubic foot or less, weigh 20 pounds or less, and the longest dimension must not exceed 22 inches.
Example: DMM's own example: 6-1/8 x 5-7/8 x 6-3/8 inches rounds down to 6 x 5-3/4 x 6-1/4, which is 215.6 cubic inches, or 0.125 cubic foot, so it prices in the 0.20 tier.
Edge cases:
Cubic rounds each side down to the nearest 1/4 inch, the opposite of dimensional weight, which rounds each side up to the next whole inch.
Cubic prices are commercial only: Priority Mail Cubic is for PC Postage users and permit imprint customers (DMM 223.1.3.1), Ground Advantage Cubic for eligible Ground Advantage commercial customers (DMM 283.1.3.1).
USPS cubic price tiers, DMM 223.1.3 and 283.1.3 as in effect since July 12, 2026.
An election, made for a tax year by attaching a statement to that year's timely filed return, that lets a business deduct amounts paid for tangible property up to a per-invoice or per-item limit when it also expenses them in its books. Without an applicable financial statement the limit is $2,500, set by IRS Notice 2015-82 for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016 (the regulation's own text still says $500 or an amount set in published guidance), and $5,000 with one. It is a different rule from the Form 1099-K de minimis threshold.
increased the de minimis safe harbor threshold from $500 to $2500 per invoice or item for taxpayers without applicable financial statements
The floor below which a third party settlement organization (a marketplace or payment app) doesn't have to report a seller on Form 1099-K: it must report only if the year's gross payments exceed $20,000 and the number of transactions exceeds 200. Both tests must be met, the threshold doesn't apply to payment card transactions, and the IRS says a platform may still send a form below it.
The gross amount of total reportable payment transactions exceeds $20,000, and The total number of such transactions exceeds 200.
Example: $21,000 across 150 sales: no 1099-K is required (200 transactions not exceeded); $19,000 across 400 sales: none either ($20,000 not exceeded). The IRS says the threshold doesn't change what income must be reported on a tax return.
Edge cases:
The One, Big, Beautiful Bill retroactively reinstated this test, which predates the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; that Act had required a form for more than $600 regardless of the number of transactions, and IRS Notices 2023-10, 2023-74 and 2024-85 had given transition relief from it.
A form can still arrive below the threshold: a TPSO may send one anyway, card processors (merchant acquiring entities) have no de minimis threshold, a TPSO that did backup withholding for a payee must file one, and a state may set a lower threshold.
A $3.00 USPS fee charged to a commercial Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage or Parcel Select mailer when a parcel's length, width and height (or its characteristics code) are missing or wrong in the label's electronic manifest data. Until USPS starts Phase Two of its Parcel Dimension Compliance initiative, DMM 223 and 283 say it is charged for parcels over 1 cubic foot or 22 inches long, and a parcel pays it only once.
The mailer will be assessed the Dimension Noncompliance fee (see Notice 123-Price List) if the parcel's dimensions or the ESC are omitted or inaccurate.
Since July 12, 2026 (phase one of USPS's Parcel Dimension Compliance rule) commercial mailers must report accurate dimensions for all parcels, but the fee for missing or wrong dimensions on smaller parcels waits for phase two, which USPS called tentatively scheduled for early 2027 and subject to change.
Flat Rate pieces and USPS Returns pieces don't need dimensions in the manifest (the Federal Register rule; for Ground Advantage Return service, DMM 283.1.8), and a parcel is charged the fee only once.
The billed weight USPS uses for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and Ground Advantage parcels larger than 1 cubic foot (1,728 cubic inches): length x width x height, each rounded up to the next whole inch, divided by 139 and rounded up to the next pound. You pay for the dimensional weight or the actual weight, whichever is greater, and never more than the 70-pound price; for a nonrectangular parcel the volume is multiplied by 0.785 first. The 139 divisor and the round-up rule took effect July 12, 2026; before that USPS divided by 166 and rounded each side to the nearest inch.
If the result exceeds 1,728 cubic inches, divide the result by 139 and round up (see 604.7.0) to the next whole number to determine the dimensional weight in pounds.
Example: A 14 x 12 x 12 inch box is 2,016 cubic inches; 2,016 / 139 = 14.5, so it is billed as 15 pounds if the contents weigh less than that.
Edge cases:
Media Mail and Library Mail have no dimensional-weight rule (DMM 173 has none), so a large, light box of books sent by Media Mail is priced on its actual weight.
The over-2-cubic-feet nonstandard fee is a separate test with its own measuring rule: each side is rounded off to the nearest inch, not up (DMM 133.1.8 and 123.1.6).
A box that measures just under 1 cubic foot can now cross it after rounding up, as the last row of the table shows.
Postal Explorer's DMM 223.1.4.3 (commercial Priority Mail, nonrectangular parcels) still says to round each side off and divide by 166, but the Federal Register final rule effective July 12, 2026 revised that item to round up and divide by 139, like every other dimensional-weight section.
USPS dimensional weight before and after the July 12, 2026 change (DMM 113.1.3, 123.1.3, 133.1.4 and 283.1.4; the Apr 6, 2026 DMM edition; Federal Register, May 15, 2026). Worked from those rules.
Since July 12, 2026
Before July 12, 2026
Each side
Rounded up to the next whole inch
Rounded off to the nearest whole inch
Cubic inches divided by
139
166
14 x 12 x 12 in. box (2,016 cubic in.)
15 lb (2,016 / 139 = 14.5, rounded up)
13 lb (2,016 / 166 = 12.1, rounded up)
11.2 x 11.2 x 13.1 in. box
12 x 12 x 14 = 2,016 cubic in., over 1 cubic foot: 15 lb
11 x 11 x 13 = 1,573 cubic in., under 1 cubic foot: actual weight
A $20.00 fee, excluding sales tax, eBay charges for each dispute when the seller is found responsible for a disputed amount under eBay's policies, such as a chargeback.
If you are found responsible for a disputed amount as per eBay policies (e.g., chargeback), we charge a $20.00 dispute fee, excluding sales tax, for each dispute.
Also called: DMM, Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service
USPS's rulebook for domestic mail: which mail class an item may use, size and weight limits, how postage is computed and which extra services are available. Prices are in a separate document it cites throughout, Notice 123, and USPS says substantive revisions are published in the Postal Bulletin and, when appropriate, the Federal Register.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) contains the basic standards of the United States Postal Service (USPS) governing its domestic mail services
Changed sections carry the date of the change in brackets, such as [7-12-26] for July 12, 2026, and USPS keeps earlier editions in its DMM archive on Postal Explorer.
A third party that a payment settlement entity contracts with to make the actual payouts. When one does, the facilitator files the Form 1099-K instead of the PSE, and it needs no agreement with the seller, so the filer named on a 1099-K can be a company the seller never dealt with directly.
the facilitator or other third party must file Form 1099-K in lieu of the PSE. The facilitator is not required to have any arrangement or agreement with the participating payee.
Also called: quarterly estimated taxes, Form 1040-ES
Tax paid during the year on income that has no withholding, such as profit from reselling. The IRS says individuals, including sole proprietors, generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe $1,000 or more when their return is filed.
Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, and S corporation shareholders, generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe tax of $1,000 or more when their return is filed.
Optional USPS services bought per piece on top of postage, such as insurance, Certified Mail, Registered Mail, Signature Confirmation, Return Receipt and Certificate of Mailing. Each one works only with the mail classes DMM 503 lists for it, and the fees are in Notice 123.
Extra services described in 2.0 through 11.0 provide optional services, such as insurance coverage, restricted delivery, and evidence of mailing, or a record of delivery (which includes a signature).
Which extra services DMM 503 Exhibit 1.4.1 lists for four mail classes resellers use most, with fees from Notice 123 effective Oct 4, 2026. No means the class isn't listed for that service.
Extra service
Fee
Priority Mail
Ground Advantage
Media Mail
First-Class Mail
Insurance
From $2.80 (up to $50 of coverage)
Yes ($100 included)
Yes ($100 included)
Yes
Yes
Signature Confirmation
$4.15 online, $5.15 at a counter
Yes
Yes (electronic option only, per DMM 503)
Yes
No
Adult Signature Required
$9.70
Yes (not at retail)
Commercial labels only (not at retail)
No
No
Certified Mail
$5.55
Yes
No
No
Yes
Registered Mail
From $20.90
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Certificate of Mailing
$2.45 (PS Form 3817)
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
USPS Tracking
Included
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Note: DMM 503 Exhibit 1.4.1 lists Signature Confirmation for Ground Advantage, retail and commercial, as the electronic option only, while Notice 123 also prices a Ground Advantage Retail counter option at $5.15; the two USPS documents don't match on this point. USPS Tracking is available for all products except Periodicals and First-Class Mail letters and flats.
eBay's main selling fee, charged when an item sells: a category percentage of the total amount of the sale, plus a per-order fee. Most categories pay 13.6% on up to $7,500 per item and 2.35% on the portion above; Books & Magazines, Movies & TV and Music (except vinyl records) pay 15.3%, and there is no separate third-party payment processing fee.
This fee is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of the sale, plus a per order fee.
USPS's class for letters, postcards and large envelopes (flats), priced by the ounce with any fraction counted as a whole ounce, up to 13 ounces. A flat-size piece that is rigid, nonrectangular or not uniformly thick pays the Ground Advantage Retail parcel price instead (DMM 133.1.1), and First-Class Mail is sealed against postal inspection.
First-Class Mail - Per ounce or fraction thereof; any fraction of an ounce is considered a whole ounce.
A mailpiece bigger than a letter in at least one way (over 11-1/2 inches long, 6-1/8 inches high or 1/4 inch thick) but no more than 15 inches long, 12 inches high and 3/4 inch thick, and also flexible, rectangular and uniformly thick. A box, a rigid piece or one that varies more than 1/4 inch in thickness is not a flat and pays parcel prices.
Boxes-with or without hinges, gaps, or breaks that allow the piece to bend-are not flats.
A Priority Mail price that ignores weight and zone: one price per USPS-produced Flat Rate Envelope or Box for any domestic address, up to 70 pounds. Only USPS-produced Flat Rate packaging qualifies, and any USPS Priority Mail envelope smaller than the EP14F (9.5 by 12.5 inches) gets the Flat Rate Envelope price even if it isn't marked Flat Rate.
Only USPS-produced Flat Rate Envelopes or Flat Rate Boxes are eligible for the Flat Rate price
A stamp sold at, and always worth, the current First-Class Mail single-piece 1-ounce letter price ($0.82 now), whatever was paid for it. USPS's stamp history says the first one was issued on April 12, 2007, a Global Forever stamp for 1-ounce international letters followed in 2013, and since 2015 Forever stamps have also been issued for postcards and for letters needing additional postage.
The postage value of each forever stamp is the current First-Class Mail single-piece 1-ounce letter price.
Also called: 1099-K, Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions
An IRS information return on which payment card processors and third party settlement organizations (payment apps and online marketplaces) report the payments a seller received for goods or services during the calendar year. They file it with the IRS and must send the seller's copy by January 31.
Form 1099-K is a report of payments you received for goods or services during the year from
The IRS information return a business files for each person, not its employee, whom it paid at least $2,000 during the year for services in the course of the business, such as an independent helper. The $2,000 floor applies for tax years beginning after 2025 and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027, and payments made by payment card or through a third party network are reported on Form 1099-K instead.
For tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum threshold amount for reporting certain payments required to be reported on certain information returns and/or perform backup withholding on those payments increased to $2,000
An eBay fixed price listing that renews automatically once per calendar month. eBay charges the insertion fee and any optional listing upgrade fees when it first goes live and again each time it renews, at the fee terms in effect on that date, and each renewal counts toward the month's zero insertion fee listings.
Good 'Til Cancelled listings are fixed price listings that renew automatically once per calendar month.
Also called: gross payment amount, box 1a, gross payment card/third party network transactions
The total dollar amount of a payee's reportable payment transactions for the year, with no adjustment for credits, discounts, fees, refunds or shipping, and each transaction valued on its date. That is why a 1099-K usually shows more than what reached the seller's bank account.
without regard to any adjustments for credits, cash equivalents, discount amounts, fees, refunded amounts, shipping amounts, or any other amounts.
Example: 300 sales totaling $25,000, including $3,000 of buyer-paid shipping, with $3,250 in fees and $500 refunded: box 1a still shows the $25,000, not the $21,250 deposited.
Note: The regulation's definition (26 CFR 1.6050W-1(a)(6)) lists the same exclusions without naming shipping; the IRS form instructions add shipping amounts.
USPS's term for items or substances likely to harm postal employees or damage mail or postal equipment, such as caustic poisons, oxidizers, highly flammable liquids, gases or solids, and matches. Publication 52 sets which hazardous materials are mailable and how, and in international commerce they are called dangerous goods.
Items or substances likely to harm Postal Service employees or to destroy, deface, or otherwise damage mail or postal equipment.
A nonrefundable per-piece USPS fee on Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage and Parcel Select pieces (USPS Returns pieces included) that contain hazardous matter: $7.50 for Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express and $0.00 for Ground Advantage in the current Notice 123. Separately, a commercial mailer whose parcels miss USPS's hazmat compliance-quality threshold is charged the $50.00 HAZMAT Noncompliance Fee or the Package Quality Noncompliance Fee, whichever is higher (DMM 204.2.1.6).
Priority Mail pieces containing hazardous matter are subject to the nonrefundable Hazmat Handling Fee (see Notice 123-Price List).
The fee is new: USPS added it on July 12, 2026, and said it may be charged on top of the Package Quality Noncompliance Fee or the HAZMAT Noncompliance Fee.
Also called: INFORM Act, INFORM Consumers Act, high-volume seller
Under the federal INFORM Consumers Act, in effect since June 27, 2023, a seller that in any continuous 12-month period during the past 24 months has had 200 or more separate sales of new or unused consumer products and $5,000 or more in gross revenues on one online marketplace. Only sales made through that marketplace and paid through it count, so the test runs platform by platform, and sales of used goods aren't sales of new or unused products. The marketplace must then collect the seller's bank account, contact details and tax ID within 10 days, verify them and have them certified yearly, suspend sellers who don't comply, and show buyers contact details for sellers with $20,000 or more in annual gross revenues there.
in any continuous 12-month period during the past 24 months, has had on that platform 200 or more separate sales or transactions of new or unused consumer products, and $5,000 or more in gross revenues
Example: 250 sales in a year on one marketplace, 150 of them new-in-box items totaling $6,000: not high-volume there, because only 150 were sales of new or unused products.
Edge cases:
Marketplaces apply their own reading: Mercari counts items listed as new or like new, and says it must suspend selling if it can't collect and certify the information within 10 calendar days of contacting the seller.
The FTC says the law exempts a business that has made its name, business address and contact information public, has a contractual relationship with the marketplace to manufacture, distribute, wholesale or fulfill shipments of consumer products, and has given the marketplace identifying information it has verified; the marketplace itself is exempt too.
Also called: USPS insurance claim, lost package claim
A claim to USPS for loss, damage or missing contents on insured mail, COD, Registered Mail with postal insurance or Priority Mail Express. For a lost insured piece (including Priority Mail with its included insurance) the claim can be filed no sooner than 15 days and no later than 60 days after the mailing date, or after 7 days for Priority Mail Express; damage or missing contents must be claimed within 60 days of mailing.
Damaged or Missing Contents: customers should file a claim immediately but must file no later than 60 days from the date of mailing.
When a claim for a lost piece can be filed, counted from the mailing date (DMM 609.1.4). Damage or missing contents: file right away, and no later than 60 days.
Mail
No sooner than
No later than
Priority Mail Express
7 days
60 days
Insured mail, including Priority Mail and Ground Advantage with included insurance
eBay's fee for creating a listing, charged whether or not the item sells. Sellers get up to 250 zero insertion fee listings a month (more with an eBay Store); after that it is $0.35 per listing in most categories, charged per listing and per category, so a listing in two categories pays for the second category too.
Every month, you get up to 250 zero insertion fee listings, or more if you have an eBay Store.
Mercari's fast withdrawal of a seller's balance to an eligible Visa or Mastercard debit card: $3 per withdrawal, up to $600 a month and once a day, after government ID verification. Direct Deposit to a checking account has no fee for a successful withdrawal, typically arrives within 5 business days, and costs $2 if the request is rejected.
You can use Instant Pay for up to $600 per month, once per day on eligible debit cards. There is a $3 flat fee per cash-out.
Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage include up to $100 of coverage against loss, damage or missing contents (Priority Mail and Ground Advantage when the label has a USPS tracking barcode), and more can be bought up to $5,000. Media Mail isn't among the services with included coverage, but insurance can be added to it, priced by the coverage wanted.
Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, and USPS Ground Advantage include $100.00 of insurance coverage
1.65% of the total amount of the sale, deducted automatically when a US-registered seller's item goes to a buyer whose delivery address, or registered address, is outside the US. It isn't charged when the seller offers eBay International Shipping on an eligible listing.
This fee is calculated as 1.65% of the total amount of the sale and is automatically deducted from your sales.
USPS's size measure for parcels: the longest side (length) plus the distance around the thickest part (girth). Most mail can't exceed 108 inches combined; USPS Ground Advantage allows up to 130 inches, and pieces over 108 inches pay its oversized price.
For parcels, length is the distance of the longest dimension, and girth is the distance around the thickest part.
A rectangular piece 5 to 11-1/2 inches long, 3-1/2 to 6-1/8 inches high and 0.007 to 1/4 inch thick, weighing no more than 3.5 ounces. A First-Class Mail letter over 3.5 ounces pays flat (large envelope) prices. A letter more than 6 inches long or 4-1/4 inches high must be at least 0.009 inch thick, or it pays the nonmachinable surcharge.
Not more than 3.5 ounces (First-Class Mail letter-size pieces over 3.5 ounces pay flat-size prices).
A Package Services subclass for books, recordings, academic theses, museum materials and similar items, open only when the address or return address names a school, college, university, public library, museum, herbarium or qualifying nonprofit. Most items must travel between such institutions, or between one and an individual with no financial interest in the sale.
Each piece must show in the address or return address the name of a school, college, university, public library, museum, or herbarium or the name of a nonprofit
Separate USPS Ground Advantage prices for parcels mailed within Alaska to or from the intra-Alaska ZIP Codes not connected by overland routes, listed in DMM 133 Exhibit 1.3. The retail LOR prices can't be bought through online or commercial postage payment.
USPS Ground Advantage -LOR retail prices are not available through online or commercial postage payment.
Etsy's fixed fee for listing an item: $0.20 for each item listed on Etsy, covering a four-month listing period. Etsy's 2025 annual report (Form 10-K) says listing fees are nonrefundable and counts them, with the transaction and payment processing fees, among the required marketplace fees.
Etsy marketplace sellers pay a fixed listing fee of $ 0.20 for each item listed on the Etsy marketplace
Note: Etsy's help center blocks automated readers, so this entry uses only Etsy's annual report filed with the SEC (Form 10-K for 2025, filed Feb 19, 2026); Etsy's fee page may give more detail. Renewal and multi-quantity charges are among the details not repeated here.
A parcel USPS sorting equipment can handle: not more than 22 inches long, 18 inches wide or 15 inches high, and not more than 25 pounds. A parcel past any of those limits, or a tube, roll, can, or wood or metal box, is a nonstandard parcel.
A machinable parcel is any piece that is not a letter or a flat and that meets the size and weight standards as follows
In state sales tax law, a platform that facilitates other sellers' sales for consideration and also does things like process payments, list products or take orders, which makes it responsible for collecting the sales tax on those sales. California's Marketplace Facilitator Act makes a registered facilitator the retailer for the sales it facilitates (Revenue and Taxation Code sections 6041 and 6043), and Washington deems one the seller's agent and requires it to give each seller monthly access to its Washington gross sales (RCW 82.08.0531). Mercari's help center says most US states have enacted such laws.
a person who contracts with marketplace sellers to facilitate for consideration, regardless of whether deducted as fees from the transaction, the sale of the marketplace seller's products
New Mexico's term is marketplace provider (Section 7-9-3(J) NMSA 1978), and its tax is a gross receipts tax: TRD's FYI-206 says a provider is one that lists or advertises the sale and facilitates it, for example by collecting payment and passing it to the seller.
Washington requires a facilitator to give each seller access to the previous month's Washington gross sales within fifteen calendar days after the month ends (RCW 82.08.0531(4)).
In California's Marketplace Facilitator Act, a person who has an agreement with a marketplace facilitator and makes retail sales through its marketplace, even if the person wouldn't otherwise have needed a seller's permit. Section 6045 still requires registration for retail sales made on the seller's own behalf and not through a registered facilitator.
means a person who has an agreement with a marketplace facilitator and makes retail sales of tangible personal property through a marketplace owned, operated, or controlled by a marketplace facilitator
New Mexico TRD's FYI-206 says a marketplace seller may deduct receipts from sales a marketplace provider facilitated (Section 7-9-117 NMSA 1978) with documentation that the provider is registered and has remitted or will remit the tax, and that a seller required to file still reports those receipts even if no tax results.
FYI-206 also says that if the provider doesn't pay the tax on a sale, the sale is still taxable to a seller engaged in business in New Mexico, which for a seller with no physical presence means at least $100,000 of taxable gross receipts in the previous calendar year.
A USPS Package Services subclass priced by weight only ($4.39 for 1 pound now), for books of at least eight printed pages with no advertising beyond incidental book announcements, sound and video recordings, printed music, playscripts and manuscripts, printed educational charts, 16 mm or narrower films, computer-readable media and a few other items on USPS's list. Media Mail is not sealed against postal inspection: mailing at Media Mail prices is consent to inspection of the contents.
Regardless of physical closure, the mailing of articles at Media Mail or Library Mail prices constitutes consent by the mailer to postal inspection of the contents.
Mercari's photo-based authentication, by the independent firm Real Authentication, for handbags, wallets, jewelry, watches, eyewear and shoes: optional over $100 and required above a price Mercari sets by category and brand. It costs $5, plus $10 for a certificate where the category qualifies, and authenticated items can be listed up to $5,000 after identity verification instead of the usual $2,000 limit.
When you purchase or list on Mercari, there's usually a $2,000 price limit. When you want to list or purchase items verified with Authenticate at up to $5,000, we'll ask you to complete an additional identity verification.
A $0.49 per-piece First-Class Mail surcharge on letter-size pieces USPS machines can't process: nearly square or long and narrow (length under 1.3 or over 2.5 times the height), in plastic, closed with a clasp or string, uneven from something inside, too rigid, or addressed parallel to the short side. Postcards mailed at the card price don't pay it.
Pieces mailed at the card price are not subject to the nonmachinable surcharge.
Also called: length fee, cube fee, characteristics fee
A USPS fee on a Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail or Ground Advantage parcel that is longer than 22 inches, longer than 30 inches, larger than 2 cubic feet (3,456 cubic inches), or has a nonstandard characteristic such as a tube, roll, can, or wood or metal box. Ground Advantage charges $4.50 over 22 inches, $10.00 over 30 inches and $21.00 over 2 cubic feet; Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express charge $4.50, $21.00 and $35.00 for the same three; and a nonstandard characteristic adds $4.50 on any of them. A length fee and a characteristics fee don't stack (only the higher applies), but either can stack with the cube fee.
A piece that is subject to both a length (1.8a, 1.8b) and a characteristics (1.8d) nonstandard fee is only subject to the highest fee.
Example: A 24-inch Ground Advantage box that is also over 2 cubic feet pays $4.50 + $21.00; Priority Mail Flat Rate packaging and Ground Advantage oversized-price parcels are exempt.
Edge cases:
For the over-2-cubic-feet fee each side is rounded off to the nearest whole inch (not up, as for dimensional weight), and a nonrectangular parcel's volume is multiplied by 0.785.
Media Mail has no nonstandard fees in Notice 123: its price is set by weight alone (DMM 173.1.1).
Commercial labels can also draw the $3.00 Dimension Noncompliance Fee when the box size sent to USPS is missing or wrong.
USPS nonstandard fees per piece, Notice 123 effective Oct 4, 2026 (retail and commercial are the same). A length fee and a characteristics fee don't stack; either can stack with the over-2-cubic-feet fee.
Parcel
Ground Advantage
Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express
Longer than 22 in., up to 30 in.
$4.50
$4.50
Longer than 30 in.
$10.00
$21.00
Over 2 cubic feet (3,456 cubic in.)
$21.00
$35.00
Tube, roll, can, wood or metal box, or liquids over the limits
USPS's processing category for parcels that aren't machinable: over 22 inches long, 18 inches wide or 15 inches high, over 25 pounds, or with a nonstandard characteristic. The characteristics are cylindrical tubes or rolls, cans, wood or metal boxes, more than 24 ounces of liquid in glass or 1 gallon or more in metal or plastic, and contents that may roll or break the packaging.
A parcel containing more than 24 ounces of liquid in glass containers, or 1 gallon or more of liquid in metal or plastic containers
Also called: Notice 123-Price List, USPS price list
The official USPS price list that the Domestic Mail Manual cites for its prices and fees: retail and commercial postage, extra services, surcharges and other fees. The edition in effect when we checked took effect Oct 4, 2026, and USPS publishes it on Postal Explorer (pe.usps.com).
Extra Service fees are charged per piece in addition to correct postage. See Notice 123-Price List.
The Oct 4, 2026 edition carries temporary holiday prices for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage and Parcel Select until 12 a.m. CT on Jan. 17, 2027; USPS said no other products or services would be affected.
Etsy's fee on a sale that comes from an advertisement Etsy places on another website or app: 12% or 15% of the value of the sale, depending on the shop's sales volume. Etsy's 2025 annual report (Form 10-K) says it is charged only if the sale is generated from such an ad, records it as a transaction fee, and records the cost of the advertising as Etsy's own marketing expense.
sellers pay a transaction fee of 12 % or 15 % of the value of a sale based on the seller's volume of sales
Example: A $60 order that came from an Offsite Ad: $9.00 at 15%, or $7.20 at 12%.
Note: Etsy's help center blocks automated readers, so this entry uses only Etsy's annual report filed with the SEC (Form 10-K for 2025, filed Feb 19, 2026); Etsy's fee page may give more detail. The sales-volume line between the two rates and any per-order cap are on that fee page and aren't given here.
A Ground Advantage price set by zone alone, not weight, for parcels measuring more than 108 inches but not more than 130 inches in combined length and girth. Oversized-price parcels aren't also charged the nonstandard fees, and 130 inches is the limit.
The oversized price is based on the zone and applies to pieces that measure more than 108 inches but not more than 130 inches in combined length and girth.
Any mailpiece that isn't a letter or a flat: bigger than a large envelope in any dimension, or flat-sized but rigid, nonrectangular or not uniformly thick. At retail it pays the USPS Ground Advantage Retail parcel price, not a First-Class Mail price (DMM 133.1.1).
A USPS Ground Advantage - Retail parcel is the following: A mailpiece that exceeds any one of the maximum dimensions for a flat (large envelope).
The 1099-K term for the person being paid: anyone who accepts a payment card as payment, or accepts payment from a third party settlement organization to settle a third party network transaction. A seller paid through a marketplace is the participating payee on that marketplace's 1099-K.
who accepts a payment card, or any account number or other indicia associated with a payment card, as payment or accepts payment from a TPSO in settlement of a third party network transaction
Any transaction in which a payment card (credit, debit or stored-value such as a gift card), or its account number, is accepted as payment. The IRS says a seller paid directly by card gets a Form 1099-K from the card processor no matter how many payments there were or how much they were for: the $20,000 and 200 threshold applies only to third party network transactions.
The term payment card transaction means any transaction in which a payment card, or any account number or other indicia associated with a payment card, is accepted as payment.
In the 1099-K regulation, the act that triggers reporting: a payment settlement entity (or its electronic payment facilitator) makes a payment in settlement when it submits the instruction to transfer funds to the payee's account to settle a sale. The return then reports the year's settled transactions in total and month by month.
makes a payment in settlement of a reportable payment transaction if the payment settlement entity (or electronic payment facilitator) submits the instruction to transfer funds to the account of the participating payee
A fee for processing the buyer's card payment, a percentage plus a fixed amount, that some marketplaces add on top of their selling fee. Mercari charges none on listings created or updated since January 6, 2025, but an older listing that hasn't been updated still charges the buyer $0.50 plus 2.9% of the transaction price (item, shipping, service fee and sales tax). eBay says it charges one final value fee when an item sells, so sellers don't have to worry about third-party payment processing fees.
No separate payment processing fee will be applied after this date.
Etsy's 2025 annual report (Form 10-K) says Etsy Payments processing fees typically run 3.0% to 6.5% of an item's total sale price including shipping, plus a flat fee per order that depends on the country of the seller's bank account.
The company that files Form 1099-K: a merchant acquiring entity (the bank or other organization that settles payment card transactions) or a third party settlement organization (for marketplace and app payments). If two qualify for the same transaction, the one that submits the instruction to transfer the funds files.
If two or more persons qualify as PSEs for the same reportable transaction, the PSE that submits the instruction to transfer funds must file the return and furnish the payee statement.
Moving the earnings a platform holds for a seller to a bank account or card. On Mercari, earnings join the Mercari balance when a transaction completes and are withdrawn by Direct Deposit or Instant Pay; on TikTok Shop, an order's funds become available for payout at the end of its settlement period, which starts at delivery.
When a transaction is complete, your earnings are added to your Mercari balance.
Postage bought and printed through a USPS-approved provider's software, as IBI or IMI indicia on a label or the mailpiece; with postage meters, USPS calls these postage evidencing systems. PC Postage labels qualify for commercial prices, and USPS can collect for a short-paid piece through an automated payment adjustment to the customer's account.
PC Postage products allow customers to purchase and print postage with IBI or IMI indicia directly onto mailpieces, shipping labels, and USPS-approved customized labels.
The fixed part of eBay's final value fee: $0.30 on an order of $10.00 or less and $0.40 on an order over $10.00. An order is everything one buyer buys at checkout with the same shipping method, so a combined purchase pays it once, and athletic shoes sold for $150 or more don't pay it.
An order is defined as any number of items purchased by the same buyer at checkout with the same shipping method.
Also called: friends and family payments, non-business payments
Money received from friends or family as a gift or as repayment of a shared personal expense. The IRS says these payments aren't taxable income and should not be reported on Form 1099-K, and suggests marking them as non-business in payment apps when possible.
Money you received from friends and family as a gift or repayment for a personal expense should not be reported on a Form 1099-K.
Also called: Poshmark authentication, Authentication Included
Poshmark's free authentication service: an eligible item from select luxury brands sold for $500 or more ships to Poshmark's authentication facility first, then on to the buyer, unless it was bought from one of Poshmark's trusted independent partners. Electronics, Home, Pets, Toys and Games don't qualify, and if authenticity can't be verified the order is cancelled and refunded and the item goes back to the seller, ineligible to be relisted.
When you purchase an item from select luxury brands and categories priced at $500 or higher, your order will be sent to Poshmark and undergo our expert authentication process.
Poshmark says authentication usually takes 1-3 business days once the item reaches its facility, and the service is free for qualifying orders for both buyers and sellers.
Poshmark's name for its buyer protection policies: a full refund if an order never ships or doesn't match the listing, when the buyer opens a return case within 72 hours of delivery as shown by the label's tracking. Fit and change of mind aren't covered, nor are trades or transactions completed off Poshmark, and if no case is opened within 3 days of delivery the payment is released to the seller.
If the item is just not your style or does not fit you, we unfortunately cannot accept a return under Posh Protect.
What Poshmark deducts from the final order price when an item sells: a flat $2.95 for sales under $15, and 20% for sales of $15 and above. Listing is free, and a sale of exactly $15.00 pays 20%, which is $3.00.
For sales under $15, the fee is a flat rate of $2.95. For sales $15 and above, the fee is 20% and you keep 80%.
Example: A $14 sale: $2.95 fee, $11.05 kept. A $15 sale: $3.00 fee, $12.00 kept. A $50 sale: $10.00 fee, $40.00 kept.
Note: Poshmark's own wording differs at exactly $15: the Fee Policy (Version 1.7) says sales of $15 and above pay 20%, while the notice in the version in effect from Oct 24 to Nov 25, 2024, shown on the same page, describes the $2.95 fee as for sales of $15 and under. This entry follows the Fee Policy text.
Also called: short-paid postage, postage discrepancy
Postage USPS collects when a piece was short-paid. DMM 604 lists the options for a PC Postage piece: an automated payment adjustment from the mailer's account, returning the piece, delivering it and collecting the deficiency from the addressee, or collecting it at the retail counter; USPS can also suspend a customer's PC Postage printing if the postage due isn't paid after notice.
Delivering the mailpiece to the addressee and collecting the deficiency as postage due.
If an automated adjustment can't cover the whole shortfall, the PC Postage provider gives the customer 14 calendar days (10 business days if notified electronically) to pay before printing can be suspended (DMM 604.4.4.4).
A PC Postage customer who disputes a postage discrepancy must do so electronically through the PC Postage provider within 60 calendar days of the adjustment or the notice to pay (DMM 604.4.4.5).
A card that gets the lower First-Class Mail card price if it is rectangular, 3-1/2 to 4-1/4 inches high, 5 to 6 inches long and 0.007 to 0.016 inch thick, and no more than 3.5 ounces. A card outside those sizes pays letter-size prices and must not be marked Postcard.
Not less than 3-1/2 inches high, 5 inches long, and 0.007 inch thick.
USPS's expedited service for any mailable matter up to 70 pounds, with a delivery objective of 2 to 3 days that USPS doesn't guarantee. Retail postage is by weight (rounded up to the next pound) and zone, with Flat Rate and, for commercial customers, cubic prices as alternatives, and up to $100 of insurance is included.
Service objectives for delivery are 2 to 3 days. However, USPS does not guarantee the delivery time.
USPS's expedited service with a money-back guarantee; refund standards are in DMM 604.9.5. Postage is by weight and zone (a 0.5-pound tier, then whole pounds rounded up) or a Flat Rate Envelope price, $100 of merchandise insurance is included, and a lost-piece claim can be filed after 7 days.
Priority Mail Express is an expedited service for shipping any mailable matter, with a money-back guarantee, subject to the standards below.
Also called: Mercari Promote, Offer to Likers, Time-limited Sale
Mercari's three price-drop tools. Promote boosts a listing in search and notifies its likers when you cut the price by 5% or more below its historically lowest price (once per item every 24 hours, never below $1), and the cut is permanent; Offer to Likers sends a 24-hour offer at least 10% below that lowest price to up to 50 of the most recent likers. A Time-limited Sale, for items listed seven or more days, runs three days at least 10% below the lowest price and features the item in the Deals section.
If you reduce the price of your listing by 5% or more, we'll boost your listing in the search results and also notify all the people who liked your item about the price reduction.
Also called: Amazon referral fee, TikTok Shop referral fee
A marketplace's percentage commission on each sale. Amazon charges a category percentage of the total price (the list price plus shipping and any gift wrap) or a per-item minimum, whichever is greater: 15% for Books, DVD, Music, Software and Video, with no minimum, plus the media closing fee. TikTok Shop applies its category rate, 6% for most categories and 5% for Pre-Owned, to the customer payment plus platform discount minus tax, a base that includes the shipping the customer pays.
For every item sold, you'll pay a percentage of the total price or a minimum amount, whichever is greater.
Example: A $20 TikTok Shop sale with $5 buyer-paid shipping and no platform discount: 6% of $25 is a $1.50 referral fee.
Edge cases:
TikTok Shop charges 3% on the portion of a Pre-Owned or Collectibles sale over $10K, and 5% on five jewelry sub-categories (diamond, gold, jade, platinum and carat gold, and ruby, sapphire and emerald).
USPS calls it its most secure service: the piece moves under a system of receipts from acceptance to delivery, and postal insurance is included in the fee for articles valued from $0.01 up to $50,000. DMM 503 Exhibit 1.4.1 lists Priority Mail, First-Class Mail and Ground Advantage (retail and commercial) as eligible.
Registered Mail is the most secure service that the USPS offers.
A certificate a buyer gives a seller stating that goods are bought for resale, so the sale isn't taxed as a retail sale. Under California law the seller is relieved of sales tax liability only if it takes the certificate in good faith from a buyer who is in the business of selling such goods and holds a seller's permit; without one, the seller has to prove the sale wasn't a retail sale (Revenue and Taxation Code sections 6091 and 6092).
The certificate relieves the seller from liability for sales tax only if taken in good faith from a person who is engaged in the business of selling tangible personal property and who holds the permit
A USPS extra service, bought at the time of mailing, that gives evidence of delivery: who received the piece, the delivery date, and the recipient's actual delivery address. It comes by mail on PS Form 3811 or electronically by email, and it is linked to a host extra service such as Certified Mail.
A return receipt may be purchased at the time of mailing and provides a mailer with evidence of delivery (to whom the mail was delivered and date of delivery), and information about the recipient's actual delivery address.
The schedule a sole proprietor attaches to Form 1040 to figure the net profit or loss from a business; the result goes on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), and each business run as a sole proprietorship gets its own Schedule C. Publication 334 defines a sole proprietor as someone who owns an unincorporated business by themselves, including an individual who is the sole member of a domestic LLC that hasn't elected to be treated as a corporation, and cost of goods sold is figured in Part III (lines 35 through 42).
Use Schedule C (Form 1040) to figure your net profit or loss from your business.
A DMM status meaning a mail class's contents are closed to postal inspection: First-Class Mail, Ground Advantage, Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express have it. Media Mail and Library Mail don't, so mailing at those prices is consent to USPS inspecting the contents, however the package is closed.
Media Mail and Library Mail are not sealed against postal inspection.
Social Security and Medicare tax for people who work for themselves, figured on Schedule SE at a rate of 15.3% (12.4% Social Security, 2.9% Medicare). The IRS says it applies, with Schedule SE, when net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more, and the employer-equivalent portion is deductible in figuring adjusted gross income.
Your net earnings from self-employment (excluding church employee income) were $400 or more.
The percentage eBay adds to the base exchange rate, and keeps, when it converts a seller's funds for an item listed or sold on another eBay site. For sellers with a US registered address it went from 3% to 3.25% on October 14, 2026.
From October 14, 2026, the fee for sellers registered in US will increase to 3.25%.
Mercari's 10% fee on the item price plus buyer-paid shipping, for listings created or updated on or after January 6, 2025, with no separate payment processing fee on those listings. Listing an item is free.
A 10% selling fee of the combined amount of item price and buyer-paid shipping will be charged to the seller.
Also called: Amazon Individual plan, Amazon Professional plan
Amazon's two seller account packages: Individual costs $0.99 per item sold and Professional $39.99 a month, with tools such as bulk listing and advertising. Referral fees, and the closing fee on media, are charged on top of either plan.
Our standard selling fees provide you with access to a package of Amazon tools and programs that can help you optimize and grow your business. They're divided into two basic types: selling plan fees and referral fees.
TikTok Shop's term for the time it takes a delivered order's funds to become available for payout; the clock starts at delivery, not at the order date. Introductory (new or probationary sellers) is 31 days, Standard 8 days, Accelerated 5 days (Shop Performance Score 3.5 or higher) and Express 1 day (4.0 or higher), and a Deferred period can apply while TikTok Shop completes security checks. Tiers and reserve levels are set in an evaluation on the 1st of each month, and reserved funds are held 30 days from delivery.
The settlement period is the time it takes for an order's funds to become available for payout.
A USPS extra service that gives the delivery date and time and keeps a delivery record with the recipient's signature, available electronically or by email on request. It costs $5.15 at the Post Office or $4.15 on an online (electronic) label; Adult Signature Required ($9.70) limits delivery to someone 21 or older who shows identification.
A delivery record (including a signature) is maintained by USPS and is available electronically or by email upon request.
For inventory and accounting-method rules, a business with average annual gross receipts of $31 million or less for the 3 prior tax years (indexed for inflation) that isn't a tax shelter. Publication 334 says such a business may treat inventory as non-incidental materials and supplies or follow its financial accounting treatment, but one that chooses to keep an inventory must generally use an accrual method and value it each year.
You qualify as a small business taxpayer if you (a) have average annual gross receipts of $31 million or less for the 3 prior tax years (indexed for inflation), and (b) are not a tax shelter
For cubic pricing, a soft pack (poly, plastic, cloth or similar) or padded envelope is measured as the length plus the width of the original packaging, each rounded down to the nearest 1/4 inch, instead of by volume. The total can't exceed 36 inches: up to 21 inches is the 0.10 tier, then up to 27, 31, 34 and 36 inches for tiers 0.20 to 0.50, and pleated (expandable) mailers are measured by volume instead. Since July 12, 2026 Priority Mail Cubic and Ground Advantage Cubic use the same five soft-pack tiers; Ground Advantage had ten, starting at 16 inches, before.
Cubic-tier measurements for soft pack (poly, plastic, cloth, or similar soft packaging) and padded envelopes are based, in inches, on the outside dimensions of length plus width of the original packaging material.
Any transaction settled through a third party payment network: an arrangement in which a substantial number of unrelated sellers have accounts with a central organization that sets settlement standards and guarantees them payment. Payments through online marketplaces and payment apps fall here, which is why the $20,000 and 200 transaction threshold applies to them.
The term third party network transaction means any transaction that is settled through a third party payment network.
The central organization with the contractual obligation to pay sellers in a third party payment network; the IRS's plain-language name for these is payment apps and online marketplaces. A TPSO files Form 1099-K only above the de minimis threshold, and the IRS instructions say healthcare networks, in-house accounts payable departments and automated clearing houses don't qualify as TPSOs.
the central organization that has the contractual obligation to make payments to participating payees of third party network transactions
What eBay's final value fee percentage is applied to: the item price, handling charges, shipping collected from the buyer (with some exceptions), sales tax and any other applicable fees. So the fee is also taken on the sales tax eBay collects, not just on the seller's price.
The total amount of the sale includes the item price, any handling charges, any shipping costs collected from the buyer (some exceptions apply), sales tax, and any other applicable fees.
Etsy's 6.5% fee on each completed sale, figured on the sale including the shipping the seller charges. It is separate from the payment processing fee, which Etsy's 2025 annual report (Form 10-K) says typically runs 3.0% to 6.5% of the sale including shipping, plus a flat fee per order that depends on the country of the seller's bank account.
Etsy marketplace sellers pay a 6.5 % transaction fee for each completed transaction, inclusive of shipping fees charged.
Example: A $40 item with $6 shipping: 6.5% of $46 is a $2.99 transaction fee, before payment processing.
Note: Etsy's help center blocks automated readers, so this entry uses only Etsy's annual report filed with the SEC (Form 10-K for 2025, filed Feb 19, 2026); Etsy's fee page may give more detail.
USPS's service for parcels up to 70 pounds and 130 inches in combined length and girth, priced by weight and zone (4, 8, 12 and 15.999 ounces, then by the pound), with no guaranteed delivery time. Its price includes up to $100 of insurance, and forwarding for up to 12 months or return if the parcel can't be delivered.
USPS does not guarantee delivery of USPS Ground Advantage - Commercial mailpieces within a specified time.
A USPS service that gives the mailer the date and time a piece was delivered or delivery was attempted. Notice 123 lists it as included with Priority Mail, commercial Ground Advantage and Package Services such as Media Mail; it adds no insurance, and no record is kept at the office of mailing.
USPS Tracking does not include insurance, but insurance may be purchased as an additional service
A mandatory platform fee the buyer pays at checkout on Vinted, typically 5% of the item or bundle price plus $0.70, shown in each listing's price breakdown. It varies with the item, order value and order type (single item or bundle).
The Vinted fee typically includes a percentage of the item's or bundle's price, as well as a fixed fee - usually 5% + $0.70.
The weight step USPS charges after rounding up. Ground Advantage under 1 pound is priced at 4, 8, 12 and 15.999 ounces, so 4.1 ounces pays the 8-ounce price; above that, and for Priority Mail and Media Mail, any fraction of a pound counts as a whole pound, so 1.25 pounds pays the 2-pound price.
For example, if an item weighs 4.1 ounces, the next weight (price) increment is 8 ounces.
In the Notice 123 edition effective Oct 4, 2026, retail Ground Advantage charges the same for 4 and 8 ounces ($8.40 at Zone 1) and the same for 12 ounces, 15.999 ounces and 1 pound ($10.05 at Zone 1), so rounding up inside those pairs costs nothing.
Commercial (online label) Ground Advantage has one price for all four ounce steps within a zone ($7.33 at Zone 1), a change USPS made on July 12, 2026.
The distance band between the origin and destination 3-digit ZIP Code areas that sets zoned prices such as Priority Mail and Ground Advantage: Zone 1 is the same 3-digit area or centroids up to 50 miles apart, Zones 2 to 7 reach about 150, 300, 600, 1,000, 1,400 and 1,800 miles, and Zone 8 is everything farther. Zone 9 is the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
The distance is measured from the centroid of the 3-digit ZIP Code area serving the origin Post Office to the centroid of the 3-digit ZIP Code area serving the destination Post Office.
Each definition uses only the sources named under it. The quote is copied word for word from the first one (curly quotes and dashes straightened) and kept under 40 words.
Where a platform and the law use different words for the same thing, the entry uses the source's own term and lists the other names under "Also called".
Etsy, Depop and Whatnot help centers block automated checks, so we can't re-read and verify their pages. The Etsy entries state only what Etsy's annual report filed with the SEC says; Depop and Whatnot terms aren't here yet and will be added after an editor checks those pages in a normal browser.
Edge cases and tables come from the same official sources as the definition they sit under; worked examples are our own arithmetic on those rules.
Prices change: postage figures update from the current Notice 123 in this site's data, and each entry shows the day its source was checked. Dated changes are in the change tracker.
Spotted something out of date? The corrections page says how to tell us.
Sources
Every official page the definitions rely on, with the day it was checked.
Free 1-page Reseller Cheat Sheet: fees on 8 platforms, Media Mail and stamp prices
What each platform takes from a $10, $25 and $50 sale, Media Mail 1-10 lb, Ground Advantage to Zones 1, 5 and 8, and the Forever stamp, on one printable page. The link appears as soon as you sign up.