Why are my Etsy earnings so low after a sale with shipping charges?

Hi! Yep—what you’re seeing is usually normal on a first international sale: the “you earned ~$16” on the order can look decent, but your available balance can drop to almost nothing once Etsy subtracts fees, any shipping label/adjustment charges, and/or holds some funds in a payment reserve.

Here are the most common reasons your available is under $1 even though the order shows earnings:

• You paid more for postage than the buyer paid. If you bought an Etsy shipping label (or got a postage adjustment later), Etsy takes that cost straight out of your payment account, so it can wipe out most of the sale immediately.
• Etsy fees come out of the same pot. On a sale, Etsy typically deducts:
  • the listing fee (per item),
  • a transaction fee (charged on the item price and the shipping you charged),
  • an Etsy Payments processing fee (charged on the order total; exact rate depends on your country),
  • and sometimes currency conversion if your shop currency and payment account currency don’t match.
• Taxes on international orders can make the “order total” misleading. On many international orders, Etsy collects VAT/GST from the buyer and remits it—so that part was never really “yours,” but it can still make the checkout total look bigger than your actual payout.
• Payment account reserve / holding period (common for new sellers). If Etsy put your shop on a reserve, a percentage of funds from new physical-item sales won’t be “available for deposit” until you add valid tracking and it’s shown in transit (or until the hold period passes).

How to verify what you actually earned (item vs shipping vs fees)

1. Go to Shop Manager → Finances → Payment account.
   Find the exact order and expand the line items. You’ll typically see separate entries for:

   • Sale amount (item price)
   • Shipping charged to buyer
   • Taxes collected (if any)
   • Transaction fee
   • Payment processing fee
   • Listing fee
   • Shipping label purchase (and/or label adjustment), if you bought postage through Etsy

2. Check whether funds are “Available” vs “Current balance.”
   In the Payment account, Etsy usually shows a breakdown. If there’s a Reserve section, it will tell you:

   • the % being held
   • how long it’s held
   • and often which orders are affected

3. Open the order and look for shipping label charges/adjustments.
   If the buyer paid, say, $X shipping but the label cost $X + (a lot), that difference comes directly from your funds—so it’s very possible your net drops to near $0 even without a reserve.

If you want, paste the types of line items you see in your Payment account for that order (just the labels/amount categories—no personal info), and I can help you sanity-check which charge is driving the balance down (fees vs postage vs reserve).