Why did an Etsy buyer pay more than my digital item price?

Hi! On Etsy, a buyer generally can’t just type in “extra money” at checkout for a single digital download—so when you see $6 paid on a $5 digital item with a $0 tax line, it’s usually one of a few display/tax/currency quirks rather than the buyer intentionally adding $1.

Here are the most common causes for digital orders:

1. Currency conversion + rounding
   If your shop currency is USD but the buyer checked out in another currency (CAD, AUD, GBP, etc.), Etsy converts the price at checkout and rounds in the buyer’s currency. When you view the order, depending on where you’re looking, you may be seeing a converted/rounded amount that looks like “$6” even though it was just the currency equivalent of $5 at that moment.
   What to check: open the order and look for any note about the buyer’s currency/converted totals (often the receipt shows the buyer’s currency and your shop currency).

2. VAT/GST on digital items shown as “included” (so the tax line can look like $0)
   For many countries, Etsy is required to charge VAT/GST on digital downloads based on the buyer’s location. In some cases Etsy shows the tax as included in the item price (or in a different place in the receipt/payment breakdown), so the “tax” line you’re looking at may still read $0 even though the buyer effectively paid an “item + VAT” total.
   What to check: in your Payment account / order finances breakdown, look for a line like “sales tax/VAT paid by buyer” or wording that the tax was included.

3. The buyer purchased something else in the same transaction
   Sometimes the “order total” you’re noticing is the whole order, not just that one digital listing—e.g., they also bought another small add-on file, an “upgrade” listing, or a separate “tip jar” style listing from your shop (some sellers have $1 tip listings).
   What to check: open the order and confirm the line items (quantity and number of items).

Can a buyer intentionally add extra money at checkout?
Not as a normal built-in checkout option on Etsy. The only realistic ways are: (a) buying an additional listing (like a $1 add-on/tip listing), (b) increasing quantity, or (c) asking you for a custom listing/upgrade and purchasing that.

If you want, tell me what country the buyer is in (just the country/state, not any personal info) and what currency the order shows on the receipt, and I can help you narrow down which of the above is most likely.