PayPal Fees Explained (2026): What Sellers Pay in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and India

How PayPal fees work

For a sale, PayPal charges two things on every payment you receive:

• a percentage of the payment, which depends on your country and how the buyer pays, and
• a fixed fee per transaction, which depends on the currency you receive.

If the buyer is in another country, an international fee is added to the percentage. If the money has to be converted into another currency, PayPal also applies its currency conversion margin.

So the formula is simple:

Fee = payment × (rate + international rate) + fixed fee

PayPal fees in the United States

PayPal's US commercial rates for 2026 are:

On a $100 payment through PayPal Checkout the fee is 3.49% of $100 plus $0.49, which is $3.98, so you receive $96.02. If the same buyer is outside the US, the extra 1.5% raises the fee to $5.48. A $100 card payment costs $3.48, and a $100 goods and services payment sent from a PayPal account costs $2.99.

PayPal fees in the UK, Canada, Australia and India

Outside the US the structure is the same but the numbers differ. Our live fee table, checked against PayPal's fee page for each country, shows the current rates:

A few things stand out:

• UK: the standard rate is 2.9% + £0.30, and sellers who processed more than £4,000 in the previous month qualify for 2.4%, or 2.1% above £8,000. A £50 sale to a UK buyer costs £1.75; to a buyer outside the UK and EEA, £2.74.
• Canada and Australia: 2.9% + C$0.30 or A$0.30. A 100-dollar payment costs 3.20 in both. Buyers in the US add 0.8% for Canadian sellers.
• India: PayPal only handles payments from buyers abroad. They cost 4.4% plus a fixed fee in the currency you receive ($0.30 for US dollars), so a $500 payment from a client abroad leaves $477.70 before currency conversion.

Why small payments are expensive

The fixed fee is the same whether someone pays $5 or $500. On a $10 payment through PayPal Checkout, the $0.49 fixed fee and 3.49% together take $0.84, which is 8.4% of the payment, more than double the headline rate. If you sell low-priced items, encourage bundles, set a minimum order value or include the fee in your prices.

How to charge enough to cover PayPal fees

When you send an invoice and need to receive an exact amount, do not just add the percentage to your price. PayPal charges its percentage on the larger total, so that leaves you short. The right formula is:

Amount to charge = (amount you want + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − rate)

To receive $250 through PayPal Checkout in the US: (250 + 0.49) ÷ (1 − 0.0349) = $259.55. The calculator above does this when you choose "What to charge".

Check the rules before passing fees on, though. In the UK and EU, surcharging consumers for card payments is banned, and PayPal's own terms limit surcharges in some markets. Building the fee into your normal prices is usually simpler and safer.

Five ways to pay less

1. Ask about merchant rates. In the UK lower rates apply automatically above £4,000 a month; elsewhere, high-volume sellers can apply for reduced pricing.
2. Invoice in your own currency to avoid conversion margins on top of the fees.
3. Offer a card processor as well. Stripe charges less than PayPal Checkout for domestic cards in most countries. See our Stripe vs PayPal comparison.
4. Bundle small orders so the fixed fee is paid once instead of several times.
5. Never take sales payments as friends and family. It avoids the fee but removes all buyer and seller protection and breaks PayPal's rules.

The bottom line

PayPal's convenience comes at a price: around 3.5% plus a fixed fee in the US and around 3% plus a fixed fee in the UK, Canada and Australia, with more for international buyers and much more for small payments. Run your typical order values through the PayPal fee calculator and build the result into your prices.

PayPal rates in this guide were checked against PayPal's merchant fee pages for each country in October 2026. Your account may have different rates; check the fees page for your country before relying on them.