Guide

After PayPal fees, what do you actually receive?

A customer pays one amount. PayPal’s fee structure is often still percent + fixed. On small tickets, fixed fees punch above their weight—and effective rate rises.

Indie shops keep PayPal because buyers already trust the brand—or because a marketplace checkout forces it. That is a valid ops reason. It is not a reason to skip fee math. Run the estimate at your real average ticket before you promise a net margin in a pitch deck.

If PayPal is only a secondary button on your site, still estimate it. Secondary buttons can become a large share of volume when a campaign hits a PayPal-heavy audience. Fee surprises show up in payout weeks, not in the button design file.

Feecut estimates forward (gross → net) and reverse (net → gross). Local calc. Illustrative presets—not your contract.

1. Percent + fixed (illustrative)

A percentage of the payment plus a flat per-transaction fee. Region, merchant type, and contract change the numbers. We do not publish unverified fee digits here—use the tool presets or your own dashboard rates.

When your dashboard shows a different pair than the preset, enter custom numbers. The goal is structure and magnitude for your deal—not a blog’s round numbers.

Also note whether your agreement splits domestic and cross-border differently. If it does, run two forward estimates: one for domestic gross, one for the cross-border case you actually see. Averaging them into one “typical” net hides the thin case.

Write the percent and fixed fee from your dashboard on a sticky note. Update it when the contract changes. Feecut presets are a starting shape; your agreement is precision.

2. Forward: gross → net

Enter the amount you charge; read estimated net under a PayPal-oriented preset. Handy before you publish a price list. [email protected]

On small tickets, fold the fixed fee into the story before you celebrate a “low percent.”

Practical pass for a small catalog:

Take your three most common prices.
Run forward estimates for each.
Note which SKUs look thin after fees.
Raise, bundle, or drop the thin ones—or accept them as lead magnets with eyes open.

Do the same pass after a promo price change. A discounted list can push a SKU into the “fixed fee dominates” zone even when full price looked fine.

3. Reverse (same formula as Stripe)

If you need a pocket net, reverse with:

Gross = (Net + fixed) ÷ (1 − rate)

Same relationship as FC-1. Use your contracted rate.

Reverse is useful when you sell custom work or services with a clear net floor. Decide net first, reverse to gross, then round for the invoice. Re-check estimated net after rounding so the marketing-friendly number does not silently erase your margin.

Indie freelancers often reverse from “I need this after fees for the hours.” That habit beats picking a round gross and hoping.

4. Compare with Stripe at the same gross

Don’t compare headline percents alone. Hold gross constant, run both presets, and look at effective rate. Who is cheaper shifts with ticket size—that’s normal. Deep compare: FC-3.

If your audience insists on PayPal for trust, you may keep it even when another preset looks cheaper on a mid ticket. Fee shape is one input. Checkout conversion and support load are others. Feecut clarifies the fee input so the rest of the decision is honest.

Run at least a low ticket and a main ticket. Rankings that look clear on the main plan can flip on tips, trials, and add-ons.

5. Cross-border / currency: no fake FX

Cross-border or multi-currency payouts may involve conversion and extras. Feecut does not promise FX conversion. Estimate in the currency you actually receive; live rates and extras follow PayPal’s dashboard.

Indie trap: pricing in one currency, receiving in another, then comparing nets as if they were the same unit. Pick the receive currency for the estimate. Treat conversion and extras as a separate line you confirm in the dashboard—not as something a fee calculator invents.

When a campaign drives foreign buyers, re-estimate the cross-border case before you lock a “guaranteed margin” slide.

6. Out of scope

Chargebacks, installments, tax ladders, unverified promo rates. WeChat/Alipay: custom rates only—no invented official tables.

Store IAP cuts: Storecut.

Keep PayPal fees and app-store commission in different notebooks. Mixing them produces a mushy “everything tax” that does not tell you which price to change.

When you change list prices, re-run the forward estimate the same day. Old screenshots of Feecut next to new prices cause false confidence in planning docs.

FAQ

Preset = my rate?
No. Upload? Local. WeChat/Alipay? Custom rates. Who’s cheaper? Effective rate at your ticket—see FC-3.

Disclaimer

Illustrative ≠ quote. Agreement + dashboard win. [email protected]