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Rates vary by product, country and account type — confirm in your PayPal dashboard. Forward mode: fee = amount × rate + fixed fee. Reverse mode: charge = (amount + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − rate). Results are rounded to cents.
Try an example: $100 with PayPal Checkout rate
Every freelancer, online seller, and digital creator who gets paid through PayPal faces the same question: after the fee, how much actually lands in my account? Our free PayPal Fee Calculator answers it in two directions. Forward mode takes the amount your client pays and shows the fee plus what you receive. Reverse mode works backward: tell it how much you want to net, and it tells you exactly what to charge so the fee does not eat into your price.
The tool ships with the verified PayPal rate presets plus a custom rate and fixed-fee override, so it adapts to your exact situation — domestic or international, standard payments or micropayments. Everything runs in your browser, instantly.
These are the published US commercial rates the calculator uses as presets (verified against PayPal's published schedule):
| Payment type | Rate | Fixed fee |
|---|---|---|
| PayPal Checkout (default) | 3.49% | $0.49 |
| Standard card payments | 2.99% | $0.49 |
| Micropayments | 4.99% | $0.09 |
| International transactions | adds about 1.50% on top of the above | |
The default preset is PayPal Checkout at 3.49% + $0.49, and you can switch presets or type any custom rate and fixed fee your account actually carries.
The forward math is simple: fee = amount × rate + fixed fee, and you receive = amount − fee. Here is the verified worked example: a $100 payment through PayPal Checkout gives a fee of $100 × 0.0349 + $0.49 = $3.49 + $0.49 = $3.98, so you receive $96.02. The effective rate on that payment is 3.98%. Small payments feel the fixed fee more: on $10, the $0.49 fixed portion alone is nearly 5% before the percentage even applies — which is exactly why the micropayments preset exists.
Guessing the markup is how freelancers quietly lose money. The correct reverse formula is: charge = (desired net + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − rate). To net exactly $100 via PayPal Checkout: (100 + 0.49) ÷ (1 − 0.0349) = 100.49 ÷ 0.9651 = $104.10. Check the math: 104.10 × 0.0349 + 0.49 = 3.633 + 0.49 = 4.123, so you net 104.10 − 4.123 = 99.98, which rounds to $100. Notice that simply adding the $3.98 forward fee to $100 would have given $103.98 — slightly short — because the fee also applies to the markup itself. Reverse mode handles that automatically.
Rates depend on the product, the country, and the account type, so never treat one rate as universal. This tool gives you the four verified presets plus a custom override precisely for that reason — set the numbers your account actually charges, and confirm in your PayPal dashboard before you lock in client pricing. Fee schedules change, and the dashboard is the final word.
Who pays the PayPal fee — sender or receiver? On commercial payments the receiver (seller or freelancer) pays the fee, which is deducted from the amount received. This calculator works from the receiver's side.
Why is the reverse charge higher than just adding the fee on top? Because the fee is a percentage of the total charged — including the markup. The reverse formula accounts for that compounding effect.
When should I use the micropayments preset? For consistently small transactions (typically under about $10), the 4.99% + $0.09 structure usually beats the standard rate despite the higher percentage.
Does this cover currency conversion? The calculator models the published transaction rates. Currency conversion spreads, where they apply, should be checked in your PayPal dashboard.
Is my data private? Yes — all calculations happen locally in your browser and nothing is transmitted anywhere.
Use forward mode when the price is already fixed — a client agreed to pay $500, and you want to know what lands in your account after fees. Use reverse mode when your costs are fixed — you need $500 clear to cover rent and expenses, so you must quote a number that survives the fee deduction. Most pricing mistakes happen when sellers use forward math for a reverse problem: they compute the fee on their target, add it on, and still come up short because the fee applies to the marked-up total too. Reverse mode exists precisely to eliminate that quiet leakage, and over dozens of invoices a year the difference adds up to real money.
A note on "friends and family" payments: personal payments between friends may carry no fee depending on the funding source and country, but they offer no seller protection and must not be used for commercial transactions — misusing them can get an account limited. For business, always use goods-and-services payments and price the fee in honestly with this calculator.
The presets in this calculator reflect published US commercial rates, but your actual pricing depends on where you and your customer are located, whether the payment is domestic or cross-border, and what kind of PayPal account and products you use. High-volume sellers can qualify for merchant rates, nonprofits may access discounted pricing, and currency conversion adds its own spread on top of the transaction fee. That is why the custom rate and fixed-fee override exists: look up your exact numbers in your PayPal dashboard once, save them in the tool, and every future calculation will match your real costs. Recheck yearly, because fee schedules do change.
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