Reverb Fee Calculator

Guide

About the Reverb Fee calculator

Our Reverb fee calculator is a free tool that shows exactly what Reverb charges on a sale and what actually lands in your account. Reverb is the largest dedicated marketplace for musical instruments and gear, and while its fee structure is simpler than platforms like Etsy or eBay, the combination of a selling fee and a payment processing fee means your real payout is always less than the sale price. This calculator adds both up instantly so you can price your listings correctly and know what you'll make before you sell.

How Reverb's selling fee works.

Reverb charges a selling fee of 5% on the total the buyer pays — that includes both the item price and the shipping you charge. This is the commission Reverb takes for connecting you with a buyer and managing the transaction. The fee has a floor (minimum) of $0.50 per order, so even a very cheap listing never costs less than fifty cents. More importantly for gear sellers, there is a cap: the selling fee will never exceed $500 on a single order, regardless of how high the sale price goes.

This cap is meaningful if you sell high-value instruments. Sell a vintage guitar for $12,000 and the uncapped fee would be $600 — but Reverb limits it to $500. Sell a $25,000 grand piano and the selling fee is still $500. The calculator always applies the cap automatically and shows you a note when it kicks in, so you can see both the capped fee and what it would have been without it.

What Reverb Payments charges.

On top of the selling fee, Reverb charges a payment processing fee through its integrated Reverb Payments system. For standard sellers, this is 3.19% of the order total plus a $0.49 fixed fee per transaction. Reverb Preferred Sellers pay a slightly lower 2.99% plus the same $0.49 fixed fee.

Unlike the selling fee, the processing fee has no published cap — it scales with the order amount. On a $1,050 sale (a $1,000 guitar with $50 shipping), the standard processing fee works out to $33.99. Toggle the Preferred Seller option in the calculator to see the difference; on a $1,050 sale the saving is about $2.10.

What is the Reverb Preferred Seller program?

Reverb's Preferred Seller program rewards high-performing sellers with a lower payment processing rate (2.99% instead of 3.19%). Qualification is based on metrics like sales volume, response rate, and positive feedback. The selling fee percentage remains 5% for all sellers — it is only the processing rate that changes. If you qualify for Preferred Seller status, the saving adds up meaningfully on volume: on $50,000 in annual sales, the 0.2% lower rate saves you $100.

Why the fee applies to shipping, not just the item price.

Many sellers are surprised to learn that Reverb's 5% selling fee applies to the shipping you charge the buyer, not just the item price. This is standard across most marketplaces (Etsy does the same). It means offering high shipping rates is effectively more expensive: on a $500 item with $100 shipping, the selling fee is 5% × $600 = $30, not $25. The calculator includes this correctly — enter your actual shipping charge and it uses the right base.

How to price to hit a target payout.

If you want to walk away with a specific amount, you need to work backwards from fees. For a standard seller targeting $900 on a $950 sale with $50 shipping (revenue $1,000): selling fee = $50, processing = $32.39, total fees = $82.39, payout = $917.61. Adjust your price upward until you reach your target, or use this calculator to test different price points quickly.

From payout to real profit.

Payout is not the same as profit. Enter your item cost — what you paid to buy or make the gear — in the optional field and the calculator shows your gross profit after Reverb's fees and your cost of goods. This is especially useful for dealers, flippers, and anyone buying used gear to resell. A guitar bought at $700 and sold for $1,000 with $50 shipping yields a payout of $963.51, profit of $263.51. Knowing the real profit margin helps you decide which listings are worth your time to list, pack and ship.

Accuracy and what this calculator covers.

Every rate in this calculator is taken from Reverb's official help pages and verified on 2026-06-11. The selling fee (5%, capped at $500, minimum $0.50) and Reverb Payments processing fee (3.19% standard, 2.99% Preferred Seller, both + $0.49) are the two fees that apply to all US Reverb Payments orders. Certain other costs exist that this calculator does not model: a 1% international processing surcharge if the buyer's bank is in a different country (outside the EEA), a 2.5% currency conversion fee if you list in a currency other than your payout currency, and potential chargeback fees. For the vast majority of US-based sellers receiving USD payouts, the two fees this calculator computes are all that apply. Check the sources linked below and your Reverb dashboard for the complete picture before making pricing decisions.