Etsy Offsite Ads explained: the 15% and 12% fee, whether you can opt out, and what Etsy's rules say about your own website

Quick picks

Is Offsite Ads a law or an Etsy rule, and which Etsy page wins?

So everything about Offsite Ads on this page is a platform rule. That means Etsy set it in its own policies, and it is not a law. Etsy can change these policies, so the linked Etsy pages win over anything written here.

Now keep in mind that two Etsy pages describe the fee a little differently. Etsy's help article on Offsite Ads says the percentage is taken from the amount you made from the sale before the advertising fee. The Fees & Payments Policy says the percentage is charged on the total order amount, which includes the item price plus shipping and gift wrap. The fee policy is part of the terms you agree to when you open an Etsy shop, so every example below follows the fee policy.

What are Etsy Offsite Ads, and when does Etsy charge for them?

Basically, Etsy buys advertising for your listings on other websites. Etsy's help article lists Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Bing, Etsy's publishing partner sites and the Google Display Network. Etsy's help article also says these ad partners may change over time.

Etsy's fee policy calls an order that Etsy charges for an Attributed Order. That means a buyer clicked one of Etsy's ads and then placed an order from your shop within 30 days of the click. Here is how the Offsite Ads fee works, all checked October 16, 2026.

And one more thing about the Etsy Ads row. Etsy Ads is a different product from Offsite Ads. Etsy Ads shows your listing inside Etsy, and Offsite Ads shows it on other websites.

Something to note is a feature called Partner Checkout. Etsy's Advertising & Marketing Policy says some ad sites can let a buyer pay for your listing through Etsy Payments without going to Etsy.com. You still handle the shipping, the customer service and any dispute the buyer raises. The policy says you can opt out of Partner Checkout only by opting out of Offsite Ads.

What counts toward the $10,000 line, and why can't you opt out after it?

So Etsy's fee policy says the line is $10,000 in sales over the prior 365 days. Etsy works this out on the first day of each month. Etsy's Advertising & Marketing Policy and help article word the timing a little differently. Those two pages say any 365 days in a row, with dates counted in US Eastern time. Either way, the fee policy says Etsy checks on the first of each month and sends you a notice when your shop crosses $10,000.

Here is what Etsy says counts toward the $10,000, from the fee policy.

• Counts: The item price times the quantity, after discounts and formally cancelled orders.
• Does not count: The shipping you charge, sales tax, gift wrap, Etsy's own fees, Pattern orders (Pattern is Etsy's website builder, covered below) and in-person payment orders.
• If you sell in another currency: Etsy converts each sale to US dollars at the rate Etsy used when it processed that sale.

Now notice the mismatch. The 15 or 12 percent is charged on an order total that includes shipping and gift wrap. But the $10,000 line leaves shipping and gift wrap out.

So basically, $10,000 over 365 days works out to about $833 a month ($10,000 divided by 12 is $833.33). That is my arithmetic and not an Etsy figure. Etsy's Advertising & Marketing Policy says your sales totals are shown in Shop Manager. The policy doesn't name the exact screen.

What happens at the line is spelled out in the fee policy. If you opted out before reaching $10,000, you are required to take part and pay 12 percent on Attributed Orders for the lifetime of the shop. Etsy says the earlier opt out stops applying, even if sales later fall under $10,000, to the extent the law allows. The 12 percent starts on the first day of the month after the shop qualifies.

So under $10,000 you pay more per charged order, and you can switch Offsite Ads off. At $10,000 or more you pay less per charged order, and you can't switch it off.

How do you opt out of Etsy Offsite Ads?

Etsy's help article says that if your shop has never made $10,000 or more in any consecutive 365 day period, you can opt out. These steps come from that article, checked October 16, 2026. Some of the pictures come from a walkthrough video recorded on a UK Etsy shop, so money shows in pounds and some words are spelled the UK way. Etsy's US help article uses the same button name, "Opt out of Offsite Ads".

1. On Etsy.com, open Shop Manager.
2. In the left menu, click Settings. A list opens underneath it with Your shop, Info & Appearance, Options, Shipping settings, Policy settings, Partners you work with, Offsite Ads and more.

The Settings list opened in Shop Manager, with Offsite Ads in it, from Dylan Does Tech's video.

3. Click Offsite Ads. You'll see a page titled "Reach more buyers with Offsite Ads" with a See Offsite Ads stats button and an Opt out of Offsite Ads link next to it.
4. Click Opt out of Offsite Ads.

The Offsite Ads page in Settings, with the See Offsite Ads stats button and the Opt out of Offsite Ads link, from Dylan Does Tech's video.

5. A box titled "A few things to know before you opt out" appears. Read it, then click the dark Opt out button to confirm. On some shops that button reads Opt out of Offsite Ads. The other button, Keep advertising, closes the box and leaves Offsite Ads on.

The confirmation box on a UK Etsy shop. It says ads take a few days to come down, and a sale within 30 days of an ad visit still carries the Offsite Ads fee. From Adam Explains How's video.

After you confirm, the Offsite Ads page changes. It tells you the date you opted out and shows a Turn on Offsite Ads button. Etsy's help article says that button is how you turn Offsite Ads back on later.

The Offsite Ads page after opting out, on a UK Etsy shop, with the date of a test opt out in June 2026, from Adam Explains How's video.

What does opting out not undo?

So the fine print matters here. These points come from Etsy's Advertising & Marketing Policy and from the box in the picture above, checked October 16, 2026.

• Ads can take time to come down. The policy says removal can take up to three business days after you opt out.
• Clicks before the opt out still count. Say a buyer clicked one of your ads before the opt out took effect. Etsy still charges the Offsite Ads fee on orders that buyer places within 30 days of that click.
• Etsy still keeps some use of your listings. The policy says Etsy may keep using your listings, including for analytics and marketing, to improve Offsite Ads.
• Etsy warns shoppers could see your shop less. The box says the listing data Etsy's ad networks use for your shop will be deleted. It also says opting out could lower your visibility, meaning how often shoppers see your listings, and lose you sales.
• Partner Checkout goes too. As covered above, you can opt out of Partner Checkout only by opting out of Offsite Ads.

How can you see which orders Etsy charged Offsite Ads fees on?

Etsy says you can see which orders are attributed to Offsite Ads in the Offsite Ads dashboard in Shop Manager. To open it, go to Shop Manager, then Marketing, then Offsite Ads. The Marketing dashboard is a different screen from the Offsite Ads page under Settings. Etsy says the dashboard tracks revenue, fees, clicks and ad traffic.

On the dashboard in the picture, the top box has four numbers: Orders, New buyers, Direct revenue and Ad fees paid, with a date picker that reads "Last 30 days".

The Offsite Ads dashboard under Marketing, on a UK Etsy shop where the test month had no orders, from Adam Explains How's video.

The Offsite Ads page under Settings also has a See Offsite Ads stats button. The stats page it opens counts clicks and orders from Etsy's ads.

The Offsite Ads stats page from a June 2026 video, from Dylan Does Tech's video.

The money side is in your Payment account. Etsy's fees and taxes help article calls Offsite Ads fees sale-based fees. It says an Offsite Ads fee waits in your Pending balance along with the sale it came from. Then the fee moves to your Current balance when the money from that sale does. To look, go to Shop Manager, then Finances, then Payment account. I explain the rest of that page in my guide to Etsy fees.

What does Offsite Ads cost on a $25 order and a $100 order?

Now here are two orders worked out with Etsy's fee policy, checked October 16, 2026. Every assumption below is mine, so change one and the answer changes.

• The seller: A US seller selling in US dollars.
• The order: Item price only. No shipping charged, no gift wrap, no personalization and no sales tax. Etsy says Offsite Ads fees don't apply to sales tax for US sellers.
• Etsy's other fees: A $0.20 listing fee charged for this sale and a 6.5 percent transaction fee. Then there's Etsy's US payment processing fee of 3 percent plus $0.25 from the Etsy Payments Policy, checked October 16, 2026.
• The Offsite Ads fee: Charged on the full order total, as the fee policy says. Both orders came from a buyer clicking one of Etsy's Offsite Ads within the 30 days before ordering.

Here is the $25 order.

The same $25 order with no Offsite Ads has $2.83 in fees (0.20 + 1.63 + 1.00), which is 11.3 percent. The seller keeps $22.17.

And here is the $100 order.

The same $100 order with no Offsite Ads has $9.95 in fees, and the seller keeps $90.05.

Two more details. If the shop charges $5 for shipping on the $25 item, the order total is $30. Then 15 percent is $4.50 and 12 percent is $3.60. And the $100 cap only matters on big orders. At 15 percent, an order total over $666.67 hits the cap ($100 divided by 0.15). At 12 percent, an order total over $833.33 hits the cap ($100 divided by 0.12).

These examples are not an average order, and they don't predict how many of your orders Etsy will charge. Etsy doesn't publish what share of a shop's sales come from its ads. I work out monthly totals at $1,000, $3,000 and $5,000 in sales, with the same Etsy fees, in my Etsy fees vs Shopify fees guide.

How does having your own Shopify store change the Offsite Ads math?

So Offsite Ads only applies to orders placed on Etsy. An order placed on your own Shopify store is not an Etsy order, so Etsy has no Offsite Ads fee to take from it. That is my reading of Etsy's wording, which ties the fee to orders from your Etsy shop.

Shopify charges its own fees instead. Shopify's Basic plan is $29 a month paid yearly or $39 paid monthly, in US dollars. On Basic, Shopify's US online card rate is 2.9 percent plus 30 cents. Both were checked October 16, 2026 on Shopify's pricing page. I do that math next to the Etsy math in Etsy fees vs Shopify fees, so it isn't repeated here.

But keep in mind the catch. A new Shopify store doesn't bring buyers by itself. In my view, the Offsite Ads fee is the price of Etsy bringing you the buyer. So a Shopify store saves you that fee only on the buyers you bring yourself. If you're deciding where to start, my Shopify vs Etsy guide goes through it.

Is it against Etsy's rules to send customers to your own website or email them?

Now this is the part a lot of sellers worry about. Etsy's written policies do ban some things here, and they say nothing about others. Every row below says which Etsy page the line comes from. All were read October 16, 2026, and all are platform rules, not laws.

Something to note is that Etsy's Privacy Policy (last updated Nov 20, 2025) says it doesn't apply to the practices of Etsy sellers. So the Seller Policy lines above are the ones that cover what you do with a buyer's information.

What about just having a website, a link in your bio or a package insert?

So here is where Etsy's text goes quiet. These points are my reading of what the policies do and don't say, and Etsy decides how it applies its own rules.

• Having your own website: The Off-Platform Transactions Policy bans telling a member to purchase there. The policy text doesn't say a seller can't have a website. Whether a link to it is fine somewhere in your Etsy shop isn't confirmed on any Etsy page linked here, so treat that as unconfirmed.
• Your Instagram or TikTok bio linking to your own store: A bio link isn't an Etsy listing or an Etsy message, and the policies above don't address it.
• A card, flyer or coupon in the package: Etsy's policies don't mention package inserts. But Etsy's bans on off-Etsy discounts and on QR codes that send members off Etsy are in writing. Anything printed on an insert that does one of those two things falls under those lines.
• Emailing people who signed up on your own site or social account: Etsy's text above covers Etsy members you met through an Etsy order. Etsy's text doesn't speak to an email list built on your own site. Email law is a separate subject from Etsy's rules. The Federal Trade Commission's CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business explains the US law for marketing email. It covers things like honest subject lines, putting your postal address in the email and giving people a clear way to opt out. This is general information, and your state agency or an attorney can confirm what applies to you.

What is Etsy's Share & Save program, and how does it help with your own followers?

Basically, Share & Save is Etsy's own program for sellers who send their own followers to Etsy. Etsy's Share & Save help article covers buyers who order within 30 days of clicking a link you shared. On those orders, Etsy gives you an instant 4 percent refund of the eligible order total, paid into your Etsy Payment account balance. That 4 percent was checked October 16, 2026.

1. In Shop Manager, open Marketing, then Share & Save.
2. Click Join now.
3. Put the trackable link Etsy gives you on social posts, in your bio, or in marketing email lists and newsletters. Etsy names those places. Links sent through Etsy Messages or placed in listing descriptions don't count.

Etsy's help article gives its own example. A $100 order gives a $4.00 refund. That works out like cutting the 6.5 percent transaction fee ($6.50) to 2.5 percent ($2.50). That's my arithmetic, 6.50 minus 4.00. For new members, Etsy runs a promotion that pays 6.5 percent back on eligible orders for the first two weeks after sign-up. Promotions can end, so check the article.

Orders that qualify show a Share & Save badge. Etsy's Stats show clicks, orders, revenue and money saved, and your Payment account shows the refund under Fees. The help article doesn't say what happens when a buyer used a Share & Save link and also clicked an Offsite Ad on the same order.

What is Etsy Pattern, and does it change these rules?

So Pattern is Etsy's own way to give you a website of your own. Etsy's Pattern help article calls it an additional channel that doesn't replace your Etsy shop. Etsy's Pattern policy was last updated May 25, 2023, and I read it October 16, 2026.

• Price: A 30 day free trial after you publish, then $15.00 a month plus tax. The Pattern subscription renews on the 1st of each month. Etsy's fee policy also lists $15, checked October 16, 2026.
• Checkout: Etsy says buyers are directed to a checkout page on Etsy's site that highlights the name of your Pattern site. A buyer can use an Etsy account, register or check out as a guest.
• Fees: The payment processing fee still applies. Listings you put only on your Pattern site have no listing fee or transaction fee.
• Web address: You can bring your own domain, register one through OpenSRS and Tucows (the price depends on the name), or use YourEtsyShopName.patternbyetsy.com.
• The $10,000 line: Etsy's fee policy leaves Pattern orders out when it counts sales toward $10,000.

Etsy's pages don't say whether a Pattern order can itself be an Attributed Order. And since checkout for a Pattern order runs on Etsy's site, the Seller Policy rule on buyer email addresses above is the one to read for those buyers.

What do Etsy's pages not say about Offsite Ads?

Now a few answers aren't on the Etsy pages linked here. I'd rather tell you that plainly than guess.

• Refunds of the fee: Etsy's fee pages don't say whether Etsy returns the Offsite Ads fee when an order is refunded or cancelled.
• Offsite Ads plus Share & Save: Etsy's pages don't say whether both apply to one order.
• Pattern orders: Etsy's pages don't say whether a Pattern order can be charged an Offsite Ads fee.
• Package inserts: Etsy's policies don't mention them.
• The exact US screen for your 365 day sales total: Etsy says the totals are in Shop Manager and doesn't name the screen.

For anything about your own shop, Etsy's help pages and Etsy Seller Support have the final word on how Etsy applies these rules to your account.

When should you keep Offsite Ads on, and when is it the wrong choice?

So here is where I'd land, as opinion and not an Etsy statement.

• If your shop is under $10,000 and Etsy is your main source of buyers, then I'd keep Offsite Ads on. Etsy charges nothing unless a buyer clicks an ad and orders, and the ads only work if Etsy can use your listings.
• If your shop is under $10,000 and most of your orders come from your own followers or your own site, then opting out is worth considering. While you're under $10,000, you can turn Offsite Ads back on later. Keep in mind that Etsy's box warns the opt out could lower your visibility.
• If your shop is close to $10,000, then know that the opt out stops applying once the shop crosses the $10,000 line. So any opt out you choose now only lasts until then.
• If you want to move buyers to your own store, then Etsy's written rules limit how you can ask. A site of your own works best when you bring the visitors, as in my Shopify vs Etsy guide.

And if you're weighing a different marketplace, Etsy vs Amazon Handmade and Amazon's seller fees explained show the other side. Or if you're still deciding whether to sell on Etsy at all, start with is Etsy worth it. Then read how to start an Etsy shop and Etsy fees explained.

Videos worth watching about Etsy Offsite Ads

And if you want to see the screens move, here are three videos. You can play each one right here on the page, and YouTube's usual controls work, including skipping ahead, changing the speed and going full screen. Under each video is a short summary so you can decide if it's worth your time. Don't take a price from a video as current, because Etsy's fee policy is the page to check.

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