Which calculation do you need?
Creators: start with the money calculators for your platform (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch), then the CPM/RPM and engagement tools to understand the rate behind the total — the rate is what strategy can change. Sellers: run every product through the fee calculator for its platform before pricing, then the margin, markup and break-even tools to set a price that survives fees, ads and returns.
- Creator earnings: YouTube money, TikTok, Instagram money, Twitch.
- Rates and reach: YouTube CPM/RPM, Instagram engagement rate.
- Seller fees: Etsy, eBay, sales tax & VAT.
- Pricing: profit margin, markup, ROI, break-even ROAS.
A worked example
A $45 Etsy sale (item plus shipping) loses about $5.35 to listing, transaction and processing fees — roughly 12% — before materials. If an Offsite Ads fee attaches, another 12–15% leaves. A seller who priced for a 40% margin on materials alone can discover the platform stack consumed most of it. The fee calculators exist so that discovery happens before the listing goes live, in the price, not after it, in the payout.
Mistakes that distort the answer
- Quoting YouTube CPM as earnings; RPM, after the platform share and unmonetised views, is the number that reaches the bank.
- Pricing products on material cost plus a markup, without the platform fee stack and return rate.
- Treating sales tax as a cost of the product rather than a collected amount to remit — and missing nexus obligations in states you ship into.
Questions, answered
Why do two channels with equal views earn so differently?
Advertisers pay for audience intent and geography. A US personal-finance viewer can be worth ten times a general entertainment viewer elsewhere; niche and country mix explain most earnings gaps.
Which marketplace is cheapest to sell on?
At base rates, Etsy is usually cheaper than eBay; with advertising fees triggered, the order can flip. Run your own price point through both fee calculators — the answer depends on the sale.
Reviewed by Tahir Shehzad, ACMA · Content reviewed November 2026 against primary sources — see our Methodology and Editorial Policy. Figures are educational estimates, not tax or financial advice.
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