Folksy — the UK-only handmade marketplace — keeps its fee list refreshingly short: a listing fee, a commission, and that's Folksy's share done. The subtleties worth knowing are where VAT lands, what the commission does and doesn't touch, and the fee Folksy doesn't charge but you still pay.
Listing fee — 15p + VAT (18p) per item quantity, charged when you list or relist; your first three listings are free, and the £7.50/month Plus account replaces listing fees entirely (we've done that break-even separately). Commission — 6% + VAT (7.2%), and here's Folksy's best feature: it applies to the item price only. Postage is commission-free — the exact opposite of Etsy and eBay, where the percentage hits your shipping too. Payment processing — Folksy doesn't process payments; buyers pay you through your own Stripe or PayPal, so those fees (Stripe UK ~1.5% + 20p; PayPal nearer 2.9% + 30p) are between you and your processor, on the full amount including postage.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Listing fee (15p + VAT) | £0.18 |
| Commission (7.2% of £15 — item only) | £1.08 |
| Stripe processing (1.5% + 20p on £18.20) | £0.47 |
| Total | £1.73 |
That's 9.5% of the £18.20 the buyer pays. The same sale on Etsy UK costs a typical non-VAT-registered seller £2.82 — 15.5% — because Etsy's percentages hit the postage and its fees carry VAT on top. Folksy quotes its fees VAT-inclusive, so what you see is what leaves.
Fees are only half a marketplace comparison; the other half is buyers, and Etsy's footfall dwarfs Folksy's. Cheaper per-sale means little without the sale — which is why the practical answer for many UK makers is both platforms at once, priced with each one's real fee stack rather than one mental figure.
Verified against Folksy's published fees, August 2026; fees change. Not affiliated with Folksy Ltd. Not financial advice.