An Etsy sale starts the moment a buyer pays: the money lands in your Etsy Payment account, Etsy's fees for the sale are deducted from it, and you then have until your ship-by date to send the item and add tracking. After delivery the buyer's review window opens, and what is left of the sale moves to your bank on the deposit schedule you chose.
This walk-through is for new sellers waiting on a first order or holding one. With print on demand it matters even more: someone else makes the product, so you need to know which steps sit with you, which with your production partner and which with Etsy.
One order at a glance
The sections below take each step of this journey in turn.
| Step | What happens | What you do | What Etsy does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing is live | A buyer finds the item | Keep the listing accurate | Shows it in search and categories |
| Buyer pays | Money reaches your Etsy Payment account | Read the order and any personalization | Collects payment and deducts fees |
| Processing | The item is made | Send it to your partner, or make it | Sets the ship-by date |
| Shipping | The parcel leaves | Add tracking and mark it shipped | Sends the buyer a shipping notification |
| Delivery | The buyer receives it | Answer messages quickly | Opens the 100-day review window |
| Payout | The balance moves to your bank | Choose a deposit schedule | Deposits on that schedule |
Before the order: the listing and its fee
A listing costs money before it sells. Etsy charges "$0.20 per listing", and the fee "Has to be paid regardless of resulting sales" (Etsy fees). A listing lasts four months. If it renews automatically, another $0.20 is charged and the four-month period starts over.
If a listing has a quantity above one, a sale also costs "$0.20 per each additional quantity" sold, and the listing renews automatically when a buyer takes part of the quantity (Etsy listing renewals). A new listing can take up to 48 hours to appear in Etsy search and categories (Etsy listing guide).
When the buyer pays: the money and the fees
However the buyer pays, "the funds will go to your Etsy Payment account" (Etsy Payments). These fees apply to the sale:
Transaction fee: 6.5% of the total order amount, which includes shipping and gift wrap if you charge for them (Etsy fees).
Payment processing fee: a set rate plus a percent of the total, including shipping and sales tax, set by your bank account's country, for example 3% + 0.25 USD in the United States and 6.5% + 14 TRY in Türkiye (Etsy payment processing fees).
Regulatory operating fee: charged to sellers in some countries, for example 1.67% in Türkiye (Etsy regulatory operating fee).
Offsite Ads fee: only if the buyer clicked one of Etsy's external ads and bought within 30 days. It is 15% of the order total, or 12% for shops that made at least $10,000 in the past 365 days, and never more than $100 per order (Etsy Offsite Ads).
For a worked example, see what you keep from a $25 sale. For questions about tax or VAT on fees, check Etsy's help pages or a qualified professional.
Processing, shipping and tracking
Your processing time is "how much time you need to get an order ready to ship", and it starts the day after purchase (Etsy processing times). Etsy turns it into a ship-by date, "the date that you commit to ship an order to the buyer." Processing days are business days, Monday to Friday, and a weekend order counts as a Friday order (Etsy shipping profiles).
For print on demand, the processing time has to cover your partner's production, not just how fast you react. Our guide on what processing time to set for POD goes through it. If something slips, you can edit a ship-by date once, before it passes, and extend it by up to 21 days. Tell the buyer first.
When the parcel leaves, mark the order shipped by 11:59pm on the ship date in your shop's time zone, and add tracking:
For US sellers, tracking is required to complete an order (Etsy tracking).
For every seller, valid tracking is needed for an order to count toward Star Seller and to qualify for Etsy Purchase Protection.
You have 3 days to correct a tracking number or carrier (Etsy tracking), and after sending a shipping notification you can't change the order's completion status (Etsy order completion).
There is more on this in tracking numbers on Etsy. If you ship to US buyers from outside the US, Etsy's June 2026 update says that from July 9 sellers must account for all costs, including duties and import fees, and orders shipped without duties prepaid no longer qualify for Purchase Protection (Etsy updates). Check Etsy's help pages for your route.
After delivery: messages, reviews and the payout
Once the item arrives, the buyer has 100 days to leave a review, counted from the delivery date or the estimated delivery date (Etsy reviews). Etsy's customer service standards ask every seller to reply to 80% of first messages within 24 to 48 hours and to ship at least 80% of orders on time (Etsy customer service standards).
If something goes wrong, Etsy Purchase Protection can cover up to $250 of a refund on eligible orders. The conditions include shipping within your processing time with valid tracking and answering the buyer's Help with Order message within 48 hours (Etsy Purchase Protection). If you refund a buyer yourself, you can do it through Etsy Payments for up to 180 days (Etsy refunds).
The last step is the payout. You can choose "daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly deposits", new sellers start on weekly deposits every Monday, and a standard bank transfer can take 1 to 5 business days to appear (Etsy deposit schedule). New sellers may also have a payment reserve: Etsy releases the reserved funds as soon as it can confirm the order shipped, and for most sellers the reserve is removed within 90 days (Etsy payment reserves). Sellers based in Türkiye can read our guide to getting paid on Etsy from Türkiye.
How Alomations handles both ends of the sale
At the start of this journey, an Alomations listing run turns your design into a finished listing (mockups, title, 13 tags, description, plus the price, sizes, colours, shipping and processing profiles from your template) and publishes it live in your Etsy shop, or saves it as an Etsy draft if you prefer to look first. At the end, an order arrives resolved: the design and variant are matched, and the buyer's personalization text and photos are attached.
From the orders screen you can fulfill through production partners. Item cost and shipping are shown separately before you pay from your balance, each row says which print centre has the order, the partner cannot mark an order shipped without a tracking number, and tracking is posted back to Etsy where Etsy allows it. You can also print and ship an order yourself. The orders screen is open on every plan, Free included, and how it works shows the full flow.
Frequently asked questions
When does Etsy pay me for a sale?
The money reaches your Etsy Payment account, minus fees, when the buyer pays, then moves to your bank on your deposit schedule. A new shop may see part of it held in a reserve until shipping is confirmed.
What happens to Etsy's fees if I refund a buyer?
When you refund through Shop Manager, Etsy refunds the transaction fee and credits the payment processing fee in proportion to the refund. The $0.20 listing fee is credited back if you also cancel the transaction.
Is print on demand allowed on Etsy?
Yes, as long as the designs are your own. Etsy allows production partners, including print-on-demand services, for items that are the seller's original design, and you must disclose the partner on the listings it makes (Etsy POD rules, Etsy production partners).
If you want the first and last steps of every sale handled in one place, you can start on the free plan.