What Is a Platform Transaction Fee?

It is set by the platform, not by the payment provider. Some platforms charge it on every plan, some only on lower tiers, some waive it when you use their in-house payment service, and some charge 0% on all plans. It is one of the main reasons two platforms with similar subscription prices can cost very different amounts at the end of the month.

It is often confused with the payment gateway fee, which PayPal, Stripe or another provider charges to process the payment. That fee exists on every platform and cannot be removed by the store builder. A "0% platform transaction fee" therefore means the platform takes nothing; it does not mean the payment provider takes nothing.

For small sellers, the platform transaction fee matters most when margins are thin and orders are few: a few percent of each test sale can be the difference between a campaign that breaks even and one that does not.

Example

Senvarico charges a 0% platform transaction fee on both its Free plan and its Small Seller plan. PayPal and Stripe still charge their own gateway fees separately.