PayPal Reverse Fee Calculator
Charge the right amount to net the target.
Processor pricing varies by country, card type and whatever you negotiated, and it changes without much notice. Take the real figures from your own statement — these defaults are a starting point, not your account.
Charge this amount
$104.12
to receive exactly $100.00
Adding 3.49% to $100.00 gives $103.98, which leaves you $0.14 short — because PayPal takes its percentage of what you charged, not of what you wanted. The right form is (target + fixed) ÷ (1 − rate), which is division, not addition. Over 400 orders a month that shortfall is $667 a year.
How the PayPal Reverse Fee Calculator works
Asking for the target plus PayPal's percentage always leaves you short, because PayPal takes its percentage of the amount you actually requested. The correct figure comes from dividing by one minus the rate, and at PayPal's higher rates the shortfall is bigger than it is elsewhere.
Not financial advice. Marketplace fees change, and they vary by country, plan and seller status. Every rate here is an editable default, not a quoted price — check the platform's current fee schedule before you price a product against it. This is not tax or business advice.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the gross-up?
(Target plus the fixed fee) divided by (1 minus the percentage). At 3.49% plus $0.49 to receive $100: (100 + 0.49) ÷ 0.9651 = $104.12.
How much does the wrong method cost?
At 3.49%, adding the percentage to a $100 target leaves you about 36 cents short. Trivial once; on a hundred invoices a month it is £430 a year of quietly absorbed fees.
Can I add the fee to a customer invoice?
For business invoicing this is usually a matter of agreement, and many freelancers do it as a stated line. For consumer card sales it may be a regulated surcharge, so check the rules in your market first.
What about the cross-border fee?
Include it in the percentage before dividing. Any additional percentage-based fee belongs inside the divisor, otherwise you are back to being short by the amount you left out.