Stripe Reverse Fee Calculator

What to charge so an exact amount lands.

Work out the amount to charge so a target sum arrives after Stripe fees, using division rather than the addition most people try.

Written and maintained by Mohit PatelLast checked August 4, 2026How we build these

Amount you want to receive

Stripe percentage

Fixed fee per transaction

Orders per month

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

$103.30

to receive exactly $100.00

Amount charged$103.30

Stripe fee$3.30

You receive$100.00

If you added the percentage instead$103.20

Adding 2.9% to $100.00 gives $103.20, which leaves you $0.09 short, because Stripe 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 $445 a year.

How the Stripe Reverse Fee Calculator works

To receive exactly £100 after a 2.9% plus 30p fee you charge £103.30, not £103.20. Adding the percentage to the target always falls short, because the processor takes its cut of the larger figure it actually charged, the same reason removing VAT is division rather than subtraction.

Also known as: Stripe gross up calculator · what to charge to receive a set amount on Stripe · Stripe fee added on top

Written out

To receive a specific net amount, the gross has to cover the fee on itself: gross = (net + fixed) ÷ (1 − rate). That is the reverse-fee calculation, and the division is the whole of it.

Adding the fee to the net instead undercharges, because the added amount is itself subject to the percentage. The shortfall is small per transaction and systematic across all of them.

Running the numbers

To net $58 at 2.9% + $0.30: gross = (58 + 0.30) ÷ 0.971 = $60.04. The fee on $60.04 is $2.04, leaving exactly $58.

The naive approach, adding 2.9% of $58 plus $0.30, gives $59.98. The fee on that is $2.04, so $57.94 arrives. A six-cent shortfall on one transaction.

Six cents sounds trivial and it is not zero: across 15,000 transactions a year it is $900, and it is entirely avoidable by dividing rather than adding.

What gets missed

It assumes you know the rate that will apply, and you do not until the card is presented. An international card at a higher rate will leave you short of the target net even with the arithmetic done correctly.

Passing the fee to the customer is also regulated in many jurisdictions and prohibited by card scheme rules in others. The calculation is straightforward; whether you may charge the result is a separate question with a different answer per market.

What to do next

Use the division form. It is the same effort as the addition and it is correct, which makes the choice easy once the difference is visible.

Then check the local rules before surcharging. Several jurisdictions cap surcharges at the actual cost of acceptance, and a surcharge calculated to fully recover a blended rate can exceed that cap on individual transactions.

Why this comes up more than it should

The pattern recurs anywhere a percentage is taken from an amount you are solving for: reverse VAT, reverse marketplace fees, break-even pricing, target margin. The structure is identical and so is the error.

The rule worth internalising is that a percentage of an unknown belongs in the denominator. Once you recognise the shape, the reverse fee, reverse tax and target margin calculations are all the same operation.

The reason it produces such persistent errors is that the addition version looks right and is nearly right. A six-cent gap on a $60 transaction survives every spot check anyone performs and only becomes visible in an annual reconciliation, by which point it is a four-figure number with no obvious cause.

Platforms and marketplaces settling to third parties. Where a platform takes its own commission and passes the remainder on, the processing fee has to be allocated deliberately rather than absorbed by whoever happens to be last in the chain.

Stripe Connect makes that allocation explicit, the fee can sit with the platform or with the connected account, and choosing it by default rather than by decision is how platforms end up quietly funding the payment costs of their sellers.

Whichever way it is set, the reverse calculation is what determines the gross needed for the seller to receive the amount the platform promised them.

Where to go next

The Stripe Reverse Fee question rarely arrives on its own. These are the ones that usually come with it:

Stripe Fee Calculator — Fee on the gross, including shipping and tax.
PayPal Reverse Fee Calculator — Charge the right amount to net the target.
Payment Surcharge Calculator — Recovering a fee costs more than the fee.
Etsy Fee Calculator — Every Etsy fee on one sale, itemised.

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

What is the formula?

Charge equals (target plus the fixed fee) divided by (1 minus the percentage). At 2.9% plus 30 cents to receive $100: (100 + 0.30) ÷ 0.971 = $103.30.

Why does adding the percentage not work?

Because the percentage applies to what you charged, not to what you wanted. Add 2.9% to $100 and you charge $103.20; Stripe takes 2.9% of $103.20 plus 30 cents, leaving $99.71. You are 29 cents short before you start.

When would I do this?

Invoicing where a contract specifies a net amount, paying out a fixed sum to a contributor, or any arrangement where the customer has agreed to cover the fee. Also for topping up a balance to an exact figure.

Is passing the fee on allowed?

For invoices and B2B arrangements it is usually a matter of agreement. As a card surcharge on consumer sales it is restricted or banned in many places, and card scheme rules cap it separately.