Gumroad fees, checked: 10% plus 50 cents per sale, card processing on top, 30% on Discover, and a lower rate for big months
Last updated 2026-10-04 · By Smart Pick Desk editors · Fees read on Gumroad's pricing page and its help centre on 2026-10-04; terms read the same day · We have not sold on Gumroad · How we checked ↓
The short answer
Gumroad is a place to sell digital products — e-books, courses, templates, memberships — from a simple profile page or a link you share. It has no plans and no monthly price. Instead it takes 10% + $0.50 from each direct sale, card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 is charged on top according to its help centre, and sales found through its Discover marketplace pay a flat 30%.
- Direct sales (your profile or your own link): 10% + $0.50, plus card processing, plus sales tax collected on top.[1][2]
- Discover sales: a flat 30%, processing included.[1][2]
- After $20,000 in a calendar month: new direct sales that month pay 5% + $0.50.[2]
If you want one sentence: on a $20 product sold through your own link, about $3.38 goes in fees and $16.62 reaches you by our arithmetic, and the same sale through Discover leaves $14.
On this page
At a glance
| Where the sale comes from | Gumroad's fee | Card processing | Monthly charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your profile or a direct link | 10% + $0.50 | 2.9% + $0.30 on top | None |
| Direct, after $20,000 that calendar month | 5% + $0.50 | 2.9% + $0.30 on top | None |
| Gumroad Discover marketplace | 30% flat | Included | None |
| Free product | No fee | None | None |
Gumroad's pricing page and its help article on fees, read 2026-10-04.[1][2][10]
The pricing page sums up its model as “No hidden fees, no monthly charges.” and describes the two percentage rates as “Per transaction for all sales through your profile or direct links to your customers.” and “Per transaction when new customers find and buy from you through our discover marketplace.”[1] The help article adds the card processing and the lower rate above $20,000, which the pricing page does not show.[2]
How we checked this (and what we did not check)
Last updated 2026-10-04 (first version). Every rate and quotation here comes from Gumroad's own pages. Fees change — confirm on Gumroad's own page before you start selling.
What we did. On 2026-10-04 we opened gumroad.com/pricing in a browser with no account and saved the page text, including its FAQ. The same day we saved ten help-centre articles on fees, refund policies, refunding a customer, custom refund policies, sales tax, tax on Discover sales, custom domains, installment plans, pay what you want pricing and file size limits, and Gumroad's terms of service. Wording in quotation marks is copied from those saved pages word for word, and a script checks every quotation against the saved text.
What we did not do. We have not sold anything on Gumroad. There is no account, no screenshot of the product and no record of a real payout. Every image is a chart or summary we drew from the saved text; none shows Gumroad's logo or screens. The worked examples are our arithmetic using the published rates on four sample prices; Gumroad's own rounding of a single sale could differ by a cent on other prices, and sales tax is left out. Payout timing and fees by country are not covered.
What that leaves. Gumroad's fee rates, what they come to on typical prices, and its refund, tax and free-product rules, as published.
The fee on a direct sale
A direct sale is one where the buyer arrives through your Gumroad profile or a link you shared — from your newsletter, a social post or your own website. The fees article: “For sales made on Gumroad's website, we charge a 10% + $0.50 fee + sales tax per transaction.”[2]
| Fees on one direct sale | Gumroad fee (10% + $0.50) | Card processing (2.9% + $0.30) | Total fees | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10 sale | $1.50 | $0.59 | $2.09 | $7.91 |
| $20 sale | $2.50 | $0.88 | $3.38 | $16.62 |
| $50 sale | $5.50 | $1.75 | $7.25 | $42.75 |
| $100 sale | $10.50 | $3.20 | $13.70 | $86.30 |
Our arithmetic from the rates in Gumroad's fees article.[2] We chose prices on which the rates give whole cents, so no rounding is involved. Sales tax is collected from the buyer on top and is not included.
Because $0.50 + $0.30 is a fixed amount on every sale, small prices lose a bigger share. On the $10 sale fees are 20.9% of the price; on the $100 sale they are 13.7% (our arithmetic). If you are deciding between selling a $5 item and a $20 bundle, the fixed part alone is 16% of the $5 price before any percentage is added.
Card processing on top
The fees article lists what the 10% + $0.50 does not include, and the first line is “Credit card processing (2.9% + $0.30)”.[2] In other words, on a direct sale you pay two fees: Gumroad's and the card processor's.
- Where to see it. The article says you can export a CSV of your sales to see the exact fees on every sale.[2]
- Connected accounts work differently. If you use your own connected Stripe or PayPal account, the processor charges you directly; the refund article explains that in that case the processor keeps its fees on a refund.[4]
- Discover includes processing. The 30% on marketplace sales already covers it (next section).[2]
Adding the two together, a direct sale costs 12.9% plus $0.80 by our arithmetic. That combined figure is the one to compare with tools that quote a single all-in rate.
Discover sales and the 30%
Discover is Gumroad's own marketplace, where buyers browse products. When a new customer finds you there, the rate is higher: “Sales made through Gumroad's marketplace (discovery sales via Gumroad.com) are subject to a flat 30% fee, which includes all processing fees.”[2]
| Price | Direct sale: total fees | Direct sale: you keep | Discover sale: 30% fee | Discover sale: you keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | $2.09 | $7.91 | $3.00 | $7.00 |
| $20 | $3.38 | $16.62 | $6.00 | $14.00 |
| $50 | $7.25 | $42.75 | $15.00 | $35.00 |
| $100 | $13.70 | $86.30 | $30.00 | $70.00 |
Our arithmetic from the rates in the fees article.[2]
The trade is simple: Discover brings buyers you did not reach yourself, and costs more than twice as much per sale on most prices. Sales tax on Discover sales can also be handled differently: in some US states, Gumroad collects tax on marketplace sales as a marketplace facilitator, according to its tax article on Discover.[7]
The lower rate after $20,000
The fees article describes a monthly volume discount: “Once your paid sales in a calendar month reach $20,000, new direct sales that month are 5% + $0.50 instead of 10% + $0.50.” And: “This resets on the 1st of each month.”[2]
- No application. The lower fee applies automatically.[2]
- Refunds can undo it. A refund that takes you back under $20,000 returns new sales to 10% + $0.50 until you cross the line again that month.[2]
- What it does not change. Discover sales stay at 30%, the $0.50 per-sale part stays, and a custom fee already set on your account still takes precedence.[2]
| Price | Total fees before $20,000 that month | Gumroad fee after $20,000 (5% + $0.50) | Total fees after $20,000 | You keep after $20,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | $2.09 | $1.00 | $1.59 | $8.41 |
| $20 | $3.38 | $1.50 | $2.38 | $17.62 |
| $50 | $7.25 | $3.00 | $4.75 | $45.25 |
| $100 | $13.70 | $5.50 | $8.70 | $91.30 |
Our arithmetic from the rates in the fees article; card processing at 2.9% + $0.30 is included in both total columns.[2]
By our arithmetic, a $50 sale after the threshold costs $4.75 in fees instead of $7.25 — $3.00 for Gumroad's part instead of $5.50, with card processing unchanged. Because the count restarts each month, the discount is for sellers who pass $20,000 within one calendar month, not over a year. A seller with a steady $15,000 a month never reaches it, while one with a single launch month of $30,000 gets the lower rate on the second half of that month only.
Free products and pay what you want
- Free products cost nothing. The pay what you want article ends: “We also don't take any fee on free product sales.”[10]
- Pay what you want. Set the amount to $0 and buyers can take the product free, but anyone who chooses to pay must pay at least $0.99. Set the amount to $3 and buyers pay $3 or more.[10]
- File sizes. “Free products have a file size limit of 250 MB.” and “Products priced higher than $1 have a file size limit of 20 GB.”[11]
For someone building an email list with a free download, this means a lead magnet costs nothing on Gumroad, as long as the files fit in 250 MB.
Refunds and what happens to fees
- Your policy, with limits. Sellers set their own refund policy, including no refunds. But “Gumroad reserves the right to issue refunds within 90 days of purchase, at its discretion, to prevent chargebacks.”[3]
- Disputes. “If more than 1% of your customers dispute their purchases, Gumroad enforces a refund policy on your entire account.” A no-refunds account is then switched to a 30-day refund policy, according to the same article.[3]
- Brazil. Consumers in Brazil have 7 days to withdraw from a website purchase, which Gumroad honours even on no-refund products.[3][5]
- Fees on a refund. Gumroad returns its own fee on the refunded portion; “only the underlying payment-processing portion of the fee is retained”.[2]
- Your balance must cover it. “Refunds can only be processed if your balance is able to cover the transaction amount.” Refunds must be issued from the Gumroad dashboard, not from Stripe or PayPal directly.[4]
- Timing for the buyer. “Credit card funds usually take 5-10 business days to appear on the buyer’s account while PayPal refunds are immediate.”[4]
By our arithmetic, refunding a $20 direct sale in full returns the $2.50 Gumroad fee to you but not the $0.88 processing fee. A product with many refunds therefore costs a little on each one, even though Gumroad's own share comes back.
Sales tax and the merchant of record
- Gumroad collects the tax. “Gumroad now acts as the Merchant of Record for all sales.” It handles sales tax collection and remittance, and the dashboard's tax settings are switched off.[6][1]
- Tax is on top of the price. The fees article's wording is “10% + $0.50 fee + sales tax per transaction”.[2]
- One exception. Physical products shipped into the EU do not have VAT charged at checkout; the buyer pays import VAT on arrival.[6]
- Your own returns. Sellers who already file sales tax returns may report Gumroad sales as sales for resale, using a reseller certificate Gumroad provides.[6]
The merchant of record role is a real saving of work for small sellers selling to many countries: you do not register for VAT in each one. It does not change Gumroad's fee.
Installments, affiliates, files and domains
- Installment plans. “Each installment payment is subject to Gumroad's standard fees.” So the fixed $0.50 is charged on each payment, not once. An odd total puts the remainder on the first payment: $100 in three payments is $33.34, $33.33 and $33.33.[9]
- Affiliates. Fees on an affiliate sale are split between affiliate and creator in proportion to the commission; with a 30% commission, the affiliate bears 30% of the fees.[2]
- Custom domains. “The Custom Domain is an optional feature” for pointing your own domain at your Gumroad profile or a single product; the help article does not mention a charge for it.[8]
- Fee changes. The terms: “We may change the Gumroad Fees from time to time by posting the changes on the Website.” The terms we saved were last updated on September 14, 2026.[12]
Where Gumroad's pages disagree
- Card processing. The pricing page shows 10% + $0.50 and says “No hidden fees, no monthly charges.”[1] The fees article lists card processing at 2.9% + $0.30 as not included in that figure.[2] Nothing is hidden — it is in the help centre — but a seller reading only the pricing page would undercount fees by roughly 3% plus $0.30 a sale.
- The $20,000 rate. The lower 5% + $0.50 rate is in the fees article but not on the pricing page.[2][1]
- The file size line. The file limits article says both “Products priced higher than $1 have a file size limit of 20 GB.” and “If you price your product at any number greater than $0.99, the largest single file that you can upload to a product is 20 GB in size.”[11] For a product priced at exactly $1 the two sentences give different answers.
We have not asked Gumroad about these. The rates in the fees article are what we used throughout.
When Gumroad's model fits
| If you are… | What Gumroad's pages mean for you | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Just starting, selling a few items a month | No monthly fee; you pay only when you sell[1] | On a $10 sale about $2.09 goes in fees[2] |
| Giving away a lead magnet | No fee on free products[10] | 250 MB file limit on free products[11] |
| Relying on your own audience | Direct sales at 10% + $0.50 plus processing[2] | The fixed part weighs on low prices[2] |
| Hoping to be found by new buyers | Discover can bring them[1] | 30% on those sales[2] |
| Selling over $20,000 in a month | 5% + $0.50 on further direct sales that month[2] | Resets on the 1st; refunds can undo it[2] |
| Selling internationally | Gumroad handles sales tax as merchant of record[6] | Tax is added on top of your price[2] |
See Gumroad's own pricing page
Related pages on this site: Podia pricing, checked covers a monthly-priced store whose lowest plan also takes a percentage of each sale, and Substack pricing, checked covers another tool that charges a share of what you earn instead of a monthly fee.
Questions people ask
Does Gumroad have a monthly fee?
No. Fees come out of each sale, and free products carry none.[1][10]
How much does Gumroad take from a sale?
10% + $0.50 on a direct sale, plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing; $3.38 on a $20 sale by our arithmetic.[2] See the table.
What is the Gumroad Discover fee?
A flat 30%, processing included.[2]
Does Gumroad charge less for big sellers?
Yes: 5% + $0.50 on direct sales after $20,000 in a calendar month.[2]
Do I get Gumroad's fee back if I refund a customer?
Gumroad's own fee, yes; the processing part, no.[2][4]
Who handles sales tax on Gumroad?
Gumroad, as merchant of record for all sales.[6]
Do you get paid if I sign up?
Not from this page — it has no affiliate links today. If that changes, it will say so at the top, and each link will be marked.
Sources and check log
| # | Source | URL | Checked | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gumroad, Pricing (rates and FAQ) | gumroad.com/pricing | 2026-10-04 | Opened in a browser with no account; page text saved |
| 2 | Gumroad help, Gumroad's fees | gumroad.com/help › fees | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 3 | Gumroad help, Gumroad's refund policy | gumroad.com/help › refund policy | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 4 | Gumroad help, Issuing a refund | gumroad.com/help › refunding a customer | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 5 | Gumroad help, Set a custom refund policy | gumroad.com/help › custom refund policy | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 6 | Gumroad help, Sales tax on Gumroad | gumroad.com/help › sales tax | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 7 | Gumroad help, Indirect taxes on sales via Gumroad Discover | gumroad.com/help › Discover taxes | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 8 | Gumroad help, Setting up a custom domain | gumroad.com/help › custom domain | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 9 | Gumroad help, Allowing installment plans | gumroad.com/help › installment plans | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 10 | Gumroad help, Pay what you want pricing | gumroad.com/help › pay what you want | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 11 | Gumroad help, File size limits | gumroad.com/help › file size limits | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 12 | Gumroad, Terms of Service | gumroad.com/terms | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
Change log
- 2026-10-04 — First version. The pricing page, ten help articles and the terms read on 2026-10-04.
- Previous check: none for this page.
- What we will re-check: the 10% + $0.50 and 30% rates, the card processing line, the $20,000 threshold and the refund rules.
Who writes this
Smart Pick Desk is an independent site that compares tools for people who work online. We are not employed by, or partnered with, Gumroad, and we do not sell on Gumroad ourselves. What we do is read what each company publishes, write down the date we read it, and say plainly which parts we could not check. More: who the editors are and how we check a page.
We do not promise results. Nothing here is a prediction about what you will sell.