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How Much Can You Make on Depop?

Guide · 1,006 words · fees verified 27 August 2026

No average is meaningful here, and it is worth being blunt about why. Earnings depend on what you sell, what it cost you, your average price, how consistently you list, and how much of your inventory suits a young style-led audience. Those combine into a range too wide to summarize, and any specific number quoted is either an unusual month or someone's first two weeks.

What is useful is the arithmetic, because Depop's fee structure makes it unusually simple to calculate.

The calculation

Take the item price plus whatever the buyer paid for shipping. Subtract payment processing at 3.3 percent plus 45 cents, which for US sellers is the only compulsory platform cost since there is no selling commission on eligible new listings. Subtract what shipping actually cost you, subtract packaging, and subtract what the item cost you to acquire.

What remains is the margin. Divide it by the time you spent photographing, listing, answering questions, packing and shipping, and you have the number that actually matters.

On a hundred-dollar sale the platform takes roughly $3.75. That is the smallest deduction in the whole calculation, which is the point about Depop: fees are not what determines your outcome here, and that is unusual.

What actually determines the number

Acquisition cost is the largest variable by a distance, and it is the one sellers underweight. A wardrobe being cleared has an effective cost of zero and everything is margin. Inventory bought to resell has a real cost, and margin is created at the moment you buy rather than the moment you sell.

Average price is second. The work of photographing, listing, packing and shipping is roughly identical whether an item sells for eight dollars or eighty, so a shop selling higher-value pieces nets far more per hour for the same effort. This is why sellers who start with cheap basics often conclude the platform does not pay, when the inventory rather than the platform was the problem.

Consistency is third, and it compounds. A feed-based platform rewards regular activity, so a seller listing steadily gets visibility a seller listing in bursts does not, and visibility is what converts good stock into sales.

The costs people leave out

Your own time is the main one. An hour of listing is not an hour of work once photography, questions, packing and post office trips are counted, and a shop that nets a modest amount across a whole weekend is paying poorly however healthy the sales figure looks.

Shipping is the second, particularly on heavier items where a flat rate quietly subsidizes coats out of t-shirts. Weigh a representative item per category once so you are pricing against real numbers.

Boost fees are the third and they are easy to forget because they are optional. At 12 percent on eligible new listings in the UK and US from 23 March 2026, a boosted sale costs several times an unboosted one.

Bottom line

There is no useful average, so calculate your own: item price plus shipping paid, minus 3.3 percent and 45 cents processing, minus actual shipping cost, minus packaging, minus what the item cost you, divided by the hours you genuinely spent. On Depop the platform fee is the smallest deduction in that list, which is unusual and means fees are not what determines your outcome. Acquisition cost is the largest variable, average price is second because the work per item is roughly constant regardless of value, and consistency is third because a feed rewards regular activity. The costs most often left out are your own time, shipping on heavy items, and the 12 percent boost fee.

Frequently asked questions

How much do Depop sellers make?
There is no meaningful average, because it depends on acquisition cost, average price, listing consistency and how well your inventory suits a style-led audience. What is calculable is your own figure: item price plus shipping paid, minus processing at 3.3 percent plus 45 cents, minus real shipping and packaging costs, minus what the items cost you, divided by the hours spent.
Is Depop profitable for sellers?
It can be, and its fee structure gives it a genuine head start, since US sellers pay no selling commission on eligible new listings and processing is the only compulsory cost. Whether it is profitable for you depends far more on what your inventory cost and what it sells for than on the platform, because the platform fee is the smallest deduction in the calculation.
Why do my Depop sales look better than my profit?
Usually acquisition cost, which is the largest number in the calculation and the one most often left out. If you are reselling rather than clearing your own wardrobe, margin was created when you bought, not when you sold. Shipping on heavier items and any boost fees are the next two culprits, both of which are easy to overlook.
Does selling cheap items on Depop pay?
Poorly, one at a time. The work of photographing, listing, packing and shipping is roughly the same regardless of price, so low-value items produce a bad return per hour. The 45-cent flat component of the processing fee compounds it, since it does not scale down. Bundling similar cheap pieces into a single listing fixes both problems.
How long does selling on Depop actually take?
Considerably longer than the listing itself. Photography, writing the listing, answering questions, packing and getting parcels sent all count, and the post-sale work scales with how many items sold. Calculating your return per total hour rather than per sale is the most clarifying thing you can do, and it is the calculation almost nobody performs.
Can you make a living on Depop?
Some people do, and the ones who manage it almost always have a reliable source of inventory at a genuine discount, a higher average price than a typical wardrobe clear-out, and a consistent listing habit. The fee structure helps, but sourcing is what makes it a business rather than a way of tidying up profitably.