PayPal Goods and Services Fees: How to Receive $100 Net

Suppose a US PayPal account receives $100 through Send/Receive Money for Goods and Services. PayPal’s published rate is 2.99% with no fixed fee for that payment type. The fee is $2.99, so the recipient keeps $97.01.

If the goal is to keep exactly $100 after that fee, requesting $103 is not enough. At the same 2.99% rate, the smallest cent-level charge that leaves $100 is $103.08. Under this calculator’s half-up cent-rounding method, the fee on $103.08 is $3.08 and the net payment is $100.00.

That answer applies to one specific US payment type. PayPal Checkout, a standard credit or debit card payment, an invoice, an international sender, or an account with special pricing can produce a different fee. Match the transaction in your PayPal activity to the correct row on the official fee schedule before using any number in a quote or invoice.

Sources: PayPal Merchant Fees (United States)

PayPal describes a commercial transaction as a payment connected to buying or selling goods or services. On its US Merchant Fees page, the standard domestic rate for Send/Receive Money for Goods and Services is listed as 2.99%. Unlike several other PayPal payment types, that row does not add the commercial fixed fee.

For a $100 domestic G&S payment, multiply $100 by 2.99%. The percentage fee is $2.99. Subtract it from the payment and the recipient receives $97.01.

The fee is charged to the recipient of the commercial payment. That does not automatically mean a seller can add a surcharge to every customer. Card-network rules, PayPal terms, state law, and the seller’s contract may affect whether and how a processing charge can be passed on. Treat the calculation and the permission to charge it as two separate questions.

The common mistake is to add 2.99% to $100 and request $102.99. The percentage fee is calculated from the full amount received, including the amount added to cover the fee. Under this calculator’s half-up method, a 2.99% fee on $102.99 is $3.08, leaving $99.91—not $100.

To gross up a percentage fee, divide the target net amount by one minus the fee rate. For a 2.99% fee, divide $100 by 0.9701. The unrounded result is a little more than $103.08. At cent precision, $103.08 is the lowest charge that produces a $3.08 fee and a $100 net payment under the calculator’s half-up rounding method.

We convert every USD amount to integer cents, calculate the percentage fee with exact decimal arithmetic, and round that fee half up to the nearest cent. The reverse calculator then tests the completed forward calculation until it finds the lowest whole-cent charge that reaches the target.

This is a transparent estimation method, not a claim about PayPal’s undisclosed internal rounding sequence. Automated regression tests cover the published $100 fee, the reverse result, and the one-cent boundary on either side of that result.

“PayPal fee” is not one universal rate. The July 15, 2026 US schedule lists Send/Receive Money for Goods and Services at 2.99%. Standard credit and debit card payments cost 2.99% plus the fixed fee. PayPal Checkout costs 3.49% plus the fixed fee. For a commercial transaction received in US dollars, that fixed fee is $0.49.

That distinction changes both the fee on a $100 payment and the amount required to net $100. The following figures use the published US domestic rates and the same cent-level calculation used by our PayPal calculator.

Sources: PayPal Merchant Fees (United States) · PayPal Business Pricing (United States)

An invoice does not by itself identify the final fee. PayPal’s US schedule separates invoicing transactions by how the customer pays. A PayPal Checkout or Guest Checkout payment through an invoice uses a different published rate from a standard card payment through that invoice. Check the payment method in the transaction details instead of assuming every invoice has the same fee.

Sources: PayPal Merchant Fees: Invoicing Transaction Rates

Use the completed transaction rather than the invoice title or the customer’s description. Open the payment in your PayPal activity and record the payment method, the sender and recipient markets, the currency received, the gross amount, and each fee shown. Then match those facts to the applicable row in the current US Merchant Fees schedule.

If the displayed fee still does not match the public rate, first check for custom pricing, currency conversion, or international status. Then check whether micropayments, charity pricing, refunds, disputes, or another PayPal product applies. Keep the transaction record with your estimate. That makes it easier to tell a one-cent rounding difference from a different fee rule.

Sources: PayPal Merchant Fees (United States)

For a US account receiving an international commercial transaction, PayPal says the domestic transaction fee applies plus an additional 1.50%. A G&S payment that qualifies for the 2.99% domestic rate would therefore have a modeled percentage rate of 4.49% before any currency conversion effect.

Currency conversion is a separate issue. PayPal may build a conversion spread into the transaction exchange rate, and the relevant spread depends on what is being converted and who performs the conversion. Do not treat the 1.50% international addition as a complete estimate when the payment currency and settlement currency differ.

Sources: PayPal Merchant Fees: International and Currency Conversion Fees

Start with the transaction details in your PayPal account. A mismatch usually has one of four causes: the wrong payment type, a missed international fee, another currency, or special account pricing. Other PayPal rules can also change the cost. Examples include refunds, disputes, micropayments pricing, charity eligibility, Pay Later, QR transactions, and optional services.

Use the calculator as an estimate before sending a request or invoice, then reconcile the result against the completed transaction. Your account agreement and the fee shown by PayPal take priority over a public calculator.