List a ₹500 saree on a big marketplace and ₹500 is not what reaches your bank account. Depending on the platform, somewhere between ₹50 and ₹200 goes in deductions before settlement. Commission gets all the attention, but it is only one line on the bill, and in 2026 it is often the smallest one.
Here is what each platform deducts, as of July 2026, from their published rate cards. Fees change often, so treat this as the map and check the official rate card before you price anything.
The fees nobody lists upfront
Six things come off a marketplace sale:
- Commission, also called a referral fee: a percentage of the price.
- A fixed or closing fee: a flat amount per order.
- A collection or payment fee, on some platforms.
- Shipping, charged by weight and distance.
- Returns: a failed delivery or a customer return costs shipping again, plus your packaging.
- Ads: optional on paper, but on a crowded marketplace, visibility is usually bought.
And one thing on top of all of them: the fees themselves carry 18% GST.
Amazon
The big 2026 change: Amazon dropped its referral fee to 0% for products priced up to ₹1,000 across 1,800-plus categories, sarees included. Above ₹1,000, sarees pay 7%. So a ₹500 saree pays no commission on Amazon now.
What remains is the closing fee per order (₹26 on the current card for a ₹300 to ₹500 self-shipped order), Amazon’s shipping charge by weight and distance when Amazon delivers, and GST on those fees. Ads are where many Amazon sellers actually spend, because ranking without them is slow.
Flipkart
Flipkart still charges commission: around 16.5% for sarees and most apparel on the 2026 card, 18% for bridal wear, a little less for some men’s wear. On ₹500, that is ₹82.50 before anything else.
Then a fixed fee per order that depends on your seller tier, a collection fee for payment processing, shipping by weight and zone (₹30 to ₹60 for a half-kilo parcel), and 18% GST on all of it. Your exact numbers live in the Seller Hub rate card, and they vary by tier and sub-category.
Meesho
Meesho has charged 0% commission for years, and that is real. What you pay is shipping, roughly ₹40 to ₹90 per order by weight and distance, plus GST on it, and small penalties if you dispatch late or cancel an order.
The cost that surprises Meesho sellers is returns. Refused and returned parcels are common in Meesho’s price segment, and while Meesho does not bill you for the return shipping, every parcel that comes back still costs you the packaging, the time, and sometimes the product’s condition. Price for it.
The same ₹500 saree, side by side
A prepaid order, half a kilo, delivered in-state, using the current published numbers:
- Amazon: ₹0 commission, about ₹26 closing fee, shipping by weight when Amazon delivers, GST on the fees. Roughly ₹80 to ₹110 deducted.
- Flipkart: about ₹82 commission, plus fixed fee, collection fee, shipping and GST. Roughly ₹150 to ₹200 deducted.
- Meesho: ₹0 commission, ₹40 to ₹90 shipping plus GST. Roughly ₹50 to ₹105 deducted.
- Sagazo: ₹0 deducted. You ship with your own courier, which for a saree runs about ₹60 to ₹70 by surface, and you price that in yourself.
The point is not that any platform is cheating you. The point is that “commission” alone tells you almost nothing. Add every line for your product, then decide.
Where Sagazo fits
Sagazo charges no commission, no listing fee, no fixed fee, and no collection fee. A ₹700 sale settles as ₹700. You ship orders yourself with the courier you choose, or, if you would rather not deal with couriers, Sagazo can handle delivery for you as an optional paid service. That, and advertising later on, is how we make money, and both are optional. The full picture is in zero commission selling on Sagazo.
Taxes work the same everywhere and are smaller than people fear; the seller’s GST story is in our GST post.
If the maths above made you want the simple column, tell us about your shop on the become a seller page.
Rates quoted are from the platforms’ published rate cards and announcements as of July 2026, and they change often. Check the official seller portal for your category before pricing.