Every digital product seller has done some version of this calculation:
"10% fee isn't bad. That's just the cost of doing business."
Then you actually do the math for a year. And you realize 10% of $20,000 is $2,000 — and you could have kept most of that.
Here's the breakdown nobody on Gumroad's marketing page wants to show you.
The actual cut
Gumroad advertises 10%. But you also pay:
Stripe fees (~2.9% + $0.30)
Paypal fees on PayPal sales
VAT handling fees (in some regions)
Effective cut on a $20 product: ~12.5%.
Peddlum charges 10% flat, and absorbs payment processing into that. Effective cut: 10%.
That 2.5% difference sounds tiny. Let me show you what it actually is.
A year of sales
My 2024 numbers, month by month:
January — Revenue: $1,200. Gumroad would take $150 (12.5%). Peddlum takes $120 (10%). Difference: $30.
February — Revenue: $980. Gumroad cut: $123. Peddlum cut: $98. Difference: $25.
March — Revenue: $1,450. Gumroad cut: $181. Peddlum cut: $145. Difference: $36.
April — Revenue: $2,100. Gumroad cut: $263. Peddlum cut: $210. Difference: $53.
May — Revenue: $1,800. Gumroad cut: $225. Peddlum cut: $180. Difference: $45.
June — Revenue: $2,400. Gumroad cut: $300. Peddlum cut: $240. Difference: $60.
July — Revenue: $1,900. Gumroad cut: $238. Peddlum cut: $190. Difference: $48.
August — Revenue: $2,200. Gumroad cut: $275. Peddlum cut: $220. Difference: $55.
September — Revenue: $1,700. Gumroad cut: $213. Peddlum cut: $170. Difference: $43.
October — Revenue: $2,500. Gumroad cut: $313. Peddlum cut: $250. Difference: $63.
November — Revenue: $2,800. Gumroad cut: $350. Peddlum cut: $280. Difference: $70.
December — Revenue: $3,400. Gumroad cut: $425. Peddlum cut: $340. Difference: $85.
Year total: Revenue $24,430. Gumroad would have taken $3,054. Peddlum took $2,443. Total saved: $611.
So that's $611 over a year. Not life-changing.
But wait.
The hidden cost — creator marketing
Gumroad has no built-in creator marketplace. So if I want UGC creators promoting my product, I either:
Hire a UGC agency ($500–$2,000/month)
Use a platform like Aspire or Tribe ($300+/month)
Cold DM creators (free, but eats my weekends)
Peddlum bundles the creator marketplace into the same 10% fee. I tested this in 2024 — running a parallel "agency" track for 4 months cost me $1,200 in agency fees on top of the 12.5% Gumroad was already taking.
Adjusted total cost saved by switching:
$611 in fees
$1,200 in agency fees I would have paid for what Peddlum gives me free
= $1,811 / year
For one product line. I have three.
When the math changes
This isn't true for everyone. Switching makes sense if:
You sell digital products or SaaS
You'd benefit from creator promotion (most do)
You're under $250k/year in revenue (custom enterprise deals change the math)
It's probably not worth switching if:
You sell exclusively to a list you already own (the marketplace traffic doesn't help you)
You have a custom checkout integrated into your site (migration cost > savings)
You're locked into a Gumroad subscription tier with grandfathered pricing
How to switch without losing momentum
Open the Peddlum account: peddlum.com
List the product (~15 min)
Don't delete the Gumroad listing yet — run both for 30 days
Compare conversion rates and creator-driven sales
If Peddlum wins (it did for me), redirect Gumroad checkout to Peddlum
Total switching effort: under 2 hours.
That's it. Run your own numbers. The 90% vs 87.5% framing is too small to motivate change — but layer on the creator marketing piece and it's a different conversation.
Top comments (14)
this is so true, i never thought to break it down like this. gumroad’s fees are sneaky. i guess a lot of sellers just see that 10% and assume it’s not that bad but then reality hits hard. keep sharing the real numbers.
visit:%20https%3A//api.peddlum.com/go/DfHy6rR7
how did i not realize this sooner? looking at these fees really shows how much we lose, i needed this info way before launching! learning this def makes me rethink selling online.
honestly, love how you broke down the costs. its so easy to overlook those extra fees, makes you think more about where to sell your stuff. thanks for sharing! 🙌
yeah totally feel that! i thought 10% was okay too until i saw the hidden fees. honestly, made me rethink my options for selling online. better to be aware of it instead of getting blindsided!
OMG I totally need this info right now. I was shocked by all these fees too when I tallied everything up last year. Would've saved me so much stress! 💸
yall need to check peddlum out fr. those fees really add up and gumroad's not laying it all out. wish id found this sooner!
how did I not see this sooner? def gonna check out this breakdown. feels like everyone using gumroad deserves to know what they’re actually paying!
ugh i feel that! didn't realize how much they actually take until you do the math. honestly, using it for a bit now and it just hits hard how the fees add up. wish they'd just be upfront about it.
this is so true. never realized how much those fees add up. gonna have to rethink my selling strategy for sure. what platform do you recommend?