Changes to the fee structure on Skinport in March 2021

Upcoming changes

Starting on March 10th, the fee structure for buying and selling items on Skinport is going to change.

• Buyer fees will be reduced from 5% to 0%

• Seller fees will be increased from 10% to 12%

• The ability to achieve a reduced seller fee by adding “Skinport.com”

  to your Steam name will be removed

In order to better understand our decision, please continue reading below.

Buyer Fees

The buyer fees will be completely removed. We are currently charging a 5% fee for buyers which covers payment fees, currency conversion fees, and costs associated with chargebacks. This fee will be reduced to 0%, no matter which payment method you use. Our payment providers will also not add any additional fees to the payment, so that the item price is the final price paid by buyers. Our marketplace is driven by buyers and we are committed to creating the best possible user experience for our buyers. We believe that improving the buyer experience by removing all buyer fees plays an important role in our mission to become the best and the largest marketplace for Steam items.

Seller Fees

The ability to add “Skinport.com” to the Steam name in order to reduce seller fees to 5% is going to be removed. Valve recently changed its policy regarding Steam naming conventions and is now prohibiting to advertise websites in Steam names. Therefore, we are forced to abandon this feature. Additionally, the seller fee will be increased from 10% to 12%. Listings which were made before this change will have the old fees. Only listings which were made after March 10th will have the new fees. This change in fees is a necessary step for several reasons. We removed the buyer fees but we still need to cover the costs that are associated with payments and chargebacks from buyers. Sellers will now indirectly pay for that through the new 12% seller fee. Additionally, the regulatory landscape in the European Union is changing and the costs to remain compliant with laws like PSD2 has increased. Skinport is committed to always be 100% compliant with government regulations as this does not only benefit us as a company, but also protects you as our customer. Most other marketplaces are not compliant with the harsh EU laws for protection of customer funds, which reduces their operating costs but also decreases the safety of your money. Due to our strict regulatory compliance, your money and your items are as safe as possible on Skinport. For transparency, here are the most important costs which we need to cover through seller fees:

• Payment provider fees

• Currency conversion fees

• Chargebacks and fees associated with chargebacks

• Know-Your-Customer verifications

• Employees

• Marketing

• Server Hosting

• Taxes

And, since we are a business, we also need to turn a profit after all costs are covered. These changes will ultimately benefit sellers as well; we plan to aggressively grow our platform in 2021. In combination with the improved user experience for buyers due to the removal of all buyer fees, we expect the sale volume to increase significantly this year. This will benefit all sellers, as you will be able to sell more items and your items will be sold quicker.