Price a $10 Bandcamp Download: The Sticker Price Is Not the Payout

For a seller whose account is using Bandcamp’s updated payment system, a $10 digital download leaves an estimated $7.91 after Bandcamp’s standard share and processing: the digital revenue share is 15%, and the updated processing rate is 2.9% plus $0.30 above $8.06. The calculation is $10 − $1.50 − $0.59 = $7.91.

That is a fee-only estimate for a transaction without foreign exchange, not a guaranteed payout. It excludes collection-society allocations, US mechanical royalties, refunds, disputes, income tax, and any private split with a label, bandmate, producer, or collaborator.

Calculate both fees from the sale price

Start with the amount the buyer pays for the download and calculate the revenue share and processing charge separately. For a price represented by P, above the processing breakpoint and at the standard digital rate, the formula is:

Estimated remainder = P − (P × 15%) − (P × 2.9% + $0.30)

Both percentage charges use the gross sale amount in this calculator. Do not take 2.9% from the balance left after subtracting Bandcamp’s share; at $10, the separate deductions are $1.50 and $0.59.

The formula applies only to the updated payment system. Bandcamp is migrating sellers in phases, and its PayPal-based processing schedule uses 5% plus $0.05 below $8.07 and different rates above that boundary depending on whether the buyer uses PayPal, a card, or a gift card. Check the seller account’s actual payment setup instead of combining the two schedules.

Account for the processing breakpoint

Under the updated system, a sale of $8.06 or less incurs 5% plus $0.06 in processing. From $8.07, the charge changes to 2.9% plus $0.30, so increasing the price by one cent at the boundary can slightly reduce the estimated remainder.

These conditional examples use the updated system, the standard 15% share, no foreign-exchange charge, and results rounded to the nearest cent:

• $1 sale: $0.15 revenue share, $0.11 processing, estimated remainder $0.74.
• $5 sale: $0.75 revenue share, $0.31 processing, estimated remainder $3.94.
• $8.06 sale: about $1.21 revenue share, $0.46 processing, estimated remainder $6.39.
• $8.07 sale: about $1.21 revenue share, $0.53 processing, estimated remainder $6.33.
• $10 sale: $1.50 revenue share, $0.59 processing, estimated remainder $7.91.
• $20 sale: $3.00 revenue share, $0.88 processing, estimated remainder $16.12.

The one-cent move from $8.06 to $8.07 reduces this simplified remainder by roughly six cents because the fixed component rises from $0.06 to $0.30. The effect matters mainly when choosing a price close to the boundary; at higher prices, the lower percentage rate progressively offsets the larger fixed charge.

Model foreign exchange separately

An additional 2% foreign-exchange fee may apply to an international purchase under the updated system. It is conditional, so subtracting it from every sale would understate revenue from transactions that do not require conversion.

For a conservative scenario, assume the 2% is assessed against the $10 gross price and reserve another $0.20. The estimated standard-rate remainder then falls from $7.91 to $7.71; after qualification for the reduced platform share, it falls from $8.41 to $8.21.

This reserve is a planning assumption, not a prediction that every international buyer triggers the charge. Reconcile a completed sale against its itemized conversion fee rather than inferring the fee solely from the buyer’s country.

Apply the lower share only while qualified

Bandcamp’s digital revenue share falls from 15% to 10% once an artist reaches $5,000 in sales, and remains at 10% only while sales during the preceding 12 months are at least $5,000. Crossing the threshold once does not permanently lock in the lower rate.

For a $10 sale, the lower rate reduces the platform deduction from $1.50 to $1.00. Updated-system processing without FX remains $0.59, raising the estimated remainder by $0.50, from $7.91 to $8.41.

Forecast the reduced rate only for sales expected to occur while the artist satisfies the rolling condition. For accounting, use the share shown on each transaction rather than applying the lower percentage retrospectively to earlier sales.

Work backward from an earnings target

For an updated-system sale above $8.06 without FX, the standard-rate formula simplifies to remainder = 0.821P − $0.30. To retain $8 after the platform and processing charges, solve P = ($8 + $0.30) ÷ 0.821, producing a theoretical minimum price of about $10.11.

At the reduced 10% share, the formula becomes remainder = 0.871P − $0.30, which produces a theoretical price of about $9.53 for the same $8 target. Reserving a further 2% of gross for possible FX changes the approximate prices to $10.36 at the standard rate and $9.75 at the reduced rate.

Round a storefront price upward and run the rounded amount through the formula again. A rounded price can cross the $8.06 processing boundary, changing both the fixed and percentage portions of the processing charge.

Marketplace tax is not another percentage to insert blindly into this payout formula. Bandcamp’s marketplace-tax rules provide for applicable sales tax to be added at checkout and collected and remitted for specified territories, while sellers retain responsibilities in other territories.

Publishing deductions also require transaction-level treatment. Bandcamp’s publishing-royalty documentation explains that affected sales can display a collection-society share and that sellers remain responsible for applicable mechanical licensing and royalties on US sales. These amounts, along with private contractual splits, sit outside the platform-and-processing estimates above.

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