Marketplace pricing strategy: one price across all platforms leads to losses. How to differentiate prices.
Author: Borys Terlecki · marketplace sales and implementations at Commercraft · updated: October 2026
In brief
The same price on Amazon, Kaufland, OTTO or Allegro leaves a different amount in your pocket each time. Commissions run from 1% to 25% depending on platform and category, and monthly fees from zero to €99.90.
Build the price bottom up: total channel cost first, then margin, and finally competitors and free delivery thresholds.
The law sets two limits: the ban on resale price maintenance and the Omnibus Directive’s lowest price from the 30 days before a promotion.
On a marketplace, price drives offer visibility, basket size and margin at once. The same product priced by gut feeling and priced by a calculated strategy delivers very different results, with an identical product page.
Below you will find channel cost components with figures for the main European marketplaces, a worked example from Germany, the free delivery thresholds in force in 2026 and the limits you must not cross when setting prices. Every figure is sourced in the note at the end.
In your own shop you set a price and that is it. On a marketplace, the same price is compared in real time with dozens of competitors on the same product page or in the same search results.
Algorithms promote competitively priced offers, and buyers have a price comparison tool under their thumb. A few percent of difference moves an offer from tenth position to first, and back again just as fast. On Amazon this mechanism decides who wins the add-to-basket button on a shared product page.
This gives a simple order of work: channel costs first, then margin, and your position against competitors last.
Before you set a price, calculate the real cost of selling on a given channel. Below are the orders of magnitude every such calculation starts from.
| Cost component | Order of magnitude | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Platform commission | Amazon 8-15% in most categories on every EU store (7% in consumer electronics, 5% for low-priced items in some categories), Kaufland 7-16% on its foreign storefronts and 4-12% in Poland, OTTO 7-22%, bol.com 3-20.7%, eMAG 7-25%, Decathlon 10-18%, Allegro 1-17% net of the gross order value, Empik 2.4-20% net | Depends on the category. Kaufland charges commission on the gross price including shipping, so on a cheap product with paid delivery it really takes more. On bol.com a fixed fee of €0.95-3.09 per item comes on top of the percentage |
| Subscription | Amazon €39 a month for the EU stores (PLN 165.91 net on Amazon.pl), Kaufland €39.95 or €59.95, OTTO €99.90, Decathlon €70 for all EU markets, MediaMarkt €39, home24 €39, XXXLutz €49.99. bol.com, eMAG, Allegro and TikTok Shop charge no subscription | At low volume the subscription can eat more than the commission. Work out at how many orders a monthly plan beats paying per item |
| Delivery surcharge | Allegro Smart!: from PLN 0.79 (EUR 0.18) to 11.89 per parcel, depending on carrier and threshold | Since 2 March 2026 rates are PLN 0.10 (EUR 0.02)-0.40 higher, and the free delivery threshold is a single PLN 49.90 (EUR 11.44) instead of the former 45 and 65 |
| Fulfilment | With a 3PL operator in Poland PLN 15 (EUR 3.44)-22 per order, pick&pack alone PLN 2.50 (EUR 0.57)-6 | At 500 orders a month it comes to about PLN 19.81 (EUR 4.54), at 3000 about PLN 17.81 (EUR 4.08) |
| Return handling | On the operator side PLN 3 (EUR 0.69)-5 per return, with return rates of 8-10% in Polish e-commerce and up to 40% in fashion | Add return transport and the markdown on goods that come back without packaging |
| Advertising | Minimum CPC in Allegro search results from PLN 0.40 (EUR 0.09) to 0.80, depending on the product category | Minimum rates went up on 16 February 2026. In some categories an offer barely sells without ads |
Only the difference between the price and the sum of these costs is your real margin. Without this calculation it is easy to fall into the ‘I sell a lot and make nothing’ trap. Commission alone shows how far apart European platforms sit:
Commission ranges on European marketplaces, % of order value
| % (from-to) | |
|---|---|
| TikTok Shop (PL) | 5-9% |
| Kaufland (PL) | 4-12% |
| MediaMarkt | 7-15% |
| Amazon | 5-15% |
| Kaufland (abroad) | 7-16% |
| Allegro | 1-17% |
| Decathlon | 10-18% |
| Empik | 2.4-20% |
| bol.com | 3-20.7% |
| OTTO | 7-22% |
| home24 | 9-22% |
| eMAG | 7-25% |
Commission depends on the category, and these are the extreme rates from the price lists, without fixed fees per item (bol.com) or platform fees (Empik 0.45%). Sources: platform price lists and terms read in September and October 2026, Decathlon Seller Conditions V9, MediaMarkt according to ChannelEngine.
In practice
A product at PLN 149 (EUR 34.15) on Allegro, 12% commission (mid-range) and a PLN 6.19 (EUR 1.42) Smart! surcharge for drop-off at an Allegro Delivery parcel locker, without which the offer stands no chance in results in most categories. The platform takes PLN 17.88 (EUR 4.10) in commission and PLN 6.19 (EUR 1.42) in surcharge, PLN 24.07 (EUR 5.52) in total, or 16% of the price. Packing and shipping by an external 3PL operator at PLN 18 (EUR 4.13) raise channel costs to PLN 42.07 (EUR 9.64), or 28% of the price. The seller receives PLN 106.93 (EUR 24.51), and only then pays for the goods, returns and Allegro Ads.
The same product on Kaufland, 8% commission and no delivery surcharge: the platform takes PLN 11.92. Add the €39.95 subscription, about PLN 174 (EUR 39.88) a month (NBP rate of 23 September 2026, €1 = PLN 4.36). At 20 orders a month that is PLN 8.71 (EUR 2.00) per order, so the platform costs PLN 20.63 (EUR 4.73) in total, or 14% of the price. Kaufland runs no own fulfilment like Amazon (FBA) or Allegro (One Fulfillment), so the seller or the same 3PL operator packs the parcel for PLN 18 (EUR 4.13): channel costs are PLN 38.63 (EUR 8.85), 26% of the price, and the seller receives PLN 110.37. The gap between platforms: PLN 3.44 (EUR 0.79) per order, but at 5 orders a month the Kaufland subscription alone already costs PLN 34.83 (EUR 7.98) per item and Allegro comes out cheaper.
Germany is where most sellers expanding in Europe start, and it is also where the gap between platforms is easiest to see. Take a kitchen product at €39.99 including VAT, selling 50 times a month:
| Platform | Commission | Monthly fee | Platform cost per order | Share of the price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.de | 15% (Kitchen), €6.00 | €39 | €6.78 | 17% |
| Kaufland.de | 14% (kitchen and home), €5.60 | €39.95 | €6.40 | 16% |
| OTTO Market | 15% (kitchen and household), €6.00 | €99.90 | €8.00 | 20% |
At 50 orders the three platforms sit within four points of each other. At 10 orders a month the fixed fee changes the picture: Amazon takes €9.90 per order, Kaufland €9.60 and OTTO €15.99, which is 40% of the price before you have paid for the goods or the shipping.
On Amazon and Kaufland the commission is calculated on the price including VAT. Out of €39.99 you keep €33.61 after the 19% German VAT, and the platform cost comes out of that amount: with Amazon, €26.83 is left for the goods, delivery and your margin.
Sources: Amazon.de referral fees and Kaufland Global Marketplace price list, read in September and October 2026, OTTO Market assortment overview as of 1 April 2026. Fixed fees spread over the monthly order count, without advertising, delivery or returns.
You can rebuild this comparison for your own range in the ROI calculator. Add Amazon, Kaufland and OTTO for Germany, set your category, order value and returns, and it projects revenue and profit month by month.
A good price follows from a strategy matched to your goal. In practice we see four, usually combined:
Two pricing limits come from EU law. First: imposing a resale price on a distributor is prohibited in the EU (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). A manufacturer may recommend a price. It cannot enforce it, and MAP-style policies sit in a grey area.
Second: the Omnibus Directive, in force in Poland since 1 January 2023. With every price cut you show the lowest price from the 30 days before the promotion. This is a real constraint on repricing, because a tool that raises the price before a promotion builds evidence for UOKiK, the Polish consumer authority.
Price parity is a separate matter. If your platform agreement does not include it, you can have different prices in different channels. Usually you should, because channel costs differ.
Automated repricing works only as well as the rules you give it. The basis is a minimum price calculated from the table above, with all channel costs, plus clear logic for reacting to competitors.
Without a floor, the tool drags you into a price war won by whoever has the lowest logistics cost. With well-set ranges it keeps you competitive and raises the price when a competitor sells out. The 30-day price history follows every promotion, so your rules must account for Omnibus.
When you enter a new market, do not convert your home price at the exchange rate. Start with VAT, because the same gross price leaves a different amount in each country. This is what remains of €49.99 after standard VAT on the main EU marketplace markets:
| Market | Standard VAT | Net from €49.99 |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 19% | €42.01 |
| Austria | 20% | €41.66 |
| France | 20% | €41.66 |
| Netherlands | 21% | €41.31 |
| Belgium | 21% | €41.31 |
| Spain | 21% | €41.31 |
| Czech Republic | 21% | €41.31 |
| Romania | 21% | €41.31 |
| Italy | 22% | €40.98 |
| Poland | 23% | €40.64 |
| Slovakia | 23% | €40.64 |
| Sweden | 25% | €39.99 |
| Hungary | 27% | €39.36 |
Between Germany and Hungary that is €2.65 per item at the same shelf price. These are standard rates, and some categories carry reduced ones, so check your product’s rate in each country.
Return costs are a separate item, and in Germany they look nothing like Poland. In 2025 about 550 million parcels went back there, and almost one in four B2C parcels returns to the sender. Roughly 80% of returned parcels are fashion.
about 24%
of parcels returned in Germany
B2C return rate, 2024
550 million
return parcels in DE
forecast for 2025
19%
VAT in Germany
against 23% in Poland on the same gross price
about CHF 62
parcel value free of import VAT in Switzerland
tax of up to CHF 5 at the 8.1% rate
Switzerland is a separate calculation: VAT of 8.1% and customs clearance for every parcel. Import VAT is waived only when the tax comes to CHF 5 or less, which means goods worth up to about CHF 62. We explain how to cost shipping itself in our guide Cross-border logistics PL-DACH.
Price is the fastest lever, but channel choice comes before it. A kitchen product pays 10% commission on Kaufland in Poland and 14% on Kaufland in Germany, with the same seller account and the same product page. Consumer electronics cost 7% on Amazon.de and OTTO, while fashion and furniture sit in the mid to high teens on most platforms.
After price come product page quality and delivery, because at similar prices the rest of the offer decides ranking. That is why we calculate per channel and per market. Work out what you keep on a given platform in our ROI calculator, and we have collected all platform rates in billing models.
Four mistakes we see most often when auditing price lists:
Price copied from your own shop. Without commission, surcharges and fulfilment, the same price yields a marketplace margin a dozen or so points lower.
Repricing without a floor. The tool drops below channel cost and sells at a loss until someone looks at the report.
Returns left out of the margin calculation. With 10% returns in Poland and 24% in Germany, return cost is a fixed line in the calculation rather than an exception.
One price on all markets ‘to keep it simple’. Different VAT rates and different delivery costs mean different margins from the same amount.
We calculate the real take rate on your figures and build a price list per channel and per market: from margin calculation, through repricing rules, to price positioning in the PL-DACH corridor.
We run accounts on Amazon, Kaufland and Allegro day to day, so we see how a price change affects both ranking and margin in the same category. Tell us which categories interest you and we will run the numbers together.
EUR conversions: NBP rate of 18 September 2026 (table 182/A/NBP/2026), EUR 1 = PLN 4.3633.
Yes, if your platform agreement contains no price parity clause. Channel costs differ, so different prices are usually justified. Check the platform’s terms, as some promotional programmes require a price no higher than in other channels.
Yes. The obligation to show the lowest price from the 30 days before a price cut applies to every offer aimed at consumers, including on Allegro, Amazon or Empik. Platforms calculate this price automatically from the offer history, so repricing rules must take it into account.
Since 2 March 2026 a single Allegro Smart! threshold applies: PLN 49.90. Previously there were two, PLN 45 (EUR 10.31) and PLN 65, (EUR 14.90) depending on the delivery method. A price just below or just above this threshold is one of the simplest basket levers.
It depends on category and channel. In the example above the platform takes 16% of the price on Allegro (commission and Smart! surcharge) and 14% on Kaufland (commission and subscription spread over 20 orders), and with packing and shipping by a 3PL operator channel costs reach 26-28% of the price, before the cost of goods. Work out your own figures in the ROI calculator.
It depends on the category more than on the platform. Consumer electronics are cheap almost everywhere, with 7% on Amazon.de, OTTO and Kaufland outside Poland, while fashion, jewellery and furniture usually sit in the high teens. Fixed fees matter too: OTTO charges €99.90 a month, bol.com has no subscription but adds a fee per item.
Usually not. VAT alone moves your net revenue: €49.99 leaves €42.01 in Germany and €39.36 in Hungary. Add local competitors, delivery costs and return rates, and each market needs its own price floor.
Sources: platform price lists and terms, read on 17-18 September 2026 (Allegro, Amazon, Kaufland, Empik Place, eMAG, home24, XXXLutz, bol.com) and in October 2026 (Kaufland, TikTok Shop policy for Poland of 29 September 2026). OTTO Market assortment overview as of 1 April 2026. Decathlon Seller Conditions V9. MediaMarkt rates according to ChannelEngine, September 2026. Allegro announcements on Smart! rates and minimum CPC, 2026. Checked on 9 October 2026: Allegro delivery and fee price lists (help.allegro.com), Empik commission grid of 21 August 2026, Amazon.de fee schedule. Händlerbund, Amazon.de free delivery threshold, March 2026. Public price list of 3PL operator DDT Logistics, 24 July 2026. Ageno report on returns in Polish e-commerce, 2026. Forschungsgruppe Retourenmanagement, University of Bamberg, returns forecast for 2025, 25 November 2025. VAT rates: European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database, 2026. Swiss customs authority BAZG, October 2026. Euro rate: NBP (National Bank of Poland), table A no. 185/A/NBP/2026 of 23 September 2026. Withdrawal of Fulfillment by Kaufland: shopbetreuung.com, January 2026.
Borys Terlecki – marketplace sales and implementations at Commercraft. He previously worked on the operator side of marketplace platforms (Mirakl, Munich) and today onboards brands on marketplaces in Poland and the DACH region and runs their accounts.
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