TPT Exclusive vs Basic: the math, in plain numbers
If nearly all of your income comes from TPT, Exclusive pays you more, and it is not close. Basic only comes out ahead when you already sell a meaningful amount somewhere else, and the tables below show roughly how much.
The three rates
These numbers come from TPT’s own pages: the Exclusive Seller announcement and the Seller Fees and Payout Rates page, as we read them on October 3, 2026.
| Membership | Payout | Transaction fee | Cost | Sell elsewhere? | You keep on a $10 sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium (ends Dec 31, 2026) | 80% | See TPT’s fee page | $59.95 a year | Yes | $8.00 |
| Exclusive (from Jan 1, 2027) | 77.5% | None on orders over $3; 15¢ per resource on orders under $3 | $59.95 a year | No digital educational resources off TPT | $7.75 |
| Basic | 55% | 30¢ on every resource | One-time $29 | Yes | $5.20 |
The Basic line is the one people underestimate. The 30-cent fee is charged per resource, so it bites hardest on low prices. On a $10 resource you keep 52%. On a $5 resource you keep $2.45, which is 49%. On a $3 resource you keep $1.35, which is 45%.
How the examples are built
To keep the arithmetic readable, every example assumes:
- An average price of $5 per resource, sold in orders over $3. So Exclusive keeps 77.5% and Basic keeps 49%.
- Sales outside TPT happen on your own store with standard card processing (2.9% plus 30 cents). On a $5 order that leaves $4.555, or about 91%.
- If you go Exclusive, the outside sales stop and none of those buyers follow you to TPT. That is the worst case for Exclusive. In real life some would follow.
- The $59.95 annual fee for Exclusive (about $5 a month) and the cost of running your own store are left out of the tables. Both are covered underneath.
$200 a month on TPT
| Sold elsewhere per month | Exclusive: 77.5% of $200 | Basic: 49% of $200, plus 91% of outside sales | Better by |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | $155.00 | $98.00 + $0 = $98.00 | Exclusive by $57.00 |
| $50 | $155.00 | $98.00 + $45.55 = $143.55 | Exclusive by $11.45 |
| $100 | $155.00 | $98.00 + $91.10 = $189.10 | Basic by $34.10 |
At this size the dollar amounts are small, and a store of your own has its own monthly cost. If your outside sales are $50 a month, Exclusive wins before you even count hosting.
$1,000 a month on TPT
| Sold elsewhere per month | Exclusive: 77.5% of $1,000 | Basic: 49% of $1,000, plus 91% of outside sales | Better by |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | $775.00 | $490.00 + $0 = $490.00 | Exclusive by $285.00 |
| $100 | $775.00 | $490.00 + $91.10 = $581.10 | Exclusive by $193.90 |
| $300 | $775.00 | $490.00 + $273.30 = $763.30 | Exclusive by $11.70 |
| $500 | $775.00 | $490.00 + $455.50 = $945.50 | Basic by $170.50 |
Going Basic with no outside sales costs this seller $285 a month, or $3,420 a year. That is the price of keeping the option to sell elsewhere. It is only worth paying if the outside sales are real or you have a believable plan to build them.
$4,000 a month on TPT
| Sold elsewhere per month | Exclusive: 77.5% of $4,000 | Basic: 49% of $4,000, plus 91% of outside sales | Better by |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | $3,100.00 | $1,960.00 + $0 = $1,960.00 | Exclusive by $1,140.00 |
| $500 | $3,100.00 | $1,960.00 + $455.50 = $2,415.50 | Exclusive by $684.50 |
| $1,250 | $3,100.00 | $1,960.00 + $1,138.75 = $3,098.75 | About even |
| $2,500 | $3,100.00 | $1,960.00 + $2,277.50 = $4,237.50 | Basic by $1,137.50 |
What the tables tell you
In all three examples the crossover lands when outside sales are somewhere around 30% of TPT sales. That is not a rule. It moves with your prices and with where the outside sales happen:
- Lower prices help Exclusive. The 30-cent fee takes a bigger share of a $3 resource, so Basic pays less on TPT and you need more outside sales to make up the difference.
- Higher prices and bundles help Basic. On a $20 bundle Basic keeps $10.70, or 53.5%.
- Outside sales on another marketplace keep less than 91%. If yours are on Etsy or a similar site, each outside dollar is worth less and you need more of them.
- Buyers who would follow you to TPT help Exclusive. If half of your outside buyers would simply buy on TPT instead, Exclusive loses less than the tables show.
What the tables leave out
A store of your own does not come with marketplace search traffic. TPT sends you buyers. Your own site only gets the buyers you send it, from an email list, Pinterest, a blog, social media and search. The “sold elsewhere” column is not a number you can pick. It is a number you have to earn, and for most sellers that takes many months.
The tables also leave out your own store’s monthly cost, your time, and the fact that on your own site you register and file sales tax yourself. None of this is financial advice. It is arithmetic on public rates, and your accountant knows your situation better than we do.
About us
Up At Last builds and hosts stores for teacher-sellers, from $25 a month. We also run our own teacher store, Literacy Stations, which sells on its own site and on TPT and will be a Basic seller from January 1. We are telling you that so you know where we stand, not because Basic is right for you. For many sellers it is not.
Up At Last is not affiliated with or endorsed by Teachers Pay Teachers.
What to do next
- Run the free calculator with your own monthly TPT sales, average price and outside sales.
- Pull your last twelve months of TPT sales and your outside sales, so you are working from real numbers and not a good month.
- Read TPT’s Exclusive Seller FAQs yourself before you decide.
- If the numbers are close and you want a second pair of eyes, ask us.