Catawiki fees: work out the total cost and the net amount without mixing concepts

Catawiki charges a Buyer Protection fee to the buyer and a seller success fee to the seller. They are two different charges. On top of them there may be shipping, insurance, IVA on the seller fee, import VAT, customs or other costs specific to the transaction. Mixing them up leads to wrong calculations and means that a seemingly precise figure does not represent the money you actually pay or receive.

Barguvo separates each charge by who pays it, calculation base, timing and the condition under which it applies. The aim is to be able to answer two different questions: the buyer’s total cost and the seller’s net amount.

The official help in force on 25 August 2026 states that the Buyer Protection fee is 9% of the final bid amount plus 3 €. Applicable VAT is included within that fee. Catawiki specifies that shipping is not included when calculating that 9%.

This does not mean the buyer can ignore shipping. To decide on a rational maximum bid you must then add transport and, if you are buying from another jurisdiction, possible import costs. If your total budget is 500 €, you should not bid 500 € and “add the fees later”; work backwards from the maximum total you are willing to pay.

For objects submitted from 17 August 2026, Catawiki documents a success fee of 12,5% of the sold price plus a fixed amount. The fixed amount depends on the band: 1 € for sales from 2 to 149 €, 2 € for 150–299 €, 3 € for 300–499 €, 5 € for 500–999 € and 10 € from 1.000 €. An object sold for 1 € does not incur the additional fixed amount.

The table must be read with its date. A lot submitted before the change may remain under other conditions, and a future review may change the structure again. That is why Barguvo does not embed a “Catawiki fee” without a date and scope.

Catawiki’s help states that IVA may be charged on the seller success fee depending on the country of the seller or the business. For professional sellers established in the EU, the reverse charge mechanism may apply. That tax treatment should not be improvised in a generic guide: it depends on status and jurisdiction.

There is also import VAT on the buyer’s side when an object crosses certain borders. Although both use the acronyms VAT/IVA, they are different concepts. If you do not know which one applies, do not replace it with a generic percentage; mark the cost as pending confirmation.

When the seller uses Smart Shipping, they can add the insurance managed through XCover. Catawiki currently documents a premium of 1,91% of the object’s price. The cover focuses on the final bid or Comprar ya (Buy now) amount during transit, with a limit of 10.000 € for the stated cover; it does not cover the shipping cost or taxes or duties.

That 1,91% should not be added automatically to every sale. It belongs only to the scenario in which that insurance is taken out. In addition, conditions, exclusions and claim deadlines belong to the policy and must be reviewed before relying on the cover.

If a buyer sets a total budget, they must leave room for Buyer Protection, shipping and possible import amounts. A maximum bid that uses up the whole budget before checkout creates a foreseeable overspend. For objects where transport is expensive —framed art, fragile or bulky pieces— shipping can change the decision entirely.

The auctions guide goes deeper into bidding mechanics. What matters here is the mathematical order: total budget → non-bid costs → maximum available for the bid. Do not use the expert’s estimate as an automatic budget; it is just a different reference point.

For the seller, start with the sold price and subtract the current seller success fee. Then include, only if applicable, IVA on that fee, insurance, packaging costs, logistics not passed on, the cost of acquiring the piece, restorations, certifications or your own taxes. Do not subtract Buyer Protection because that charge belongs to the buyer.

The difference between final price and net amount also matters when you compare Catawiki with other channels. A platform with a higher final price may produce a similar or lower net amount if the cost and logistics structure is different. Compare on the same basis.

A typical mistake is to add the buyer’s 9% and the seller’s 12,5% and claim that “Catawiki charges 21,5%”. That sum does not describe any real invoice: they are different charges to different parties. Another mistake is applying Buyer Protection to shipping as well, when the current help states that it is calculated on the final bid.

It is also wrong to use an old fee found on a blog without checking the submission date of the object. The change on 17 August 2026 shows why cost data needs explicit freshness debt.

Create a conservative, a central and a favourable scenario. For selling, vary the expected final price, shipping, insurance and your own costs. For buying, vary the bid, transport and import costs. If a decision only works in the optimistic scenario, the safety margin is low.

Barguvo must show where each number comes from and let you mark costs as unknown. Unknown does not mean zero. A field pending confirmation protects the decision better than a figure invented to complete a nice-looking card.