The marketplace fee is a percentage of revenue that is taken out of all items that are sold for Robux (and formerly also Tickets) on Roblox's Marketplace and Creator Store. This fee supports Roblox's virtual economy by keeping the circulating supply of Robux stable, limiting the risk of inflation.
Since 2012, the normal marketplace fee for normal members has been ~90%, while the fee for Roblox Premium users has been ~30%. Developer products and passes shared these fees until 2020, when it was changed to ~30% for all users.
History[]
The marketplace fee has always been a percentage taken out of the revenue received from any sale. It was implemented when users first began to create and sell their own clothing and was introduced at an amount of 10%. Later, when the Limited item system was implemented, the fee for clothing remained at 10%, while the fee for Limited items was established as 25%.
On July 25, 2012, Roblox increased the marketplace fee for all items to a 30% fee, in an attempt to regulate the Robux that came into the economy. When developer product and pass sales became available to users without Builders Club, the marketplace fee was established as 90% for those users. This fee also applied to sales made in Tickets, prior to their removal in 2016.
On April 2, 2020, former Roblox administrator coefficients made an announcement on the Developer Forum announcing that the fee for developer products and passes had been decreased from ~90% for non-Premium users and ~30% for Premium users, to ~30% for all users.[1] Based on replies to the announcement, the change was well liked and heavily supported in the developer community.
Calculating Fees[]
When selling an item, it is ideal to know how much profit will be made, especially if a certain amount of Robux is sought (such as 5 Robux, so as to keep one's Robux count "tidy" in multiples of 5). However, when accounting for the marketplace fee, some basic math has to be used to calculate the sale price.
Below is a formula that can be used to calculate profit, accounting for the marketplace fee. This is a fairly simple math operation, as to calculate profit, one simply has to multiply the price by 0.7:
profit = 0.7 * price
Essentially, when an item is sold, the seller will earn a 70% cut of the sale price. This is best illustrated with examples.
Example 1[]
Say a user sold an item for 50 Robux:
profit = 0.7 * 50 profit = 35
This means the seller earns 35 Robux from each sale of the item. Though appealing to greedy sellers, note such high prices are generally frowned upon for typically cheap items such as Classic clothing, and will likely discourage sales or even result in the item being targeted for asset theft.
Example 2[]
The price floor for items on Roblox varies per item, but ignoring Classic T-Shirts (which have a price floor of 2 Robux and generally do not provide any profit), the lowest prices for a user-created item are Classic Shirts and Classic Pants for 5 Robux:
profit = 0.7 * 5 profit = 3.5 profit = 3
Note how despite the profit being 3.5, the half was rounded up to just 3. Thus, the seller earns 3 Robux from each sale. Though this seems low, most Classic Shirts and Classic Pants on the Marketplace are sold at the price floor, with higher prices are generally seen as unappealing as a result, so long-term profits are more likely to increase this way.
Example 3[]
In some situations, a certain amount of profit may be desired. In this case, slightly more complex algebra must be used: the sought number must be set as the profit, both sides of the equation must be divided by 0.7 to find the price, and the price must be rounded to the nearest full number.
For instance, a developer wishes to earn 100 Robux for each sale of their pass:
100 = 0.7 * price (100)/0.7 = (0.7 * price)/0.7 142.8571 = profit profit = 143
Thus, if the developer wishes to earn exactly 100 Robux per sale, they must set their pass's price at 143 Robux.
Criticism[]
The marketplace fee for those without a Roblox Premium membership was seen as heavily excessive by some users in comparison to what those who did have a membership paid (Marketplace items only: 90% for regular users as opposed to 30% for Roblox Premium users).