# Effective Rate Calculator

URL: https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/effective-rate-calculator
Type: Free interactive calculator
Summary: Enter your monthly volume, total fees and transaction count to get your true effective rate, your cost per transaction, and what the same month would cost at published tier pricing.

Take three numbers off a single monthly statement — total volume processed, total fees paid, and number of transactions — and this works out what you actually paid as a percentage.

## Why the headline rate misleads

Every processor advertises a percentage plus a fixed fee. The percentage is comparable between providers; the fixed fee is not, because what it costs you depends entirely on your average transaction size.

**The same 2.9% + 30¢ rate at three ticket sizes**

| Average transaction | Fixed fee as a % | Effective rate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $10 | 3.00% | 5.90% |
| $50 | 0.60% | 3.50% |
| $250 | 0.12% | 3.02% |

A coffee shop and a furniture retailer on identical published rates pay very different effective rates. That is why the effective rate is the only figure worth comparing.

## How to work it out

1. **Take one month's statement** — Use a single settlement period so the volume and the fees cover exactly the same transactions.
2. **Find total volume processed** — Gross card volume before fees and before refunds are netted out.
3. **Find total fees** — Everything the processor charged: percentage, fixed fees, surcharges, monthly fees and dispute fees.
4. **Divide fees by volume** — Multiply by 100 for a percentage. That is your effective rate.

> **Rule of thumb:** Below a $25 average ticket, the fixed per-transaction fee usually costs you more than any difference in the percentage rate. Optimise the fixed fee first.

## What to compare it against

An effective rate on its own is only half an answer — you still need something to hold it against. The calculator above costs the same statement at Paydude's published tiers, including the 0.3% we add on premium, corporate, business and American Express cards. The ladder in the results panel walks that share from 0% to 100%, so you can find your own card mix rather than trust a single figure. If the difference shrinks to nothing partway up that ladder, the page will tell you where.

**Compare it against Paydude** Published tiers, applied automatically by volume. — [See our rates](https://www.paydude.io/pricing)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a good effective rate?

It depends heavily on your average transaction size and card mix. For card-not-present ecommerce with a healthy ticket size, mid-to-high 2% is common; below a $15 average ticket, effective rates above 4% are normal regardless of provider.

### Should refunds count toward volume?

Use gross processed volume, not net. Most processors do not refund the fixed fee on a refunded transaction, so netting refunds out understates what you paid.

### Why is my effective rate higher than my quoted rate?

Almost always some combination of the fixed per-transaction fee on small tickets, international or premium card surcharges, and monthly or dispute fees that the quoted rate never included.