What PayPal fee is used in this Brazil and US example?

The example uses the tracked Brazil commercial receiving rate plus the additional international commercial percentage and the BRL fixed fee.

Does this example include PayPal currency conversion?

No. The worked example assumes the transaction is received in BRL. If a USD invoice is converted into BRL, the exchange-rate spread is a separate cost and must be calculated with the actual rates shown in the account.

How much should the freelancer invoice to keep R$5,000?

Using the tracked international commercial fee in this scenario, the minimum gross amount is R$5,342.52 before any separate currency-conversion cost.

Is this a real customer case?

No. It is a constructed calculation scenario with visible assumptions so the fee math can be checked and reused.

Worked PayPal fee scenario

How Much Does a Brazilian Freelancer Keep from a US PayPal Invoice?

See a worked BRL PayPal invoice example for a Brazilian freelancer paid by a US client, including the international fee, net amount, and gross-up total.

By JoeyPublished September 22, 20267 min read

Direct answer

On a R$ 5.000,00 international commercial payment, the tracked PayPal fee is R$ 320,60.

The freelancer keeps R$ 4.679,40. To keep exactly R$ 5.000,00, the invoice needs to be at least R$ 5.342,52, before any separate currency conversion.

Evidence mode

Official direct mapping

Coverage

US payer → Brazil receiver · BRL received

Fee data reviewed

September 22, 2026

Scenario assumptions

A Brazilian freelancer bills a US client in BRL

This constructed scenario assumes a freelancer whose PayPal account is registered in Brazil sends a commercial invoice to a client whose account is registered in the United States. The amount is received in Brazilian real, so the transaction uses the Brazil international commercial fee row and the BRL fixed fee.

Receiver: Brazilian freelancer
Payer: US client
Payment type: Commercial invoice payment
Received currency: BRL
Fee bearer: Fee deducted from the freelancer
Currency conversion: Not included in the worked result

PayPal fee examples for three invoice amounts

The results below use the same calculator engine as the site tools. The gross-up column answers a different question: how much should the freelancer invoice if the amount in the first column is the desired post-fee income?

Invoice amount	PayPal fee	Freelancer keeps	Invoice to net target
R$ 1.000,00	R$ 64,60	R$ 935,40	R$ 1.069,02
R$ 5.000,00	R$ 320,60	R$ 4.679,40	R$ 5.342,52
R$ 10.000,00	R$ 640,60	R$ 9.359,40	R$ 10.684,40

How the Brazil international fee is calculated

Brazil commercial rate

4.79%

The domestic commercial receiving layer.

International addition

1.61%

Added because payer and receiver are in different markets.

BRL fixed fee

R$ 0,60

Applied because the payment is received in BRL.

For the R$ 5.000,00 example, the percentage portion is R$ 320,00 and the fixed portion is R$ 0,60. Together they produce the R$ 320,60 total fee.

Currency conversion is a separate cost

The worked result does not claim that a USD invoice will convert into the same BRL amount. If the client pays in USD and PayPal converts the balance into BRL, the effective exchange rate can create an additional loss beyond the transaction fee.

Keep the two layers separate

First calculate the international commercial transaction fee. Then compare the actual PayPal conversion rate with an external reference rate in the currency conversion calculator. Combining both into one unexplained percentage would make the result harder to verify.

What should the freelancer put on the invoice?

If the project price is already a gross amount, the freelancer receives the post-fee result shown in the table. If the contract promises a net amount, use the reverse result before sending the invoice.

1Confirm whether the project quote is gross or net of payment-processing fees.
2Confirm the invoice currency and the currency that will reach the Brazilian PayPal balance.
3Use the reverse amount when the freelancer must keep a fixed BRL target after the transaction fee.
4Add a separate conversion check when PayPal will exchange USD into BRL.

Source record

Official sources and calculation limits

Brazil PayPal Seller FeesOfficial source for Brazil commercial transaction rates, the additional international percentage, and the fixed fee by received currency. The source page lists a July 16, 2025 update date.Merchant Fee Calc methodologyExplains direct fee mappings, modeled layers, rounding, and the project review completed on 2026-09-22.

Editorial review

Maintained by Joey

Site Maintainer. The calculation uses the same tracked fee data and rounding logic as the site calculators. Review the methodology and official PayPal terms before using the result in a contract, invoice, or fundraising plan.