The Diablo 3 AH & RMAH Fees Are Revealed And They Suck!

The Diablo 3 AH Fees Are Official

The fee schedule for both Diablo 3 auction houses has finally been released to the public.  The Real Money Auction House (RMAH) and the Gold Based Auction House both have seperate fee schedules.  You can read the Official Diablo 3 Blizzard Auction House Guide and The Official Battlenet Diablo 3 Auction House FAQ for all the details.  I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this Diablo 3 auction house fee information, but I am highly discouraged with the outrageous fee schedule they have decided upon at Blizzard Entertainment. 

Blizzard - The Diablo 3 Black Market Thanks You

With AH Fee cuts this high, you can bet your ass that the Black Market for Diablo 3 items and gold will once again be very active.  One of the goals / benefits of creating the in game RMAH in Diablo 3 was to combat the rampant use of Black Market sites and vendors for buying gold, gear, runes, and commodities.  With the crazy high cost of doing RMAH business for a profit, many will turn again to selling on the Black Market to make more money.  Why help Blizzard out, when they are robbing you of your profits?!?  Taking nearly 30% of the cut is highway robbery and if that amount isn't lowered, then the Black Market will be the place to buy and sell Diablo 3 gold and commodities.

Blizzard's Diablo 3 Fee Schedule

RMAH Items are divided into 2 main groups: 

1. Equipment (Gear and Weapons)
2. Commodities (Gold, Crafting Materials, Gems, etc)

The good news is that there is no fee to list items on either auction house.  Blizzard will however be taking a cut when your items sell and if you choose to cash out to your Paypal account, Blizzard will take another cut.  The fees on the gold based auction house (GAH) are a flat 15% fee for sold items regardless of what type of items they are.

RMAH Sold Item Fees

• Equipment - Final Sale Fee $1 per item.
• Commodities - A Flat 15% of the sale price.

Transfer to Paypal Fee (Cashing Out)

• A flat 15% cut goes back to Blizzard when you opt to cash out.
• Another Paypal fee to receive the payment may apply as well.

So if you choose to sell a $10 sword on the RMAH, then the fees would look like this.

• $10 Sold Item Price
• Blizzard takes $1 since it is equipment.
• $9 goes to your Blizzard Bucks account or your Cash Out account.
• When you do cash out, that $9 would cash out for $7.65 since Blizzard takes 15% as a Cash Out Fee.
• So $10 earned you $7.65 in US Dollars.

Let's same you sold $10 in gold pieces, then the fees would look like:

• $10 Sold Item Price
• Blizzard takes 15%, leaving you $8.50.
• $8.50 goes to your Blizzard Battle Bucks account or your Cash Out Account.
• When you cash out, Blizzard taxes you another 15% of the value, so you cash out for $7.22.
• So you earned $7.22 in US Dollars.

The higher the sale price of the items, the more of a discrepancy will exist between selling equipment and selling commodities.  A $50 equipment sale would net you $41.65, while a $50 commodity sale would earn you only $36.12. 

I bet the black market service providers won't be charging anywhere near that high for their sales fees.  We shall wait and see if Blizzard really did win the war against the black market sellers.