Understanding Solana Fees and the Benefits of ATLAS Locking on the Star Atlas Marketplace
Why is there a ~.00203 SOL fee when I buy a ship or resources?
On Solana before you can receive tokens, an associated token account must be created on-chain, requiring a small amount of SOL to mark the account as rent-exempt
Star Atlas uses Solana for transactions in the marketplace so you pay 0.00203 for each Token Account, which is refundable if you decide to stop playing. There are Solana Token Account for each ships and each of the four resources: food, fuel, ammo, and tools. For example, when you buy resources for SCORE for the first time, you'll have that fee for AMMO, FUEL, FOOD, and TOOLS.
You can get a refund for these Token Account deposits on Sonar Watch or Step Finance under accounts - and you can cancel whenever you want. This does not affect your existing purchases but It is suggested to only ask for a refund when you decide to stop playing.
Remember, though, if you close your token account on sonar.watch or app.step.finance, you pay the same Token Account deposit again the next time you want to buy any resource.
Marketplace fees
For each sale on the marketplace there is a base fee of 6% (reduced by ATLAS locking). The buyer does not have to pay any fees. 1/3 of the fee goes directly to the DAO and 2/3 goes to ATMTA.
ATLAS Locker & Discount Benefits
You can lock your ATLAS to earn a discount on marketplace fees.
The example above shows a locker with at least 560,000 ATLAS locked. This allows a 25% reduction of the base 6% fee, or 4.5%. Of this 4.5%, 1.5% accrues to the DAO treasury.
Learn more about how the ATLAS locker works here.