By Bogdan Rancea
Does Shopify take a percentage of sales? The simple answer is “yes”, but the amount Shopify takes varies depending on numerous factors.
Shopify is one of the top ecommerce platforms in the world, and in my opinion, offers incredible value for money. However, like many SaaS solutions, it does take a percentage of your sales (or profits) to pay for things like payment processing.
Whenever you process a transaction using a payment gateway, whether it’s PayPal, Square, Stripe, or any other, there’s a fee to pay for processing that transaction.
Shopify’s own payment gateway, Shopify Payments, is no different. However, as you upgrade your monthly subscription plan with Shopify, the amount you pay for payment processing (and some other fees) will reduce.
Shopify’s Fee Structure: What You’ll Pay
Like virtually all ecommerce platforms, Shopify charges a range of fees for different solutions and services. The most common fee that companies focus on, is the monthly fee they pay for a subscription to Shopify’s platform.
That’s the fee starting at $5 for the Starter plan, and ranging all the way to $2,300+ for the Shopify Plus plan.
On top of this, Shopify also takes a percentage from your sales for payment processing, which varies depending on your plan, and charges transaction fees (ranging from 0.15% to 2%) if you use a solution other than Shopify Payments.
On top of those fees, there may be extra charges for:
- Your domain subscription
- Design support and premium themes
- Apps and integrations
- Marketplace Connect
- Shipping fees
- Integrated tax solutions
- Point of sale software
Let’s take a closer look at Shopify’s costs.
Shopify Subscription Plans (Monthly Fees)
Shopify has a series of subscription plans available, including Shopify Starter for $5 per month, which allows you to sell through social media and messaging apps, and Shopify Plus, the enterprise-level plan with a custom pricing structure. The main plans include:
Basic Shopify: $29 to $39 per month
This plan includes all the basic features you need to launch your online business and run it effectively. It costs $29 per month paid annually, or $39 per month paid monthly.
Though the monthly rate on this plan is the lowest, it has the highest payment processing and transaction costs.
- Subscription fee: $29-$39 per month
- In-person credit card rate: 2.7% plus 0 cents
- Online credit card rate: 2.9% plus 30 cents
- Transaction fees (for payment gateways other than Shopify Payments): 2%
Shopify: $79 to $105 per month
The mid-tier Shopify plan includes all the features of the Basic subscription, plus some extra features, such as 5 staff accounts, more advanced reports, and Shopify gift cards.
You’ll pay $79 per month (annually) or $105 per month (monthly) for this plan. The payment rates are also lower.
- Subscription fee: $79-$105 per month
- In-person credit card rate: 2.5% plus 0 cents
- Online credit card rate: 2.6% plus 30 cents
- Transaction fees: 1%
Shopify Advanced: $299 to $399 per month
The Advanced plan is the most expensive option (other than upgrading to Shopify Plus). It’s intended for rapidly scaling businesses, and includes custom reports, advanced reporting features, and faster shipping solutions.
This plan costs $299 per month (annually), or $399 per month (monthly). Once again, the transaction and payment processing fees here are much lower:
- Subscription fee: $299-$399 per month
- In-person credit card rate: 2.4% plus 0 cents
- Online credit card rate: 2.4% plus 30 cents
- Transaction fees: 0.5%
Understanding Shopify’s Transaction Fees
Transaction fees on Shopify are one of the extra costs you’ll need to consider if you want to use an external payment processor.
Notably, these fees are only applied if you’re not using Shopify Payments as your payment gateway. That’s one of the reasons I recommend using Shopify’s integrated payment solution to most merchants.
Transaction fees aren’t the same as Shopify’s payment processing fees. However, they do vary depending on the plan you choose, for instance:
- Shopify Starter: 5%
- Basic Shopify: 2%
- Shopify: 1%
- Shopify Advanced: 0.5%
- Shopify Plus: 0.15%
These fees are added on top of the payment processing fees charged by your merchant whenever a customer makes a payment.
For instance, if you’re using Shopify Basic, and a customer pays with PayPal, you’ll pay 2% of the price of the purchase to Shopify, and PayPal’s payment processing rate which can range up to 3.49% plus a $0.49 fee.
The Benefits of Using Shopify Payments
Though some payment gateways may seem to charge lower fees than Shopify at first, using Shopify Payments is still the cheapest way to run your Shopify store.
First, you can avoid paying an extra transaction fee by using a third-party payment processor, that can save you up to 2% of each sale.
Secondly, as your business grows and you upgrade to more advanced Shopify plans, your payment processing rates will be reduced.
On Shopify Basic, using Shopify Payments for an online transaction would mean you’d pay the standard processing fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents.
If you were using another payment gateway, like PayPal checkout, you’d pay 3.49% plus a fixed fee (depending on your location), then 2% to Shopify.
Shopify’s Credit Card Fees
I know some people look at Shopify’s credit card processing fees as “hidden costs”.
However, the reality is that all payment gateways charge these fees, and Shopify’s rates are actually a lot more competitive than you might think.
Even on the Basic Shopify plan, for instance, you’ll pay a lot less than you would to use PayPal Checkout.
Payment processing fees handle the cost of Shopify connecting to banking systems to process transactions. Here’s what you’ll pay on each core plan:
- In-person credit card rates: 2.7% plus 0 cents (Basic), 2.5% plus 0 cents (Shopify), 2.4% plus 0 cents (Shopify Advanced)
- Online credit card rates: 2.9% plus 30 cents (Basic), 2.6% plus 30 cents (Shopify), 2.4% plus 30 cents (Shopify Advanced).
The more your store grows, the less you’ll pay overall. That’s why it makes more sense to upgrade as your sales volumes increase.
Other Additional Fees to Keep in Mind
As mentioned above, Shopify’s monthly fees, payment processing fees, and transaction fees are likely to have the biggest impact on your profits.
However, there are other costs to consider.
For instance, as your business evolves, you may want to work with specialists to add extra functionality to your store, or customize your theme.
This could lead to higher costs. Paying for a premium theme will also incur a one-time fee if you want to move on from a free template.
Additionally, when you add apps and integrations to your Shopify store, most will charge you a monthly fee, which can vary depending on the features you need.
What Percentage Does Shopify Take?
Ultimately, the answer to “does Shopify take a percentage of your fees?” is yes. However, the amount the company takes from your profits does vary depending on your plan.
Shopify’s fees are actually very reasonable, compared to the other options you’ll have in the ecommerce world.
Plus, you can keep your fees low by using Shopify Payments, being cautious about the number of apps you use, and selecting the right plan based on your sales volume.
