Your own store
Shopify Fee Calculator
On your own store the platform fee is small — the real cost is the subscription plus whatever you spend to acquire each customer. This calculator covers the transaction side; put ad spend in the monthly fixed cost field to see the full picture.
All amounts in USD. One unit = one order.
| Where the money goes | Amount |
|---|
Break-even price: $14.03 — below this you lose money on every sale.
Work backwards from the profit you want.
This accounts for the item price, shipping charged, every active fee, your item cost, shipping cost and monthly fixed costs spread over the units above.
On the example above, Shopify takes 3.5% of every sale. That is the number to compare, not the headline percentage — the fixed fees and the shipping-inclusive fee base are what make the effective rate diverge from the advertised one.
The full fee schedule
Every charge Shopify applies to a United States order, and when each one bites.
| Fee | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Card processing | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 for online card payments on the Basic plan. |
| Third-party gateway fee optional | 2.0% | 2% on the Basic plan when you take payments through a third-party provider instead of Shopify Payments. |
How the maths works
The calculator does exactly three things: it builds the fee base, applies every active fee, then subtracts your costs. No hidden steps.
Optional fees such as Third-party gateway fee are excluded from those percentages until you switch them on, because they only apply to a share of orders. When enabled, they simply add to the rate.
What this calculator leaves out
- Plan fee is pre-filled at $39/month (billed monthly). Billed yearly the Basic plan is $29/month.
- Ad spend belongs in monthly fixed costs — it is usually the largest single cost for a DTC store.
- Apps, themes and domain costs are not modelled.
Common questions
Why is the Shopify fee so much lower than Etsy's?
Shopify does not charge a per-sale commission on the Basic plan — you pay a subscription and card processing. Etsy bundles discovery into its fee. The trade-off: on Shopify you have to buy the traffic yourself, which usually costs far more than the commission you saved.
Should I include ad spend here?
Yes, if you want a realistic per-unit profit. Put your monthly ad spend in the monthly fixed cost field and set quantity to the number of units you expect to sell that month. The per-unit profit then includes customer acquisition cost.
What about Shopify's transaction fee for external gateways?
If you take payments through a gateway other than Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an additional percentage per transaction. Toggle the third-party gateway row and enter that percentage to model it.
Where these numbers come from
Rates on this page: verified 2026-10-26 · dataset updated 2026-10-26
Keep going
If the number above is worse than you expected, the fix is usually one of two things: raise the price, or move the shipping into the item price. Our reverse pricing calculator tells you the price that hits your target; the fee base guide explains why shipping is charged twice.