How much does Shopify take per sale?

01Shopify's per-sale fees by plan

US figures for 2026 from Website Builder Expert's Shopify pricing guide; Shopify's pricing page shows the rates for your country.

02A worked example

Take a $50 order on Basic, paid by card through Shopify Payments: 2.9% of $50 is $1.45, plus 30 cents, so $1.75 in processing. You receive $48.25 before your product, shipping, monthly plan and app costs.

If instead you used a third-party payment provider on Basic, Shopify would add 2% ($1.00), and the provider would charge its own processing fee too. That is why most US stores use Shopify Payments where it is available.

03When upgrading saves money

Higher plans lower the card rate but cost more each month, so the saving only beats the higher fee at higher sales. Grow saves 0.2 percentage points versus Basic, or $2 per $1,000 of sales, against a plan that costs $50 more a month on yearly billing. Grow's lower rate alone therefore only breaks even at around $25,000 a month in card sales; most stores upgrade for features rather than the rate.

04Other fees to know about

• Your monthly plan: Starter $5, Basic $39 ($29 yearly), Grow $105 ($79), Advanced $399 ($299), per the 2026 guide.
• Apps and themes: often monthly subscriptions, and frequently the largest extra cost.
• International cards and currency conversion: additional percentages may apply.
• Chargebacks: disputed payments carry a fee in addition to the refunded amount.
• In-person sales have different, usually lower, rates than online sales.

05How to price your products with fees in mind

Fees are predictable, so they belong in your price, not your profit. A simple way to set prices is to start from what a product costs you to make and ship, add the processing percentage and fixed fee, add your share of monthly platform and app costs, then add the margin you want. If the resulting price is above what customers will pay, the product, not the platform, is the problem.

1. 1Know your unit costMaterials or wholesale price, packaging and the shipping you absorb.
2. 2Add per-order feesAbout 2.9% of the price plus 30 cents on Basic.
3. 3Spread fixed costsDivide your plan and apps by expected monthly orders and add that per order.
4. 4Add your marginThen compare the result with what similar products sell for.
5. 5Recheck when costs changeA new app, a plan change or higher shipping rates shift the math; review prices every few months.

06How Shopify's fees compare

Shopify Basic's online rate is in line with standalone processors: Stripe's standard US rate is also 2.9% plus 30 cents, and PayPal charges more for its own checkout. Etsy takes far more per sale through listing, transaction and processing fees, but has no monthly fee. Stripe vs PayPal and Etsy vs Shopify have the full comparisons, and how much does it cost to start an online store? puts all the costs together.

The practical lesson is to judge fees against margin. A 3% processing cost is trivial on a product with a 60% margin and painful on one with a 15% margin. If your margins are thin, fees are a reason to raise prices or bundle products, not just to switch plans.