---
title: "Shopify Fee Calculator: Profit & Break-even ROAS"
description: "Free Shopify fee calculator: card processing, third-party gateway fee, COGS and ads for one order. See profit, margin and the ROAS needed to break even."
canonical: "https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/shopify-fee-profit-calculator"
pageType: feature
language: en
publisher: "Product Metrics"
dateModified: 2026-10-15
---

> Content index: https://www.productmetrics.io/llms.txt

# Shopify Fee Calculator: Profit & Break-even ROAS

See what a US Shopify order leaves after card processing, product costs, delivery and ads. Start with Basic online card rates, then edit the fees to match your store.

_By [Berend Vrakking](https://www.linkedin.com/in/berend-vrakking), Founder · Updated 15 October 2026 · ~8 min read_

**Shopify profit per order = retained revenue − item cost − shipping cost − payment processing fee − Shopify third-party gateway fee (if enabled) − overhead − return handling − ad spend.** Retained revenue is item price plus shipping charged, reduced by the expected refund rate; sales tax is not revenue but raises the base of the payment processing fee and Shopify third-party gateway fee. Starting values: payment processing fee: 2.9% + $0.30 on item price, shipping charged and sales tax; Shopify third-party gateway fee: 2% on item price, shipping charged and sales tax, off by default; ad spend $10.00 per order; overhead $0.00 per order; no returns assumed.

## Key takeaways

- Shopify Payments on Basic charges 2.9% + $0.30 per online card order. Grow is 2.7% and Advanced 2.5%, each plus $0.30.
- Shopify adds a transaction fee (2% on Basic) only when you use an external payment provider. Leave it off for ordinary Shopify Payments orders.
- Plan and app bills belong in overhead per order: a $39 monthly plan across 100 orders adds $0.39 to each.
- Break-even [ROAS](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/roas) is the order total divided by the contribution before ads. Target ROAS adds the profit margin you want to keep.

## Contents

- [What fees does Shopify charge?](#what-fees-does-shopify-charge)
- [Shopify worked example](#shopify-worked-example)
- [Mistakes to avoid when calculating Shopify profit](#mistakes-to-avoid-when-calculating-shopify-profit)
- [ROAS, POAS and Shopify fees](#roas-poas-and-shopify-fees)
- [How this calculator works](#how-this-calculator-works)
- [Shopify fee and profit questions](#shopify-fee-and-profit-questions)
- [Next step: check your advertising headroom](#next-step-check-your-advertising-headroom)

## What fees does Shopify charge?

The preset uses Basic Shopify Payments at 2.9% plus $0.30. Grow starts at 2.7% plus $0.30 and Advanced at 2.5% plus $0.30 for online cards. Enter your actual contracted rate; premium cards and international payments can cost more.

| Fee line | Starting preset | Basis and scope | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Payment processing | 2.9% + $0.30 | US domestic online card example. Applied to item price, shipping charged and sales tax. | [Shopify pricing](https://www.shopify.com/pricing) |
| Third-party gateway transaction fee | 2% (off initially) | Basic: 2% when applicable to a third-party provider, on item price plus shipping and sales tax. Leave off for ordinary Shopify Payments orders. | [Shopify third-party transaction fees](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/manage-billing/billing-charges/types-of-charges/third-party-charges/third-party-transaction-fees) |

- [Shopify pricing](https://www.shopify.com/pricing)
- [Shopify third-party transaction fees](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/manage-billing/billing-charges/types-of-charges/third-party-charges/third-party-transaction-fees)

Divide your monthly plan and app bills by expected monthly orders and enter that amount as overhead per order. For example, a $39 monthly Basic subscription across 100 orders allocates $0.39 to each order. Annual billing has a different monthly equivalent.

Enable the third-party transaction fee only where Shopify charges it. Its basis includes sales tax and shipping charged. The Basic preset adds 2% on top of your external gateway rate; replace the payment-processing preset with that gateway’s charge. Do not add this fee to an ordinary Shopify Payments order.

_Fees last checked 15 October 2026. Next review due 15 January 2027. Fees change: presets are US examples, so edit them to match your account._

## Shopify worked example

A $60 home accessory costs $20 to buy and $5 to ship. With Basic domestic online card processing and $10 in acquisition spend, this example isolates the money left by one order. The monthly plan allocation starts at zero.

_Illustrative data. Starting calculator values, one item per order._

| Step | Calculation |
| --- | --- |
| Order revenue before returns | $60.00 + $0.00 = $60.00 |
| Payment processing | $2.04 |
| Third-party gateway transaction fee | $0.00 |
| Total fees | $2.04 |
| Retained revenue | $60.00 × (1 − 0%) = $60.00 |
| Contribution before ads | $60.00 − $20.00 COGS − $5.00 delivery − $2.04 fees − $0.00 overhead − $0.00 return handling = $32.96 |
| Profit after ads | $32.96 − $10.00 = $22.96 |
| Profit margin | $22.96 ÷ $60.00 = 38.3% |
| Net markup on COGS | $22.96 ÷ $20.00 = 114.8% |
| Max break-even ad spend | $32.96 |
| Break-even ROAS | $60.00 ÷ $32.96 = 1.82 |
| Target ROAS for 15% retained margin | 250% |

At $60.00 you keep $22.96 per sale (38.3% margin). You can spend at most $32.96 on ads per order before losing money (break-even ROAS 1.82).

## Mistakes to avoid when calculating Shopify profit

| Mistake | What it does to profit | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Adding the third-party fee to Shopify Payments orders | It counts the fee twice and understates profit. | Tick it only when an external gateway processes the order. |
| Leaving plan and app bills out | Profit looks highest in the months with the fewest orders, when it is lowest. | Divide monthly bills by a cautious order count and enter the result as overhead. |
| Treating sales tax as revenue | It inflates the margin, yet tax still raises the card fee. | Enter tax in its own field so it only changes the fee basis. |

## ROAS, POAS and Shopify fees

On Shopify the card fee is a percentage plus a fixed 30 cents, so a low-priced product gives up a bigger share than an expensive one. A store-wide ROAS target hides that. [POAS](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/poas) divides contribution before ads by ad spend: a POAS of 1 covers the ads and leaves nothing over.

- [POAS vs ROAS: compare profit with revenue](https://www.productmetrics.io/blog/poas-vs-roas)
- [Break-even ROAS calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/break-even-roas-calculator)
- [ROAS definition](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/roas)
- [POAS definition](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/poas)
- [Custom labels for Google Shopping](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/custom-labels)

## How this calculator works

US dollars, one item per order. Selling price and shipping charged exclude sales tax. Tax only increases the basis of fee lines marked payment; it never becomes seller revenue. Fee lines are rounded half up to whole cents before summing. All fee presets are editable estimates, not a settlement quote.

Retained revenue = (selling price + shipping charged) × (1 − returns % − chargebacks %). The returns scenario retains all original [COGS](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/cost-of-goods-sold), fees and outbound shipping, and adds handling cost × returns %. It assumes no recovered stock value and no refunded fees, unless a page lets you enter a supplier recovery share. Use zero returns for the ordinary completed-order calculation.

Profit = retained revenue − COGS − shipping cost − total fees − overhead − return handling − ads. Profit margin = profit ÷ retained revenue. Net markup = profit ÷ item COGS. This is profit after entered costs, before unallocated business costs and income taxes.

Maximum break-even ad spend = contribution before ads. Break-even ROAS = original item and shipping revenue ÷ contribution before ads, shown as a plain number. Target ROAS = original revenue ÷ (contribution before ads − retained revenue × desired margin), shown as a percentage. A zero or negative budget has no feasible ROAS. Pre-return advertising revenue sets the ROAS basis and retained revenue sets the margin basis: match the revenue basis to your advertising reports.

Pages with extra inputs add them to the same sum. Monthly costs are divided by orders per month and added to overhead. Supplier recovery adds back that share of the item cost on returned orders. A chargeback removes the sale, adds the dispute fee and recovers nothing.

- Profit = retained revenue − COGS − shipping cost − fees − overhead − return handling − ads.
- Break-even ROAS = order revenue ÷ contribution before ads, as a plain number.
- Target ROAS = order revenue ÷ (contribution before ads − retained revenue × desired margin), as a percentage.

Starting values on this page: selling price $60.00, shipping charged $0.00, sales tax $0.00; item cost $20.00, shipping cost $5.00, overhead $0.00 per order, ad spend $10.00 per order; 0% of orders returned with $0.00 handling each; payment processing fee: 2.9% + $0.30 on item price, shipping charged and sales tax; Shopify third-party gateway fee: 2% on item price, shipping charged and sales tax, off by default; desired profit margin 15%.

Not modelled: Shopify Plus pricing, international or premium cards, currency conversion, chargebacks and sales tax remittance.

## Shopify fee and profit questions

### How do I calculate Shopify profit margin?

Subtract COGS, payment processing, delivery, allocated plan and app costs, a returns allowance and advertising from retained order revenue, then divide the remainder by retained revenue. The generic margin calculator stops at gross product margin, so it leaves several of these deductions out. Enter every cost you actually pay on one order.

### Does Shopify take a percentage of every sale?

Payment processing is charged separately from the subscription. Basic domestic online cards start at 2.9% plus $0.30 with Shopify Payments. If you use an external payment provider, Shopify adds a third-party transaction fee on top of that provider’s own charge, which is 2% on the Basic plan. Both rates are editable here.

### Where do I include Shopify apps and subscription costs?

Use overhead per order. Divide the combined monthly plan and app bills by a realistic number of orders: a $39 Basic plan across 100 orders adds $0.39 to each. Then test a lower-volume month, because the same bills cost more per order when fewer orders arrive and profit shrinks.

### What is a good Shopify margin after ads?

A viable target must fund the costs you have not allocated and the profit you want to retain. Enter that target rather than assuming a universal percentage. A positive result here is an order estimate, not an audited company net margin.

### How much can I spend acquiring a Shopify order?

The maximum is the contribution before ads, because spending all of it leaves zero order profit. Choose a desired retained margin to get a stricter target ROAS and a smaller acquisition budget. Compare both numbers with what your campaigns return per product, not only per store.

### Are these Shopify fees current for 2026?

The linked official sources were checked on 15 October 2026; the next review is due 15 January 2027. Fees can change during the year. Confirm your category, account and order-specific charges before relying on any preset.

## Next step: check your advertising headroom

Use the free break-even ROAS calculator to check the return this order needs, then compare contribution and ad spend with the POAS calculator. If you advertise Shopify products on Google Shopping, Product Segmentation helps you compare products by their own economics.

- [Break-even ROAS calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/break-even-roas-calculator): Free: check the return your contribution requires.
- [POAS calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/poas-calculator): Free: compare contribution with advertising spend.
- [See product-level POAS in Product Segmentation](https://www.productmetrics.io/product-segmentation)
- [Book a demo](https://cal.com/berend-vrakking/demo): Video call and access to a demo account.

## Other platform calculators

- [Etsy Fee Calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/etsy-fee-profit-calculator): Estimate US Etsy selling fees and profit on one shipped item. Include listing, transaction and Etsy Payments fees, then test the effect of an Offsite Ads order.
- [eBay Fee Calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/ebay-fee-profit-calculator): Calculate US eBay fees for a seller without a Store subscription. Choose a supported category, include tax in the fee basis and add promoted-listing costs where applicable.
- [WooCommerce Profit Calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/woocommerce-fee-profit-calculator): Work out US WooCommerce profit after the payment gateway, hosting, plugins, shipping and advertising. Choose WooPayments, Stripe or PayPal, then spread your monthly bills over your orders.
- [Amazon Profit Calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/amazon-fee-profit-calculator): Estimate Amazon referral fees and profit for a US product. Enter your own FBA fulfilment and storage quote, then see the break-even advertising return.
- [Dropshipping Profit Calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/dropshipping-profit-calculator): Test whether a US dropshipping order can fund its ads after supplier cost, delivery, payment fees, refunds and chargebacks. There is no dropshipping fee, so every cost line is yours to edit.
- [Walmart Fee Calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/walmart-fee-profit-calculator): Estimate US Walmart Marketplace referral fees and profit, with editable WFS fulfilment costs. Start with a Home and Kitchen referral rate and a standard lightweight WFS example.
- [TikTok Shop Fee Calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/tiktok-shop-fee-profit-calculator): Estimate US TikTok Shop order profit after referral fees, creator commission, delivery and ads. Set the category rate and commission from your Seller Center agreement.

## Related profit and advertising calculators

- [All calculators](https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators)
- [Margin and markup calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/margin-calculator): Generic, retail and ecommerce margin before platform-specific deductions.
- [Break-even ROAS calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/break-even-roas-calculator): Find the advertising return your costs require.
- [POAS calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/poas-calculator): Translate contribution margin into profit on ad spend.

## About this calculator

Written by [Berend Vrakking](https://www.linkedin.com/in/berend-vrakking), founder of Product Metrics. Fee presets come from the official pages linked above, checked on 15 October 2026, with the next review due 15 January 2027. The calculator is free and needs no sign-up.

---

Published by Product Metrics (Berend Vrakking, founder).

HTML version: https://www.productmetrics.io/calculators/shopify-fee-profit-calculator