What Percentage Does Shopify Take From Sales in 2025?

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Core Components of Shopify Fees
3. What Percentage Does Shopify Take Based on Your Plan?
4. Avoiding the Hidden Tax: The Cost of Third-Party Gateways
5. Beyond the Sale: Additional Costs to Watch
6. Transitioning to Digital: A Higher Margin Strategy
7. How to Minimize Your Shopify Fees
8. Tevello: A Partner in Profitability
9. Conclusion
10. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know that the global e-learning market is projected to soar past $460 billion by 2026? While many e-commerce entrepreneurs spend their nights obsessing over the rising costs of shipping containers and raw materials, a growing number of savvy merchants are discovering that the most significant drag on their profit margins isn't physical inventory—it's the friction of the platform itself. When you are building a business, every decimal point matters. A common question that keeps founders awake is: exactly what percentage does shopify take from sales?

The answer is rarely a single, flat number. It is a layered ecosystem of subscription costs, payment processing percentages, and potential third-party transaction penalties. Understanding these nuances is the difference between a store that simply generates revenue and one that actually builds wealth. In this guide, we will pull back the curtain on Shopify’s fee structure, exploring how rates change across different plans, the hidden costs of using external payment gateways, and why transitioning part of your business into digital products can be the ultimate margin protector.

Our mission at Tevello is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse, and a core part of that mission is helping you keep more of what you earn. We believe merchants should own their customer data and brand experience, which is why we’ve built a solution that integrates natively with the checkout you already use. By the end of this article, you will have a clear roadmap for navigating Shopify’s costs and a strategy for diversifying your revenue with high-margin digital offerings.

The Core Components of Shopify Fees

To understand what percentage does shopify take from sales, we must first distinguish between the three primary ways Shopify collects money from your transactions. Many new merchants conflate these, leading to unexpected "leaks" in their monthly profit and loss statements.

Subscription Fees vs. Transaction Fees

Your monthly subscription fee is your "rent" for using the Shopify platform. This is a fixed cost that occurs regardless of whether you sell one item or one thousand. However, transaction fees are different. A transaction fee is a percentage that Shopify charges on each sale specifically for the use of the platform's infrastructure.

Crucially, Shopify only charges this specific transaction fee if you choose not to use Shopify Payments. If you use a third-party gateway like PayPal or Stripe as your primary processor, Shopify adds a "penalty" fee ranging from 0.5% to 2% depending on your plan. This is on top of what the third-party gateway already charges you.

Credit Card Processing Rates

Even if you use Shopify Payments to eliminate the transaction fee, you still have to pay credit card processing rates. These are the fees charged by banks and credit card networks (like Visa or Mastercard) to process the money. These rates are a percentage of the total sale plus a small flat fee (usually around $0.30).

At Tevello, we recognize that these costs add up, which is why we emphasize a unified login that reduces customer support friction. When your digital products and physical goods use the same payment processor, you avoid the headache of managing multiple fee structures across different platforms.

What Percentage Does Shopify Take Based on Your Plan?

The percentage Shopify takes is inextricably linked to the monthly plan you choose. As your business grows, Shopify rewards higher volume with lower per-transaction percentages.

Basic Plan: High Volume, High Cost

The Basic plan is the starting point for most entrepreneurs. It currently costs approximately $39 per month. On this plan, the online credit card processing rate is 2.9% + $0.30. If you decide to use a third-party payment provider, Shopify will take an additional 2% transaction fee.

For a merchant just starting out, these numbers might seem small. However, if you are selling a $100 product, you are looking at nearly $3.20 in fees per sale. If you aren't using Shopify Payments, that jumps to $5.20. For businesses with tight margins—such as those in the competitive apparel or dropshipping spaces—this can represent a significant portion of the net profit.

The Shopify (Grow) Plan: Finding the Sweet Spot

Often referred to as the "mid-tier" or "Grow" plan, this option costs around $105 per month. The credit card processing rate drops to 2.6% + $0.30, and the third-party transaction fee (if applicable) drops to 1%.

Many merchants wonder when they should make the jump from Basic to the Grow plan. Generally, once your store is processing more than $15,000 to $20,000 per month, the savings you gain from the lower processing percentage will exceed the increase in the monthly subscription fee. It is a simple math problem that every store owner should calculate quarterly.

Advanced and Plus: Scaling for Profit

For high-volume established brands, the Advanced plan at $399 per month offers an even lower processing rate of 2.4% + $0.30. For those on Shopify Plus—the enterprise-level solution—rates are often even more competitive and are typically negotiated based on volume.

On these tiers, Shopify’s take is at its lowest, allowing brands to reinvest those savings into marketing or product development. If you are reaching this stage, it is vital to ensure your technical stack is as efficient as your pricing. We focus on providing all the key features for courses and communities so that as you scale, you aren't forced to pay "success fees" to multiple different software providers.

Avoiding the Hidden Tax: The Cost of Third-Party Gateways

One of the most common pitfalls for Shopify merchants is the "double-dipping" that occurs with third-party gateways. Many sellers prefer PayPal or specialized regional gateways because of customer trust or local availability. However, unless you have Shopify Payments enabled as your primary option, you are essentially paying a tax to Shopify just for the privilege of using another processor.

If you are on the Basic plan and use an external gateway, Shopify takes 2%. If that gateway also charges 2.9%, you are losing 4.9% of every sale before you even consider your shipping costs, taxes, or marketing spend.

By keeping customers on your own URL and using the native Shopify checkout, you not only build brand trust but also maximize your margin. At Tevello, our "Native Shopify Integration" ensures that your customers never feel like they are being handed off to a third-party site. They stay in your ecosystem, which significantly improves conversion rates and protects your profit.

Beyond the Sale: Additional Costs to Watch

When calculating what percentage does shopify take from sales, you cannot look at transaction fees in a vacuum. There are other "percentage-based" or recurring costs that can impact your bottom line.

App Subscriptions and Integrations

Most Shopify stores require at least three to five apps to function effectively—be it for SEO, email marketing, or loyalty programs. Many apps charge based on your "usage" or take a percentage of the revenue they "generate" for you. This is a practice we fundamentally disagree with.

At Tevello, we reject complicated tier structures. We offer The Unlimited Plan for $29.99 per month. This provides predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees, allowing you to scale your student base and course library without worrying about your software bill increasing alongside your success.

International Selling and Currency Conversion

If you sell globally, Shopify charges currency conversion fees (typically 1.5% to 2% depending on the country). Additionally, international credit cards often carry a higher processing fee than domestic ones. These costs are often overlooked during the initial setup but can quietly eat 1-2% of your total gross revenue if you have a global audience.

Transitioning to Digital: A Higher Margin Strategy

One of the most effective ways to combat the fees associated with physical commerce is to integrate digital products into your store. While physical products have COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), shipping, and storage, digital products have near-zero marginal costs after the initial creation.

Practical Scenario: Adding a Digital Powerhouse

Imagine a merchant selling high-end espresso machines. Their margins on the hardware might be slim after accounting for Shopify's percentage, shipping insurance, and the manufacturer's cut. However, by using Tevello to create a "Mastering the Home Brew" video course, they create a high-margin upsell.

The course requires no shipping box, no warehouse space, and—with Tevello—no additional transaction fees. This allows the merchant to significantly increase their Average Order Value (AOV) and Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). We have seen how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses alongside their physical inventory, proving that the hybrid model is the future of e-commerce.

By generating revenue from both physical and digital goods, you effectively lower the "weight" of Shopify's transaction fees across your entire business. The high margin of the digital sale offsets the lower margin of the physical one.

How to Minimize Your Shopify Fees

While you cannot eliminate fees entirely—after all, Shopify provides the world-class security and hosting that makes your business possible—you can optimize them.

1. Use Shopify Payments: This is the single easiest way to stop Shopify from taking an extra 0.5% to 2% from your sales.
2. Audit Your Monthly Volume: Don’t stay on the Basic plan if your volume has grown to the point where the Shopify or Advanced plans would save you money on processing.
3. Watch Out for "Success Fees": Be wary of apps that want a percentage of your sales. Look for flat-rate solutions that offer a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members.
4. Reduce App Bloat: Every $20/month app is a percentage of your profit. Choose all-in-one ecosystems that consolidate features like communities, courses, and member directories.
5. Focus on Retention: It is far cheaper to sell a new digital product to an existing customer than to acquire a new one. Consider retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases to keep your acquisition costs low.

If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Tevello: A Partner in Profitability

At Tevello, our mission is to empower you to keep more of your hard-earned money. We believe that when you succeed, you shouldn't be penalized with higher fees. This is why we are committed to providing an all-in-one ecosystem where physical products, digital courses, and community engagement live side-by-side without the "success fees" common in our industry.

Unlike many third-party platforms that redirect your customers to their own URLs (and often take a 5% to 10% cut of your sales), Tevello keeps everything on your Shopify store. This means you own your data, your brand, and 100% of your revenue after Shopify’s standard processing fees.

Our Unlimited Plan at $29.99/month includes:

• Unlimited courses and students.
• Unlimited video hosting and bandwidth.
• Community features including member profiles and social feeds.
• Drip content scheduling and advanced quizzes.
• 0% transaction fees from Tevello.

We have seen the power of this model firsthand, with some of our merchants driving 50% of sales from repeat course purchasers. By removing the technical barriers and the financial "tax" on growth, we help you focus on what actually matters: creating incredible content for your audience.

Whether you are looking for strategies for selling over 4,000 digital courses natively or simply want to add a small membership component to your existing brand, we provide the tools to do it efficiently. Our app ensures a seamless checkout experience using the payment gateways you already trust, maintaining the high-security standards your customers expect.

Conclusion

Understanding what percentage does shopify take from sales is the first step toward building a truly profitable e-commerce business. While Shopify’s fees are a necessary investment in a secure and scalable platform, they should be managed with precision. By choosing the right plan, utilizing Shopify Payments, and avoiding apps that take a cut of your revenue, you can significantly improve your net margins.

More importantly, don't just focus on cutting costs—focus on increasing the value of every customer. Adding digital products, memberships, or a community to your Shopify store is the most effective way to diversify your revenue streams and increase your brand loyalty. With a tool like Tevello, you can transform your store into a digital learning powerhouse without the complexity of a fragmented system.

We invite you to start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now. You can build your entire curriculum and community before paying a cent. See for yourself how the app natively integrates with Shopify and discover how much more profitable your business can be when you own the entire experience.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

1. Does Shopify take a percentage of every sale if I use my own payment processor?

Yes. If you do not use Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an additional transaction fee of 2%, 1%, or 0.5% depending on your plan. This is on top of the processing fee your third-party gateway (like PayPal) already charges you. This is why using Shopify's native payment system is generally the most cost-effective choice for merchants.

2. Is it possible to avoid transaction fees when selling courses on Shopify?

When you use Tevello, we charge 0% transaction fees. You only pay your standard Shopify subscription and processing fees. This is a significant advantage over other course platforms that may take 5% to 10% of your revenue as a "success fee" or platform commission.

3. How do I know when to upgrade my Shopify plan to get lower rates?

You should calculate your "break-even" point. For example, the jump from the Basic plan to the Shopify plan saves you 0.3% on every credit card transaction. If that 0.3% saving totals more than the difference in the monthly subscription cost (roughly $66), it is time to upgrade. This usually happens when your monthly sales exceed $20,000.

4. Can I sell digital courses and physical products together in one transaction?

Absolutely. One of the primary benefits of using a native integration like Tevello is that digital courses and physical products sit in the same Shopify cart. A customer can buy a bag of coffee beans and a "Home Barista" video course in a single checkout, and you will only pay the standard Shopify processing fee once for that total order. This is excellent for increasing your Average Order Value (AOV).