What Percentage of Sales Does Shopify Take?

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Layers of Shopify Costs: A High-Level Overview
3. Breaking Down the Percentages by Plan
4. The Strategy of Native Integration
5. Payment Processing Fees vs. Transaction Fees: The Real Difference
6. Beyond the Basics: Other Fees to Watch
7. Practical Scenario: The Coffee Merchant's Margin Rescue
8. How to Reduce the Percentage Shopify Takes
9. The Tevello Advantage: Simple, Predictable Scaling
10. Case Studies: Real Growth Without Hidden Fees
11. Is Shopify Still Worth It Given the Fees?
12. Calculating Your True Profit Margin
13. Final Checklist Before You Launch or Upgrade
14. Conclusion
15. FAQ

Introduction

Imagine you have just designed the perfect artisan coffee brewer. You’ve spent months on prototypes, sourced the finest materials, and calculated your shipping logistics down to the penny. But the moment you make your first sale, you realize that the gross revenue hitting your bank account isn’t quite what you expected. Between the monthly subscription to your platform, the payment processing costs, and those elusive "transaction fees," the invisible weight of e-commerce overhead can quickly become a burden. While the e-learning market is projected to reach hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the decade, many creators and merchants are still struggling to understand the math behind their own storefronts.

The question of exactly what percentage of sales Shopify takes is one of the most critical calculations any business owner will make. It isn't just a single number; it is a layered ecosystem of costs that fluctuate based on your plan level, your payment gateway, and even the geographic location of your customers. For a merchant selling coffee equipment, adding a digital "Home Barista Mastery" course can be a game-changing strategy to increase margins, as it requires no physical shipping or inventory costs—but only if you understand the fees associated with those sales.

The purpose of this blog post is to pull back the curtain on the Shopify fee structure for 2025 and beyond. We will break down the subscription tiers, analyze the difference between payment processing and transaction fees, and provide actionable strategies to protect your profit margins. Our thesis is simple: While Shopify provides an world-class engine for commerce, your long-term success depends on optimizing your setup to minimize "fee leak," particularly by leveraging native integrations and digital products to maximize Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

The Layers of Shopify Costs: A High-Level Overview

To understand what percentage of sales Shopify takes, we have to look at three distinct layers of cost. Many new merchants conflate these, but they serve different purposes and are billed in different ways.

1. The Monthly Subscription Fee

This is the "rent" you pay to keep your digital doors open. Shopify offers a tiered system designed to grow with your business. While this isn't a "percentage of sales" in the literal sense, it becomes a smaller percentage of your total revenue as your volume increases. For example, if you are on a $39 per month plan and sell $1,000 worth of goods, your "subscription tax" is effectively 3.9%. If you sell $10,000, it drops to 0.39%.

2. Payment Processing Fees (Credit Card Rates)

These are the fees charged by the payment network (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) and the processor to securely move money from the customer’s bank to yours. These are mandatory for almost every online business, regardless of the platform you use. Shopify manages this through Shopify Payments, and the rate you pay decreases as you upgrade to higher subscription plans.

3. Shopify Transaction Fees

This is the specific "cut" Shopify takes on top of the processing fees only if you choose not to use Shopify Payments. If you use a third-party gateway like PayPal or Stripe, Shopify charges an additional percentage (ranging from 0.5% to 2.0%) to account for the platform’s maintenance.

Breaking Down the Percentages by Plan

The most accurate way to answer "how much does Shopify take" is to look at the specific plan details. At Tevello, we believe in transparency, and we want to help you see how these numbers impact your bottom line.

Basic Shopify Plan

• Monthly Subscription: $39 (or $29 billed annually).
• Online Credit Card Rate: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
• In-Person (POS) Rate: 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction.
• Third-Party Transaction Fee: 2.0% (if not using Shopify Payments).

The Basic plan is best for new stores. However, if you are using a third-party gateway, you could be losing nearly 5% of every sale before you even account for your cost of goods sold (COGS).

Shopify (Grow) Plan

• Monthly Subscription: $105 (or $79 billed annually).
• Online Credit Card Rate: 2.7% + $0.30 per transaction.
• In-Person (POS) Rate: 2.5% + $0.10 per transaction.
• Third-Party Transaction Fee: 1.0% (if not using Shopify Payments).

As your volume increases, moving to this mid-tier plan often pays for itself. The 0.2% reduction in processing fees may seem small, but on $20,000 of monthly sales, that’s $40 saved every month, which helps offset the higher subscription cost.

Advanced Shopify Plan

• Monthly Subscription: $399 (or $299 billed annually).
• Online Credit Card Rate: 2.5% + $0.30 per transaction.
• In-Person (POS) Rate: 2.4% + $0.10 per transaction.
• Third-Party Transaction Fee: 0.6% (if not using Shopify Payments).

This plan is tailored for high-volume merchants who need advanced reporting and lower per-transaction costs. For businesses approaching enterprise level, this is where you start to see the most efficiency in your processing rates.

The Strategy of Native Integration

At Tevello, our mission is to "turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse." One of the reasons we focus so heavily on our Native Shopify Integration is because it allows merchants to avoid the complexity and extra fees associated with third-party platforms. When you use a third-party course hosting site, you often deal with "success fees" or separate transaction costs.

By keeping your digital products within the Shopify ecosystem, you utilize the payment gateways you already trust. This ensures a seamless checkout experience and keeps your customers on your own URL. We believe merchants should own their customer data and brand experience, rather than redirecting them to an external site that might charge its own percentages. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Payment Processing Fees vs. Transaction Fees: The Real Difference

It is vital to distinguish between these two because one is largely avoidable, while the other is a cost of doing business.

Why Do Processing Fees Exist?

Every time a customer swipes a card or enters their digits online, multiple parties are involved: the customer’s bank, the merchant’s bank, the card network (Visa/Mastercard), and the payment processor. Each of these entities takes a tiny fraction of the sale for facilitating the security, fraud prevention, and movement of funds.

Why Does Shopify Charge a Transaction Fee?

If you opt out of Shopify Payments to use a gateway like PayPal, Shopify is still providing the infrastructure for that sale to happen—the hosting, the security, the database—but they aren't the ones processing the payment. To cover the costs of maintaining that integration, they charge a transaction fee.

The Golden Rule for Shopify Merchants: If Shopify Payments is available in your country, use it. It is the most effective way to immediately lower the percentage Shopify takes from your sales.

Beyond the Basics: Other Fees to Watch

While the percentages above cover most domestic sales, e-commerce is rarely that simple. There are several "hidden" percentages that can affect your final payout.

1. International Card Fees

If you sell to a customer in the UK while based in the US, Shopify often charges an additional 1% on top of the standard processing rate. This accounts for the complexity of international banking and fraud checks.

2. Currency Conversion Fees

If your store is set to USD but your customer pays in Euros, Shopify charges a currency conversion fee (usually around 1.5% to 2.0%). This is a fee that can be optimized by using Shopify Markets to localize your pricing.

3. App Subscriptions

Most successful Shopify stores rely on a handful of apps to handle everything from email marketing to product reviews. While these aren't a direct "percentage of sale," many apps (not Tevello) charge based on your revenue or number of orders. We prefer predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees, which allows you to scale without being punished for your success.

Practical Scenario: The Coffee Merchant's Margin Rescue

Let's look at a practical, relatable scenario. Imagine a merchant named Sarah who sells high-end espresso machines on her Shopify store. Her average order value is $500, and her margin on the physical machine is about 20% ($100 profit) before platform fees.

On the Basic Shopify Plan using a third-party gateway, here is the math:

• Product Price: $500
• Third-Party Processor Fee (e.g., PayPal): $14.80 (2.9% + $0.30)
• Shopify Transaction Fee (2%): $10.00
• Remaining Profit: $75.20

In this case, the total fees took nearly 25% of her net profit!

Now, imagine Sarah installs Tevello and creates a "Mastering the Espresso Machine" video course. She bundles this digital product with every machine or sells it separately for $50. Because digital products have no shipping costs and Sarah is using all the key features for courses and communities to deliver the content, her margins are much higher. By switching to Shopify Payments and adding digital revenue, Sarah can keep 100% of that $50 (minus the credit card processing) because Tevello charges 0% transaction fees. This effectively increases her LTV and buffers the impact of Shopify’s subscription costs.

How to Reduce the Percentage Shopify Takes

Reducing your fees is essentially a math problem that needs to be solved every quarter. Here is a checklist for merchants:

Enable Shopify Payments

As mentioned, this is the #1 way to drop your fees. It eliminates the 0.5%–2% platform transaction fee immediately.

Audit Your Apps Regularly

Apps can quietly bloat your monthly overhead. Look for apps that provide an all-in-one ecosystem. For example, instead of paying for a separate community platform, a course hosting site, and a member directory, look for a solution that combines them. Merchants have found success migrating over 14,000 members and reducing support tickets by centralizing their operations.

Calculate the Break-Even for a Plan Upgrade

If your monthly sales are high enough, the savings from the lower credit card rates on the Shopify or Advanced plans will outweigh the higher monthly subscription fee. Generally, if you are doing more than $5,000 to $10,000 in monthly sales, it is time to run the numbers on an upgrade.

Leverage High-Margin Digital Products

Physical goods are subject to shipping, breakage, and warehousing. Digital products are not. By integrating courses or memberships into your Shopify store, you are adding revenue streams that aren't weighed down by physical logistics. Many brands have discovered examples of successful content monetization on Shopify that allowed them to scale much faster than physical goods alone.

The Tevello Advantage: Simple, Predictable Scaling

We understand that e-commerce is complicated enough. That’s why we’ve rejected the complex tier structures common in the industry. We offer a single, powerful option for merchants ready to scale: The Unlimited Plan.

For $29.99 per month, you get a robust tool that amplifies your existing efforts. We don't believe in "success fees." Whether you have ten students or ten thousand, your price remains the same. This allows you to focus on securing a fixed cost structure for digital products.

The Unlimited Plan includes:

• Unlimited courses and students.
• Unlimited video hosting and bandwidth.
• Community features (profiles, member directories, social feeds).
• Drip content scheduling and quizzes.
• A 14-day free trial.

By using a tool that lives directly inside your Shopify admin, you also benefit from a unified login that reduces customer support friction. Your customers don't have to remember a new password or navigate to a strange website; they simply log in to your store, just as they would to check an order status.

Case Studies: Real Growth Without Hidden Fees

When we look at how brands converted 15% of challenge participants into long-term subscribers, the common thread is always the user experience. Friction is the enemy of conversion. If a customer has to jump through hoops to access the course they just bought, your support tickets will skyrocket.

We’ve seen merchants solving login issues by moving to a native platform, which not only saves them time but also preserves their brand integrity. When your physical products, digital courses, and community engagement live side-by-side, you create a "sticky" brand environment that keeps customers coming back.

Is Shopify Still Worth It Given the Fees?

After looking at the percentages, some merchants wonder if a different platform might be cheaper. While there are "free" or lower-cost alternatives, they often lack the massive app ecosystem, the industry-leading security, and the sheer reliability of Shopify.

The goal shouldn't be to find the absolute lowest fee, but to find the best value. Shopify allows you to scale from your first sale to $100 million in revenue on the same core infrastructure. When you consider the cost of building a custom checkout or managing your own server security, the 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee is actually quite competitive.

Furthermore, Shopify’s ability to integrate with tools like Tevello means you aren't stuck with just one way of making money. You can diversify into memberships, recurring subscriptions, and gated content—all within the same dashboard. This versatility is what makes Shopify the gold standard for modern merchants.

Calculating Your True Profit Margin

To truly understand your business health, you must look at your "Net Profit after Fees." This is calculated as:

Gross Sales - (COGS + Shipping + Marketing + Shopify Subscription + Processing Fees + App Fees) = Net Profit.

If you are only looking at the percentage Shopify takes from your sales, you are missing the bigger picture. The most successful merchants we work with at Tevello are those who treat their store like a portfolio. They have low-margin "anchor" products (physical goods) that attract customers, and high-margin "growth" products (digital courses) that provide the actual profit.

By seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify, you can begin to visualize how your store can evolve. You aren't just a shop owner; you are an educator and a community leader.

Final Checklist Before You Launch or Upgrade

Before you commit to a specific plan or change your fee structure, ensure you have done the following:

1. Check Shopify Payments Eligibility: Ensure your business type and country are supported.
2. Estimate Monthly Volume: Be realistic. If you're just starting, the Basic plan is fine. If you have an existing audience, the Shopify "Grow" plan is likely better.
3. Review Your "Fee Leak": Are you paying for multiple apps that do the same thing?
4. Plan Your Digital Upsell: Even a simple PDF guide or a mini-video series can drastically improve your margins by offsetting transaction costs.
5. Test the Checkout Experience: Go through the process as a customer. Is it fast? Is it professional?

Conclusion

Understanding what percentage of sales Shopify takes is the first step in moving from a hobbyist to a professional merchant. While the base rates of 2.4% to 2.9% plus a small flat fee are standard for the industry, the true cost of running a store is determined by how well you optimize your setup. By using Shopify Payments to eliminate transaction fees, auditing your apps quarterly, and diversifying your revenue with high-margin digital products, you can ensure that more of your hard-earned money stays in your pocket.

At Tevello, we are committed to providing an all-in-one ecosystem where physical products, digital courses, and community engagement live side-by-side. Our goal is to help you build a sustainable, profitable business by keeping your customers close and your costs predictable. Whether you are migrating a large community or just starting your first course, our a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members ensures you never have to worry about "per-user" fees eating into your growth.

Ready to transform your Shopify store into a revenue-generating powerhouse? You can build your entire curriculum and set up your community before paying a cent during your initial period. To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

Install the Tevello app today to start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now. Take advantage of our 0% transaction fee model and keep 100% of what you earn from your digital products.

FAQ

Does Shopify take a cut of my revenue even if I don't use their payment processor?

Yes. If you use a third-party gateway like PayPal or Stripe, Shopify charges a transaction fee of 0.5% to 2.0% depending on your plan. This is in addition to whatever the third-party processor charges you. The only way to avoid this specific "extra" fee is to use Shopify Payments.

How can I avoid the 2% transaction fee on the Basic Plan?

The most effective way to avoid this fee is to enable Shopify Payments. Once enabled, Shopify waives the platform transaction fee entirely, and you only pay the standard credit card processing rates (2.9% + $0.30 for the Basic plan).

Do Shopify fees apply to digital products and courses?

Yes, Shopify treats all sales through its checkout system similarly. However, because digital products hosted via Tevello don't have shipping or physical inventory costs, your net profit per sale is significantly higher. Tevello itself charges 0% transaction fees, meaning you only pay the standard Shopify processing rates.

Is Shopify Payments available in every country?

No, Shopify Payments is available in many major markets (USA, Canada, UK, Australia, etc.), but not everywhere. If it is not available in your region, you will have to use a third-party gateway and will be subject to Shopify's transaction fees. We recommend checking Shopify’s official list of supported countries for the most up-to-date information.