What is my real Shopify order profit?
Shopify order contribution profit is revenue after discounts minus product costs, shipping, payment fees, advertising and expected unrecovered return costs. The estimate shows what remains toward fixed overhead and income tax. Select your payment provider and override rates to match your account.
The formula, explained.
Net revenue = order revenue − discount Payment fee = net revenue × processing rate + fixed fee Profit = net revenue − product costs − shipping − fees − ads − expected return cost
A worked example
- Start with a $100 order and no discount. Enter $35 product cost, $6 seller-paid shipping, $1 packaging and $20 advertising cost to acquire the order. Choose Shopify Payments and use the example standard online card rate of 2.9% plus $0.30. Set returns and other variable costs to zero for this initial comparison.
- Payment processing costs $100 × 0.029 + $0.30 = $3.20. Total variable costs including advertising are $35 + $6 + $1 + $20 + $3.20 = $65.20. Subtracting these from $100 revenue leaves $34.80 contribution profit, or a 34.8% contribution margin. This amount still needs to cover any fixed expenses and income tax that have not been allocated.
- Apply a $10 order discount while keeping the other costs unchanged. Net revenue falls to $90, and payment processing becomes $2.91. Contribution profit is then $90 − $35 − $6 − $1 − $20 − $2.91 = $25.09. Use this comparison when planning promotions. Add expected unrecovered return losses and any applicable third-party transaction fee before deciding how much advertising the discounted order can support.
How to interpret your result
This is contribution profit per order before fixed overhead and income tax. Third-party provider fees are added only when that payment option is selected. All rates can be overridden.
Common mistakes to avoid
A high ROAS does not guarantee a profitable order. Include discounts and expected return losses, and allocate subscription or app costs to other costs when needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is my real Shopify order profit?
A $100 order with $35 COGS, $6 shipping, $1 packaging, $20 ads and $3.20 payment fees leaves $34.80 contribution profit, or 34.8%. This is contribution profit per order before fixed overhead and income tax. Third-party provider fees are added only when that payment option is selected. All rates can be overridden.
How much does Shopify take per sale?
With Shopify Payments, the card rate depends on your plan: it is lowest on Advanced and Plus, higher on Basic, plus a fixed per-transaction fee. Enter your plan and processing rate to see the exact deduction for your order size. If you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify adds a separate transaction fee on top of that provider's own processing cost.
Why does Shopify charge extra for third-party payment providers?
Shopify charges its own transaction fee whenever an order is processed through a payment gateway other than Shopify Payments, in addition to whatever that third-party provider charges. This calculator adds the third-party transaction rate on top of the payment processing rate only when you select a third-party provider, so you can compare the true cost against Shopify Payments.
Does a higher-tier Shopify plan always increase profit per order?
A higher-tier plan lowers the per-order card processing rate, which increases the profit calculated for each individual order. The plan itself has a higher monthly subscription cost that this calculator does not subtract, since it works at the per-order level. Compare the per-order savings across your monthly order volume against the plan price difference separately.
Why is my contribution profit different from my Shopify payout?
Your Shopify payout reflects order revenue minus payment processing fees only. This calculator's profit figure also subtracts product cost, shipping, packaging, advertising, and expected return losses. Contribution profit is a better measure of whether an order is actually worth taking, since payout alone ignores what the product and its fulfillment cost you.
Should I include ad spend for every order in this calculator?
Enter your advertising cost per order (or CPA) if the order came from a paid channel, since ad spend is a real cost of acquiring that sale and directly reduces contribution profit. For organic, repeat, or referral orders with no associated ad cost, leave this field at zero so profit isn't understated.
Can I change the assumptions?
Yes. All inputs can be edited, and advanced assumptions are available below the main inputs. Use values from the same period and currency. This tool uses US marketplace assumptions; fee rates and costs can be adjusted to your actual terms.
Are my financial numbers saved?
No. Calculations happen locally in your browser. Sharing creates a link containing the inputs, and exporting saves a CSV report to your device. You choose whether to share those artifacts.
Sources & methodology
Shopify · Official source ↗ · Fee update log
Learn more about our calculation methodology and estimate limitations.