Shopify transaction fees: what agencies should explain to clients

Shopify adds its own fee to orders paid through an outside payment provider, on top of what the provider charges. Here is when it applies, what it costs on each plan, and how to explain it to a client before they sign.

Ask a client what Shopify costs and they will quote the plan price. Few know that each order can carry a second Shopify fee, on top of what their payment provider charges. When they find it on their bill, the first call goes to the agency that built the shop.

This guide explains Shopify’s transaction fee in plain words, so you can explain it before the client signs rather than after. It is part of our series on platforms for client stores; the overview is the best ecommerce platform for agencies.

What are Shopify transaction fees?

A Shopify store can pay up to three kinds of cost on an online order:

1. The plan: the monthly subscription, the same whatever the store sells.
2. Payment processing: what the payment provider charges to take the shopper’s money. With Shopify Payments, Shopify publishes its own card rates; for example, its UAE pricing page lists 2.9% + AED 1.00 for online cards on Basic. With another provider, that provider sets the rate.
3. The third-party transaction fee: a percentage Shopify adds when the order is paid through a provider other than Shopify Payments.

The third one is what people usually mean by “Shopify transaction fees”. Shopify’s help centre is clear that it is in addition to the processing fees charged by the outside provider.

How much is the fee on each plan?

Plan prices differ by country and change from time to time, so check the client’s own Shopify pricing page when you quote them. The fee percentages above were the same on the Indian and UAE pricing pages we checked.

When does the fee apply, and when doesn’t it?

From Shopify’s help centre:

• It applies to orders paid through a third-party or alternative payment provider. For stores created on or after 12 May 2025, it also applies to orders paid with store credit or gift cards.
• It doesn’t apply to point-of-sale orders or to manual payment methods such as cash on delivery, bank deposits and cheques.
• PayPal orders are exempt when Shopify Payments is the store’s main provider.
• Refunds: the fee isn’t returned when the merchant refunds an order.

So the fee is avoided by using Shopify Payments. That works for clients in the 41 countries where Shopify Payments is available, including the United States and the UAE. It is not available in India, so an Indian store taking card or UPI payments through a local gateway pays the fee on those orders. We cover the Indian options in Shopify alternatives for agencies in India.

How much does it add up to? An example

The figures below are examples only, without a currency, so you can show a client how the fee scales. They are not real prices.

That is on top of the plan and the provider’s own fee, every month. A refunded order still costs the fee. For a growing shop, it can be larger than the plan itself. A bigger Shopify plan lowers the percentage but costs more each month, so the cheapest plan depends on the client’s sales.

When you compare plans for a client, add the fee to the plan price at their expected sales. A plan that looks cheaper can cost more once orders come in.

What should agencies tell clients?

A short, honest explanation at proposal stage saves an awkward call later. Cover four points:

1. Which payment provider the shop will use, and whether Shopify Payments is available in the client’s country.
2. The provider’s own fee per order, from the provider’s pricing page.
3. Shopify’s extra fee, if any, at the plan you recommend, with a monthly figure at the client’s expected sales.
4. Other monthly costs such as apps; see Shopify app costs.

Put the totals in your proposal next to your own fee. If you bill the client for the platform yourself, decide who carries these costs: our guide on who pays whom on Shopify, Wix and white-label platforms sets out the options. If you earn from Shopify’s revenue share rather than your own price, read Shopify Partner Program vs a white-label platform first.

How DripFunnel handles this

DripFunnel takes no fee on a merchant’s orders, on any plan, whichever payment method the shop uses. Shoppers pay the merchant through the merchant’s own payment account, and only the payment provider charges for processing.

• India: Razorpay, Cashfree, PhonePe, cash on delivery and bank transfer.
• United States: Stripe, PayPal and bank transfer.
• UAE: payments for UAE shops are not available yet; talk to us before you sign a UAE client.

See Connect a payment method for how a store sets this up.

For agencies in our white-label partner programme, this also makes margins easier. You pay DripFunnel a wholesale fee per store per month, agreed in your contract, and you charge your client your own monthly price. Nothing grows with each order, so what you keep is the same in a slow month and a busy one. The partner console shows DripFunnel’s fee and what you keep on every price you set. Agency margin maths works through the numbers, and what your clients see and what you control shows the client’s side. More than 75 partners across the globe already run client stores this way.

Compare the two platforms side by side on DripFunnel vs Shopify. When a client is ready to move, follow our plan for moving client stores from Shopify. Then talk to us about becoming a partner.

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