Does Shopify Take a Cut

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Ecommerce SEO Services and have developed comprehensive guidance on does shopify take a cut.

A common question among business owners setting up an online store is whether Shopify takes a cut of their sales. The short answer is yes—Shopify charges fees for using its platform, but how much you pay depends on your chosen plan, payment method, and location. These fees are part of Shopify’s pricing structure and cover the costs of hosting, security, and access to powerful ecommerce tools. This article explains how Shopify’s fees work, what percentage they take per sale, and how you can minimise costs to keep more of your profits.

How Shopify pricing works

Shopify charges a monthly subscription fee for using its platform, which includes access to the store builder, hosting, and customer support. The three main plans are:

• Basic Shopify: around £25 per month, suitable for new or small businesses.

• Shopify (Standard): around £65 per month, designed for growing stores.

• Advanced Shopify: around £344 per month, aimed at larger or high-volume businesses.

Each plan offers different levels of reporting, staff accounts, and shipping discounts, but transaction fees apply to all unless you use Shopify Payments.

Shopify transaction fees explained

Shopify’s transaction fees are charged on every sale made through your store. These fees depend on the payment method used and whether you use Shopify’s built-in payment gateway (Shopify Payments) or a third-party processor like PayPal or Stripe.

1. If you use Shopify Payments
When you use Shopify Payments, there are no additional transaction fees charged by Shopify beyond the standard credit card processing rate. The processing fee varies depending on your plan:

• Basic Shopify: 2.2% + 20p per transaction

• Shopify (Standard): 1.9% + 20p per transaction

• Advanced Shopify: 1.6% + 20p per transaction

These fees cover the cost of processing payments securely through Shopify’s system.

2. If you use third-party payment providers
If you prefer to use another payment gateway such as PayPal or Worldpay, Shopify applies an additional transaction fee on top of what the provider charges. This fee is:

• 2% on the Basic Shopify plan

• 1% on the Shopify plan

• 0.5% on the Advanced Shopify plan

For example, if you’re on the Basic plan and use PayPal, you’ll pay PayPal’s standard processing fee plus Shopify’s 2% charge on each transaction.

Why Shopify takes a cut

Shopify’s fees are not just a service charge—they cover a wide range of features that make running an online business easier. These include:

• Secure hosting with unlimited bandwidth

• SSL certificates for encrypted transactions

• Integrated checkout and payment systems

• Access to marketing and sales analytics tools

• 24/7 customer support

The fees also fund continuous platform improvements, ensuring your store remains fast, safe, and compliant with international payment standards.

How to reduce Shopify fees

While Shopify’s fees are unavoidable, there are several ways to minimise costs and improve profit margins.

Use Shopify Payments
Switching to Shopify Payments eliminates the extra transaction fee and simplifies your payment processing. It’s also quicker, as all transactions are handled directly within your dashboard.

Choose the right plan for your sales volume
If your business is growing, upgrading to a higher plan can actually save money. The lower transaction rates on the Shopify and Advanced plans often outweigh the higher monthly subscription cost when your sales volume increases.

Avoid unnecessary apps or add-ons
Many apps charge monthly fees or small commissions per transaction. Audit your installed apps regularly and remove those you don’t need.

Encourage lower-cost payment methods
Card transactions carry higher processing costs than alternative methods like direct bank payments or digital wallets. If your market allows it, offering multiple payment options can help reduce total fees.

How Shopify compares to other ecommerce platforms

Compared to other ecommerce platforms, Shopify’s pricing is competitive when you consider hosting, support, and security. Platforms like WooCommerce or Magento may not charge transaction fees, but they require separate hosting, maintenance, and technical management, which can add hidden costs.

Shopify simplifies operations by bundling everything into one ecosystem, making it especially appealing to business owners who value ease of use and reliability.

Understanding the value of Shopify’s fees

While transaction costs can seem high at first, Shopify provides a complete infrastructure for running an online store. You don’t need to manage servers, install complex software, or worry about website security. The convenience and scalability it offers often outweigh the percentage taken per sale.

Shopify’s integrations also support marketing automation, SEO, and analytics, which can help you increase revenue and offset transaction costs through improved performance.

How to calculate total Shopify costs

To estimate your total Shopify costs, add together:

• Your monthly plan fee

• Payment processing fees per transaction

• Any app subscriptions or theme purchases

For example, if you sell £10,000 per month on the Standard plan using Shopify Payments, your card fees would be around 1.9% + 20p per order. That means you’d pay roughly £190 in transaction costs, plus £65 for your plan—a reasonable figure for a full ecommerce solution.

How Lillian Purge helps Shopify stores improve profitability

At Lillian Purge, we help Shopify store owners maximise the value of every sale through targeted SEO and performance optimisation. By improving visibility, increasing organic traffic, and refining conversion paths, we help businesses offset platform fees with higher sales and better profitability.

Our ecommerce SEO services include keyword optimisation, technical audits, structured data setup, and content strategy tailored specifically for Shopify’s architecture. Whether you’re launching a new store or scaling an existing one, we’ll help you grow efficiently while keeping your operating costs under control.

We have also written in depth articles on How Much is Shopify? and How to Add Social Media to Shopify as well as our Shopify Hub to give you further guidance.