A $39.99 Shopify order with a $15 product cost can look profitable on a product spreadsheet. Markup is large. Gross margin still looks comfortable. Then you add the postage you actually pay, the mailer, card processing, and a slice of the monthly Shopify plan. The keep rate on that same order is smaller, and it is the keep rate that should decide whether you reorder, discount, or raise the price.
Markup divides leftover by product cost. Gross margin divides leftover after product cost by revenue. Net margin uses the full modeled stack. The Shopify Margin Calculator stacks product cost, fulfillment you cover, payment processing, optional app or channel fees, and plan cost allocated per order. Use net margin on that stack to judge the SKU. Replace every default with your invoices, carrier quotes, and live Shopify Payments rates.
This is a per-order margin guide, not a monthly sales forecast and not a full Shopify fee catalog. For store-level take-home after discounts and refunds, use the Shopify revenue take-home guide. For plan and processor context, see Shopify Fees Explained and the Shopify fee calculator guide.
What the calculator reports, and what it leaves out
Open the Shopify Margin Calculator with one typical order in mind. Inputs are retail selling price before tax, units in the order, product cost (COGS) per unit, shipping cost you pay the carrier, packaging per order, Shopify transaction percent, fixed fee per order, optional app or channel fee percent, monthly Shopify plan cost, and average monthly orders.
Gross profit in this model is revenue minus product cost only. Net profit subtracts shipping, packaging, payment fees, additional percent fees, and plan cost divided across average monthly orders. If average monthly orders is zero, plan cost per order is treated as zero so the math does not divide by zero.
The model does not include sales tax you collect to remit, refunds, chargebacks, currency conversion, advertising, payroll, rent, or most other operating costs. Buyer-paid shipping is not a separate field; if you charge shipping, add that collected amount to the selling price. Recurring app subscriptions are not a dedicated line. You can fold those monthly software bills into the plan field and note it.
The Shopify Profit Calculator is the closer per-order cousin. It reports leftover after product, fulfillment, and fees, and it leaves the monthly plan out. The Shopify Revenue Calculator is the monthly view: average order value, order count, discounts, refunds, fees, and recurring costs.
Markup, gross margin, contribution, and net margin
The same leftover dollars can look generous or thin depending on the denominator. Markup divides leftover by product cost. Margin divides leftover by revenue. Name the view every time you talk about a percent.
On a $39.99 selling price and a $15 product cost, markup is ($39.99 − $15.00) / $15.00 = 166.6%. Gross margin in this calculator is ($39.99 − $15.00) / $39.99 = 62.5%. Those two percents describe the same $24.99 product spread, not postage, card fees, or the plan.
- Markup. (Sale price − product cost) / product cost × 100. A sourcing check. High markup can still leave a thin net if fulfillment is heavy.
- Gross margin (this calculator). (Revenue − product cost) / revenue × 100. A product-cost share of sales. It ignores shipping, payments, apps, and the plan.
- Contribution margin. Leftover after variable per-order costs (product, shipping, packaging, payment fees, and app or channel fees) before spreading the monthly plan. This calculator does not print a separate contribution label. Net profit before plan allocation is that view, matching the Shopify Profit Calculator.
- Net margin (this calculator). (Revenue − product − shipping − packaging − payment fees − additional fees − plan per order) / revenue × 100. This is the number for the decision: does this product still work after the stack you modeled?
Plan cost per order is an allocation, not a Shopify line item on that checkout. Cash still leaves for the subscription once a month. Spreading it shows whether volume is high enough for the product to carry its share. At 20 orders, a $39 plan is $1.95 per order. At 100 orders, it is $0.39.
Dated Shopify plan and payment context (September 25, 2026)
Shopify public pricing moves by country, billing interval, card type, and account terms. The figures below are public list prices checked on September 25, 2026. They are not a quote for your store. Confirm in Shopify admin and on shopify.com/pricing before you change a price.
United States, monthly billing (public list): Basic $39 with Shopify Payments online standard cards at 2.9% + $0.30, and a 2% Shopify third-party fee on an external gateway. Grow $105, 2.7% + $0.30, 1% third-party. Advanced $399, 2.5% + $0.30, 0.6% third-party. Annual equivalents listed Basic $29, Grow $79, and Advanced $299. Confirm premium cards, international add-ons, and in-person rates in admin.
Canada, monthly billing (verify on shopify.com/ca/pricing): public pages have shown Basic around $49 CAD, Grow around $132 CAD, and Advanced around $517 CAD. Online Shopify Payments examples often appear near 2.8% + $0.30 CAD on Basic and 2.6% + $0.30 CAD on Grow. Confirm card mix and billing in admin.
If Shopify Payments is your sole processor, Shopify generally does not add the plan’s third-party transaction percent on those orders. An external processor means that processor’s fee plus Shopify’s third-party percent. Pull the live percent and fixed fee from Settings, Payments. Do not copy the calculator default of 2.9% + $0.30 unless that is your current US Basic Shopify Payments rate.
Plain-language formulas
- Revenue = sale price × quantity
- Product cost = unit COGS × quantity
- Payment fees = revenue × (transaction percent / 100) + fixed fee
- Additional fees = revenue × (app or channel percent / 100)
- Plan cost per order = monthly plan / average monthly orders (or 0 if orders are 0)
- Gross profit = revenue − product cost; gross margin = gross profit / revenue × 100
- Markup = (sale price − product cost) / product cost × 100
- Net profit = revenue − product − shipping − packaging − payment − additional fees − plan per order; net margin = net profit / revenue × 100
Put card processing in the transaction percent and fixed fee. Put Shopify’s extra third-party percent, a marketplace take rate, or an app percent in additional fees. Leave additional fees at 0% when none apply.
Illustrative planning example
Illustrative planning example, not a store result and not a Shopify benchmark. Assumptions: US Basic billed monthly at $39, Shopify Payments 2.9% + $0.30, 100 orders per month, one unit, sale $39.99, product $15.00, shipping you pay $4.99, packaging $1.50, extra fees 0%.
- Revenue: $39.99
- Product: $15.00
- Gross profit: $24.99
- Gross margin: 62.5%
- Markup: 166.6%
- Shipping + packaging: $6.49
- Payment fees: $1.46 ($39.99 × 2.9% + $0.30)
- Plan per order: $0.39
- Net profit: about $16.65
- Net margin: about 41.6%
The $24.99 gross spread is leftover after product cost only. Fulfillment takes $6.49, processing about $1.46, and the plan allocation $0.39, leaving about $16.65 on this labeled stack. There is no universal healthy Shopify margin. Ads, refunds, and wages sit outside this example.
Sensitivity A, volume. At 20 orders per month the same $39 plan is $1.95 per order. Net profit falls to about $15.09 and net margin to about 37.7%.
Sensitivity B, discount. A 20% sale price of $31.99, same costs and 100 orders, drops net profit to about $8.88 and net margin to about 27.8%. Postage, packaging, and the $0.30 fixed fee barely move.
Run the same order in the calculator with your numbers, then decide whether to price, cut a cost, or stop scaling.
Margin audit workflow
- Pick a recent typical paid order. Use item price before tax, units, and the cost you paid to make or buy those units.
- Add carrier postage and packaging from invoices. Free shipping still costs you postage.
- Enter live Shopify Payments percent and fixed fee from Settings, Payments. For an external processor, put that rate in the transaction fields and Shopify’s third-party percent in additional fees, along with any app or channel take rate.
- Enter the monthly plan you pay. Keep ads, payroll, and refunds out unless you are stress-testing. Set average monthly orders from the count you actually have, then test a conservative count.
- Read gross and net side by side. Strong gross with thin net usually means fulfillment, fees, or a plan spread across too few orders. Then raise price, cut a cost, change fulfillment, or stop scaling the SKU.
Price, cut a cost, or test: decision checklist
- Price. If net is too thin at today’s cost stack, solve for a list price with the Shopify Pricing Calculator. The Shopify pricing strategy guide covers store-level pricing; this pass tells you whether the SKU already fails the stack.
- Reduce cost. Renegotiate COGS, change the mailer, stop absorbing postage the selling price cannot carry, or compare Shopify Payments with an external processor plus Shopify’s extra percent.
- Volume. Plan cost per order falls as orders rise. Do not treat week-one allocation as the cost at a stable run rate.
- Discounts and free shipping. Model the amount you actually collect. Fixed fees and postage stay. A 20% off code can cut net by far more than 20%.
- Basket size. Two units can share one postage charge. Use the Average Order Value Calculator when AOV, not unit price, is the lever.
- Overhead outside this tool. Ads, refunds, and monthly app stacks belong in the Shopify Revenue Calculator. Per-order leftover without plan allocation belongs in the Shopify Profit Calculator. Volume needed to cover monthly overhead belongs in the Shopify Break-Even Calculator.
Common mistakes
- Treating markup as margin, then wondering why the bank balance does not match the spreadsheet.
- Using gross margin as the keep rate. Gross in this tool ignores postage, cards, apps, and the plan.
- Forgetting postage you pay on free-shipping orders.
- Pasting 2.9% + $0.30 for every country, plan, and card type.
- Ignoring Shopify’s third-party percent when Shopify Payments is off.
- Spreading the plan across a hoped-for order count instead of the count you have.
- Including collected sales tax in revenue, or assuming ads, refunds, chargebacks, or wages are already subtracted.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Shopify gross and net margin in this tool?
Gross margin is leftover after product cost only, as a percent of revenue. Net margin also subtracts shipping you pay, packaging, payment fees, additional app or channel fees, and plan cost allocated per order.
Should I include the monthly Shopify plan in per-order margin?
Include it when you want a fully loaded per-order view. Leave it out when you want contribution before fixed software. This calculator reports both: gross ignores the plan, net spreads it across average monthly orders.
Does this include ads, refunds, or payroll?
No. Those costs can erase an otherwise acceptable net margin. Model them in the Shopify Revenue Calculator or in your books, then judge the SKU again.
What Shopify Payments rate should I enter?
Use the percent and fixed fee shown in Settings, Payments for your country, plan, and card mix. Premium cards, international cards, and in-person rates can differ from the online standard-card headline.
How is this different from Shopify Profit Calculator and Shopify Revenue Calculator?
The margin calculator adds plan allocation to a per-order net view and prints gross margin and markup beside it. Shopify Profit Calculator stays per-order and excludes the monthly plan. Shopify Revenue Calculator forecasts a month from AOV and order volume, with discounts and refunds.
Judge the product on net margin after the stack you modeled
Start with a real order, enter live Shopify rates, and read net margin after fulfillment, payments, optional channel fees, and plan allocation. If that number cannot survive a discount, a postage increase, or a slow month, fix price or cost before you scale. Then run the Shopify Margin Calculator and continue in the Shopify calculator hub.