"Shopify says you made $10k. TrueMargin says you kept $2k. See why — by plan."
Select your Shopify plan to auto-load the correct 2026 transaction rate. Add your monthly app spend and see exactly how much each fee drains per unit — plus how LTV changes what you can profitably spend on ads.
Product & Store Details
Industry Preset
2026 Industry Average Applied
Payment fee: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction via Shopify Payments. Third-party gateway adds +2.0%.
Used to calculate per-unit app cost allocation.
Slide to see how LTV changes your allowable ad spend.
Net Profit Per Unit
True Net Profit
$0.00
0.0% margin
Gross Revenue (after returns)—
Unit COGS—
Shipping—
Pick & Pack—
Shopify Payment Fee—
App Tax Per Unit—
Ad Spend—
Break-Even ROAS—
Monthly Net Profit—
Cost Breakdown
COGS
Shipping+3PL
Platform Fee
App Tax
Ad Spend
Profit
LTV — Allowable Ad Spend Per Customer
1× / yr
—
Max CAC: —
2× / yr
—
Max CAC: —
3× / yr
—
Max CAC: —
Shopify Plan Payment Fee Structure (2026)
Your Shopify plan determines the transaction fee rate applied to every order. This single variable can meaningfully change your per-unit economics at scale. The calculator above auto-loads these rates based on your selected plan.
Plan
Monthly Cost
Shopify Payments Rate
Third-Party Gateway
Basic
$39/mo
2.9% + $0.30
+2.0% extra
Shopify
$105/mo
2.6% + $0.30
+1.0% extra
Advanced
$399/mo
2.4% + $0.30
+0.5% extra
Shopify Plus
Custom
~0.15–0.25%
Negotiated
The Basic → Advanced upgrade saves 0.5% in transaction fees. On a $50 product, that's $0.25/order. At 1,000 orders/month, the plan upgrade ($360/mo more) saves $250/mo in fees — a net negative at that volume. The breakeven point for upgrading from Basic to Advanced is roughly 1,500+ orders/month.
The Per-Unit App Tax: Most Sellers Ignore This
Monthly app subscriptions are a fixed overhead cost — but they compress your per-unit margin proportionally to your volume. The lower your monthly unit count, the more each app dollar costs per sale.
App Tax Per Unit Formula
App Tax Per Unit = Monthly App Spend ÷ Monthly Units Sold
Example A: $150/month ÷ 300 units = $0.50 per sale
Example B: $150/month ÷ 100 units = $1.50 per sale
Example C: $300/month ÷ 100 units = $3.00 per sale (high app spend, low volume)
Example C is more common than founders realize. A store running Klaviyo ($150/mo), Yotpo ($50/mo), ReConvert ($50/mo), and a loyalty app ($50/mo) = $300/month. At 100 units sold, that's $3.00 per sale in app overhead — invisible in your product margin math but very visible at the end of the month.
LTV: How Repeat Purchases Change Your Allowable CAC
Your break-even ROAS and maximum CAC are calculated on a single sale. But if your customer buys again — without being re-acquired via paid ads — every subsequent purchase is pure contribution margin. LTV changes what you can sustainably spend to acquire a customer.
LTV & Allowable CAC Formula
Contribution Per Order = Gross Revenue − All Variable Costs (excl. ad spend)
Annual LTV = Contribution Per Order × Annual Purchase Frequency
Max CAC (1-yr payback) = Annual LTV × Target Margin
If contribution/order = $20 and customer buys 3× per year:
Annual LTV = $20 × 3 = $60
Max CAC = $60 × 80% = $48 (keeping 20% as net margin)
This is why brands with strong repeat purchase rates — supplements, beauty, coffee — can outspend competitors on acquisition. They're playing a different math game. The LTV slider in the calculator above shows exactly how your allowable CAC changes at 1, 2, and 3 purchases per year.
The 5 Silent Killers Draining Your Shopify Margin
01
Payment Fee Drain
2.9% + $0.30 on a $50 order = $1.75/sale. At 300 orders/month that's $525 gone before anything else. $6,300/year — from a line item you never see in your dashboard.
02
App Subscription Creep
$150/month spread over 300 units = $0.50/unit. Sounds trivial. But if you're at 100 units, it's $1.50/unit — and nobody's included this in their break-even calculation.
03
Return Rate Bleed
A 10% return rate doesn't just cost you the sale. It costs shipping both ways, potential product write-off, and restocking time. Effective revenue loss is 12–18% of gross on every returned order.
04
Attribution-Inflated ROAS
Your Meta ROAS is inflated by view-through, multi-touch, and organic assists. Blended CAC is typically 30–50% higher than reported. Your break-even ROAS is almost always higher than you think.
05
Pick, Pack & 3PL
$1.50–$4.00/order in fulfillment cost that almost never appears in pricing math. At 300 orders/month, that's $450–$1,200 in monthly profit erosion hiding in your ops budget.
Run the Full 5-Platform Audit
The Shopify calculator above covers one product on one platform. The full TrueMargin tool compares all 5 platforms simultaneously, models LTV and subscription churn, and projects your stockout date.
Which Shopify plan has the lowest transaction fees in 2026?
Advanced ($399/mo) has the lowest Shopify Payments rate at 2.4% + $0.30. But the upgrade only makes financial sense at high order volumes — roughly 1,500+ orders/month before the fee savings exceed the plan price increase versus Basic.
How do I calculate per-unit app cost on Shopify?
Divide your total monthly app subscription spend by your monthly units sold. $150/month ÷ 300 units = $0.50 per unit. This per-unit app tax should be deducted in every product profit calculation alongside COGS and shipping.
What is a good net profit margin for a Shopify store?
After all costs including ad spend, 15–25% net contribution margin is considered healthy for physical products. Below 10% makes scaling via paid ads very difficult. High-margin categories (supplements, digital, beauty) often target 30–40% contribution margin before overhead.
How does LTV affect my Shopify ad spend budget?
LTV unlocks a higher allowable CAC. If your contribution margin per order is $20 and a customer buys 3× per year, your annual LTV is $60 — meaning you can spend up to $48 to acquire that customer (on an 80% margin target) vs. only $16 if they only buy once.
Does Shopify refund transaction fees on returned orders?
Shopify refunds the percentage component of the transaction fee on refunds, but the flat $0.30 per-transaction fee is typically not refunded. Additionally, return shipping, restocking labor, and potential product write-offs add 10–15% of the item's value as an additional cost on top of the reversed sale.
TikTok organic scenario (no paid ads) vs. paid-ads scenario for Shopify and Amazon. Shopify margin improves significantly with strong LTV and email retargeting. Amazon margin includes returns processing and low-inventory fee. All figures are estimates — use the calculators above for your exact product numbers.