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Shopify does not take a cut of your sales in the way a marketplace does, but it does charge you on every order in two separate ways. Understanding those two layers, the platform transaction fee and the payment processing fee, is the key to knowing what Shopify really costs your small business. Here is how it works.
The Two Fees on Every Sale
Every Shopify order can carry two charges. First, the transaction fee: Shopify takes a small percentage of each order as its platform fee, unless you use Shopify Payments, its built-in payment processor, in which case that platform fee is waived. If you use a third-party gateway like PayPal or Moneris instead, you pay the transaction fee on top of whatever that gateway charges. Second, the credit card processing fee: whichever processor handles the payment takes its own percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction. These are separate charges from separate companies, and both come out of your revenue.
How the Plan You Choose Changes the Math
Shopify offers several monthly plans, and higher-tier plans come with lower transaction and processing rates. That means a store doing occasional sales may pay more per order on a cheaper plan, while a high-volume store can lower its per-order cost by upgrading. The right plan depends on your monthly sales volume: at some point the savings on fees outweigh the higher subscription. Because exact rates and plan prices change, check current pricing on Shopify's official site and run the numbers against your own average order value before deciding.
Canadian-Specific Costs to Factor In
Two things catch Canadian merchants off guard. First, Shopify subscriptions are generally billed in USD, so your monthly plan costs more in Canadian dollars than the sticker price, and the amount moves with the exchange rate. Second, currency conversion fees can apply when you sell in one currency and get paid out in another, so decide early whether you will price and settle in CAD. Neither of these is a dealbreaker, but both belong in your budget. For the WooCommerce side of the cost picture, our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison for Canadian small businesses lays out how the two platforms compare overall.
A Worked Example of How to Estimate It
Take a hypothetical store selling a $60 CAD item. On a basic setup using Shopify Payments, you would pay the monthly subscription plus the card processing fee on each order, and no separate Shopify transaction fee. Using a third-party gateway instead, you would pay the same processing fee to the gateway plus Shopify's transaction fee on the order. Multiply the per-order total by your expected monthly orders, add the subscription (converted to CAD), and you have your real monthly cost. Doing this simple calculation before you launch prevents the most common surprise: a fee structure that looked cheap until volume grew.
How to Keep Your Per-Sale Costs Down
The single biggest lever is using Shopify Payments if it fits your business, since it removes the extra transaction fee entirely. Beyond that, choose the plan tier that matches your actual sales volume rather than the one you hope to reach, review your plan as you grow, and keep an eye on your average order value: higher order values dilute the fixed per-transaction portion of processing fees. If per-sale fees are a major concern, it is also worth comparing against platforms with no platform transaction fee at all, like WooCommerce, where you only pay your payment processor. Our ecommerce specialists model these costs for Canadian businesses before they commit to a platform. Our WooCommerce payment gateway setup guide for Canada covers the options there.
How Shopify's Fees Compare Structurally
It helps to see the three common structures side by side. Shopify: monthly subscription plus card processing on every order, with an extra platform transaction fee unless you use Shopify Payments. WooCommerce: no platform subscription and no platform transaction fee, but you pay for hosting and maintenance separately, plus card processing. Marketplaces like Etsy: no subscription for a basic shop, but per-listing fees plus transaction and processing fees on every sale. None is cheapest in every situation. Low-volume sellers often do best where fixed costs are lowest; high-volume sellers usually do best where per-order fees are lowest. Your average order value and monthly volume decide the winner, which is why running your own numbers matters more than any generic recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Shopify take a percentage of every sale?
It depends on your setup. If you use Shopify Payments, there is no separate Shopify transaction fee, but card processing fees still apply. If you use a third-party payment gateway, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on each order.
Are Shopify's fees the same in Canada as in the US?
The fee structure is the same, but Canadian merchants should watch the currency details: subscriptions are generally billed in USD and conversion fees may apply depending on how you price and settle.
Can I avoid transaction fees completely?
On Shopify, only by using Shopify Payments. On WooCommerce, there is no platform transaction fee at all, though your payment processor still charges its normal processing fee.
Not sure whether Shopify's fee structure works for your margins? Coreventra helps Canadian businesses model the true cost of each platform before they commit. Get a free quote and we will run the numbers with you.