You keep $9.62 of each $40 order, about $1,819 a month.

Your three biggest losses, each with its fix

Sure dollars first, biggest first. Tap “I’ll do this” on the fixes you’ll try, and the total adds them up.

1. 

   Biggest loss

   Shipping gap: about $400 a month

   Each order costs about $7.00 to ship and the buyer pays $5.00, so about $2.00 an order goes missing. At your numbers, that's about $400 a month.

   Per order

   −$2

   A month

   −$400

   A year

   −$4,800

   The fix

   Raise prices by about $2.06 an order and keep shipping as buyers see it now. If orders hold, you'd keep about $400 more a month.

   +$400a month, if orders hold

   Risk: Orders could fall by about 9% (about 1 in 11) before this fix leaves you worse off. A higher price can lose orders. 39% of shoppers who abandon a checkout cite extra costs such as shipping (Baymard), so a price buyers see up front is often the safer place for it.

   Or: Charge what shipping costs

   Charge about $7.00 for shipping, what it costs you. Card fees apply to shipping too, so if orders hold you'd keep about $389 more a month.

   Orders could fall by about 9% (about 1 in 11) before this fix leaves you worse off. 39% of shoppers who abandon a checkout cite extra costs such as shipping (Baymard), so a higher shipping charge can lose more orders than the same money in the price.

   How we worked it out

   gap per order = share free × (label + packaging) + (1 − share free) × max(0, label + packaging − shipping charged) = $2.00; monthly = gap × orders = $2.00 × 200 = $400.00

   price rise = gap ÷ kept per extra dollar = $2.00 ÷ 0.973 = $2.06; value = gap × orders = $2.00 × 200 = $400.00; orders can fall by 1 − π ÷ (π + gain) = 1 − $19.62 ÷ $21.62 = 9.3%

   Basic stores can't use carrier-calculated rates from third-party carriers; they come with Advanced and cost extra on the middle plan's monthly billing (Shopify Help, older plan names). 39% of shoppers who abandon a checkout cite extra costs such as shipping (Baymard).

   I’ll do this

2. Quick win 2

   A plan bigger than your sales need: about $50 a month

   Grow costs $66 a month more than Basic (monthly billing), and its lower rate returns about $16 at your $8,000 a month in card sales, so it costs about $50 a month more than it gives back. Grow pays for itself over Basic only above about $33,000 a month in card sales on monthly billing (about $25,000 on yearly).

   Per order

   −$0.25

   A month

   −$50

   A year

   −$600

   The fix

   Move to Basic (Settings > Plan). If orders hold, you'd keep about $50 more a month.

   +$50a month, if orders hold

   Risk: Basic has no staff accounts (Grow has 5) and less carrier-calculated shipping and reporting. Move only if you don't use them.

   How we worked it out

   cost of a plan = price + plan-dependent rate × card sales; Grow − Basic = ($105.00 − $39.00) + $8,000.00 × (2.70% − 2.90%) = $50.00; break-even = price gap ÷ rate gap = $66.00 ÷ 0.20% = $33,000.00

   value = cost of Grow − cost of Basic at your sales = $50.00

   Basic costs $39 a month ($29 on yearly billing), Grow $105 ($79) and Advanced $399 ($299). Online card rates are 2.9%, 2.7% and 2.5% + 30¢, so each step up cuts 0.2 points and the 30¢ never changes. Staff accounts: none on Basic, 5 on Grow, 15 on Advanced (shopify.com/pricing, fetched October 13, 2026).

   I’ll do this

3. Quick win 3

   Ads that don't pay back: about $38 a month

   At your numbers, ads cost $2,000 a month and bring about $4,000 in sales (ROAS 2), which earns about $1,962 after costs. They pay back only at ROAS 2.04 or more, so they cost about $38 a month more than they bring in.

   A month

   −$38

   Your ROAS

   2

   Break-even ROAS

   2.04

   The fix

   Pause campaigns with ROAS under 2.04, judged on your Shopify sales. If your other orders hold, you'd keep at least $38 more a month, even if every ad sale stopped.

   +$38a month, at least

   Risk: Ads can bring buyers who come back later, and ad platforms count some sales that would have happened anyway, so ROAS can be off either way. Count repeat orders only if you know your repeat rate. Check total sales ÷ total ad spend each month.

   Or: Raise your margin with the shipping price fix

   With the shipping gap in your prices, each ad order earns more and your ads pay back from ROAS 1.95. If orders hold, about $200 a month of that fix comes from your ad orders; it's part of its value, not on top of it.

   A higher price can lose orders, ad orders included. This is the shipping price fix's value on ad orders, so don't add it to it.

   How we worked it out

   margin m = (order − card fees − product − label − packaging − refunds and chargebacks per order) ÷ order = $19.62 ÷ $40.00 = 49.1%; break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ m = 2.04; monthly loss = spend × (1 − ROAS × m) = $2,000.00 × (1 − 2 × 0.4905) = $38.00

   ad sales = ROAS × spend = 2 × $2,000.00 = $4,000.00; earned = ad sales × margin (49.1%) = $1,962.00; value = spend − earned = $38.00; break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ margin = 2.04

   Break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ the share of each order left after product, shipping, card fees, refunds and chargebacks; an owner's worked example put it at about 2.1 at a 48% margin (r/shopify, October 6, 2026). Ads Manager's own ROAS counts view-through sales, so use your Shopify sales and your ad bill.

   I’ll do this