For Shopify stores
Where a Shopify store’s money goes, and how to keep more of it.
On Shopify the money goes to your plan, card fees, labels, product cost and ads. The free check-up asks about each in Shopify’s own words, shows what each order keeps, and gives each loss a fix with what it’s worth at your numbers, if orders hold.
- About a minute
- No login, no shop connection
- Your best guess is fine
Profit check-up
Example store · sold on Shopify
One month · 200 orders of $40
Money in
- Orders, before shipping 200 × $357,000.00
- Shipping paid by buyers 200 × $51,000.00
Money out
- Card fees 200 × $1.38−276.00
- Product cost 200 × $12−2,400.00
- Shipping labels 200 × $7−1,400.00Lost: $2 short per order−400.00
- Ads 200 × $10−2,000.00Lost: doesn't pay back−38.00
- Shopify plan (Grow)−105.00Lost: plan too big−50.00
Thank you for selling online.
What the check-up asks
Eight short screens, and a ninth if you run ads. Your plan and how card payments reach you are in Settings. Your best guess is fine.
About how many orders do you get in a typical month?
Analytics > Orders.
What does a typical order come to, before shipping and tax?
Your average order value is fine.
What do the products in that order cost you?
Product cost, also called COGS.
Shipping on a typical order.
Label costs: your last shipping label is fine.
Which Shopify plan are you on, and how do you pay for it?
Settings > Plan.
How do card payments reach you?
Settings > Payments.
About how much do you spend on ads a month (Meta, Google, TikTok)?
Your best guess is fine.
For every $1 on ads, about how much in sales comes back?
Only if you run ads. Use your Shopify sales, not the number in Ads Manager.
The losses it looks for
Each check runs on your answers. Where it finds a loss, the result gives its dollars a month and the fix.
Shipping gap
The fix: Put the gap into your prices, or charge buyers what shipping really costs.
Ads that don't pay back
If you run ads
The fix: Pause campaigns below your break-even ROAS, worked out from what each order keeps.
Third-party processor fee
If another card company takes your payments
The fix: Run your cards through Shopify Payments, where Shopify adds no third-party fee.
1.25% for mixing card processors
If you use two
The fix: Use one card processor.
Plan fit
The fix: Move to the plan that costs least at your card sales: Basic, Grow or Advanced.
Paying for your plan monthly
The fix: Switch to yearly billing, which costs less a month.
Price below landed cost
The fix: Raise prices until they cover product cost, shipping, card fees, refunds and ads.
The paid reports ask a few more questions and check the smaller losses too. Every fix’s value assumes your orders hold, and a risk line says how far they could fall before the fix leaves you worse off.
The example, in brief
An example store on Shopify’s Grow plan, worked out by the same formulas as yours.
GradeGood, with room to improveBased on 7 of 7 checks.
You keep $9.62 of each $40 order, about $1,819 a month.
About $498 a month is lost at these numbers, about $5,976 a year.
The 3 biggest losses it found
Shipping gap: about $400 a month
Fix: Put the shipping gap in your prices
+$400a month, if orders hold
A plan bigger than your sales need: about $50 a month
Fix: Move to Basic
+$50a month, if orders hold
Ads that don't pay back: about $38 a month
Fix: Pause campaigns with ROAS under 2.04
+$38a month, at least
From about $8,000 a month in sales (200 orders of $40.00), about $96,000 a year. Estimate from your answers.
A free calculator for Shopify stores
Free, no sign-up, with the math and each rate’s source shown.
The fees we use
Checked on , each with its source. We check them again every six months, by April 13, 2027, and at once if a fee changes.
- Basic, billed every month
- $39 a monthOfficial
- Grow, billed every month
- $105 a monthOfficial
- Advanced, billed every month
- $399 a monthOfficial
- Online card rate on Basic
- 2.9%Official
- Online card rate on Grow
- 2.7%Official
- Online card rate on Advanced
- 2.5%Official
- Card fee, fixed part
- $0.30 per orderOfficial
- Shopify's fee when another card company is used, on Basic
- 2%Official
What it costs
The check-up and its result are free. If you want every loss with the steps to fix it, two reports go further, each paid once.
- Free check-up$0.00
Your grade, what you keep, and your three biggest losses with their fixes.
- Profit report$19.99
For one shop that wants to know where the money goes.
What’s in it: Profit report
- Every loss that applies, ranked by dollars, each with its fix, value and risk line
- Numbered steps for each fix: “do today” and “test it”
- A few more questions inside the report, for the smaller losses the free check doesn't ask about
- Guardrails: break-even order value, break-even ROAS, the most an ad can cost per sale, the shipping charge that breaks even
- What each Shopify plan would cost at your sales
- Profit and target price for up to 5 products
- Every know-this fact, and the full dated fee table with sources
- A 30-day plan
- Page + PDF
- Full audit$29.99
For shops with many products, two platforms, or at tax time.
What’s in it: Full audit
Everything in the profit report, plus:
- Up to 50 products, each with its guardrails
- Scenarios for your biggest price change: sales down, flat or up
- A tax-season fee summary by category for your accountant, estimated from your numbers (not tax advice)
- A spreadsheet (CSV) of every number
- Your Shopify store side by side with your Etsy shop or Amazon sales
- A day-30 re-check, compared like for like
- Page + PDF + spreadsheet
- Profit report to full audit, within 14 days$10.00
Each paid once, with no subscription. A refund within 14 days, for any reason.
Your own month takes about a minute.
Free, with no login and no subscription.