Shopify embodies its homepage tagline, “Millions of the world’s most successful brands trust Shopify to sell, ship, and process payments anywhere,” as this software as a service (SaaS) tool has now over 1.7 million participating businesses earning more than $200 billion on their Shopify websites.
It’s not surprising, as Shopify offers the right plan for every budget. This article teaches you about the current Shopify seller fees and features, which apply as of the time of this writing.
What Are Shopify Seller Fees and Features?
Shopify currently offers a free trial of $1 for the first two months regardless of the plan you chose. There are three major plans, which are as follows:
- Basic
- Shopify
- Advanced
You can also avail of alternative options, such as the following:
- Shopify Starter
- Shopify Plus
Shopify makes most of its money on merchant fees. The starter plan charges a whopping 5% of your total transaction. For example, if you sell an item for $100, you pay $5 to Shopify. For the Basic and Shopify plans, you only pay 2.6% to 2.9% plan. Take a look at the comparison table below:
| Starter | Basic | Shopify | Advanced | Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $5.00 USD/month if billed yearly | $25 USD/month if billed yearly | $65 USD/month if billed yearly | $399 USD/month if billed yearly | $2,000 USD/month if billed yearly |
| Credit Card Rates Online | 5% + 30¢ USD online | 2.9% + 30¢ USD online | 2.6% + 30¢ USD online | 2.4% + 30¢ USD online | Varies |
| Credit Card Rates in Person | – | 2.7% + 0¢ USD in person | 2.5% + 0¢ USD in person | 2.4% + 0¢ USD in person | – |
| Abandoned Cart Recovery | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Number of Products | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Detailed Reporting | – | Basic | Standard | Advanced | Available |
| Advanced Reporting | – | – | – | Available | Available |
| Discount Codes | – | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Free SSL | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Gift Cards | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Blogging Tools | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Delivery and Store Pickup | – | – | – | Available | Available |
| Maximum Inventory Locations | 1 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | – |
| eCommerce Automations | – | – | Available | Available | Available |
| Staff Logins | 1 | 2 | 5 | 15 | – |
| Duties and Import Taxes | – | – | – | Available | Available |
| Online Store | – | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Sales Channels | – | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Point of Sale | – | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| 24/7 Support | – | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Language Translation | – | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Market Domains and Subfolders | – | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Manual Order Creation | – | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Unlimited Contacts | – | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Third-Party Calculated Shipping Rates | – | – | – | Available | Available |
| Hydrogen Storefronts | – | 1 Public Storefront | 1 Public Storefront | 1 Public Storefront | – |
How to Choose the Right Shopify Plan
Every Shopify plan allows you to sell an unlimited number of digital and physical products and enjoy $1 free trial fee for the first two months regardless of the plan you choose, with varying features depending on the plan chosen. Although for most businesses, they are on either the Basic or the Shopify Plan.
Aside from the features above, here are some points to consider for each plan:
Shopify Starter
Since the Shopify Starter plan starts at a mere $5, it doesn’t offer a fully-functional standalone online store, which is not good for merchants who don’t yet have an existing website or a WordPress blog. Shopify Starter works best to those who only plan to sell on Facebook (physical products alone, not digital), as they can easily publish all those products to their page.
Shopify Basic
The basic plan starts at $25 per month where sellers can already have a fully-functional, editable, stand-alone website. This includes blogging, “embeddable,” and “sell on social” functionalities and website theme options. Merchants who sell in physical stores and require a “point of sale” solution usually choose this plan.
Shopify
Many sellers choose this plan, alongside the Shopify Basic, as it offers the lowest price (starting at $65 per month) yet already has every feature needed to run an online business
Shopify Advanced
Shopify Advanced starts at $399 per month, which already provides you with the key features not available in the first three plans, including the following:
- Advanced report building
- Real-time third-party carrier shipping quotations
- Duties and import taxes right at checkout
- Lower transaction fees for a high volume of online sales
Shopify Plus
Bigger businesses usually choose this plan. At $2,000 per month, Shopify Plus allows them to manage a large number of stores in one account, have a large budget, automate workflows, improved security and uptime, automatic currency conversion in one place, and more.
What Additional Expenses Do Shopify Sellers Pay?
Aside from the monthly plan pricing, Shopify sellers pay for add-ons and hidden fees, such as the following:
- Themes
- Transaction fees
- Apps and integrations
- Stock and storage
- Web development
- Store marketing
- Point of sale charges
From Basic plans and higher, they have the following theme options, prices arranged from lowest to highest:
| Price | Available Themes |
|---|---|
| $180 | 1 theme |
| $190 | 0 themes |
| $200 | 3 themes |
| $210 | 3 themes |
| $220 | 4 themes |
| $230 | 0 themes |
| $240 | 10 themes |
| $250 | 11 themes |
| $260 | 4 themes |
| $270 | 0 themes |
| $280 | 10 themes |
| $290 | 2 themes |
| $300 | 21 themes |
| $310 | 2 themes |
| $320 | 24 themes |
| $330 | 0 themes |
| $340 | 1 theme |
| $350 | 17 themes |
For transaction fees, you will pay the following according to the plan you chose:
| Starter | Basic | Shopify | Advanced | Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction Fees | Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 5.0% | Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 2.0% | Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 1.0% | Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 0.5% | Varies |
For points of sale, you will pay add-on costs of $89 for every location per month.
Does Shopify Impose Fees for Non-US Vendors?
Shopify already has sellers from 175 countries, making France, Germany, Japan, and Singapore as priority international markets. The same pricing plans apply to non-US vendors, who need Shopify partners to help take their businesses to the next level.
