Shopify Costs: These costs you have to expect with Shopify
Shopify is one of the most popular shop systems for online shops of any size. No wonder, because the shop system is generally considered to be extremely user-friendly and flexible. As with all other shop systems, Shopify also incurs costs for online merchants. Shopify costs start with the monthly basic fees and extend to the transaction fees as well as the costs for apps and integrations.
Looking for an overview of the shopify costs? Then you are in the right address, because in this blog post we will give you an overview of all possible Shopify costs that come your way.
Overview: Shopify costs
First of all, it is currently only possible to pay with US dollars via Shopify. However, the company lists some prices in euros on its website. We have used the currency provided by Shopify for the Shopify cost overview.
Shopify costs vary depending on company size and requirements. They are made up of 6 components ( excluding the cost of agencies, logistics, etc.): basic fees (Shopify plans), transaction fees (e.g. credit card fees), offline sales (distribution channel linking), themes, apps & integrations, domain & email.
Basic fees for Shopify plans
When it comes to pricing basic fees, Shopify relies on three plans. First, you need to choose one of these Shopify plans. These are different pricing models that differ in their features: Basic, Shopify and Advanced. Which price plan you choose and what Shopify costs you will be faced with depends heavily on your business. Above all, the number of required accesses to the admin area (staff accounts), the number of your inventory locations and, last but not least, the number of your sales play a decisive role in this decision.
Good to know: you can upgrade or downgrade your Shopify plan at any time, so the decision you make doesn’t have to be final. For example, if you need more staff accounts, you can change your Shopify plan with just a few clicks.
The main differences in features:
Are you setting up your business from the ground up and you don’t have employees or multiple inventory locations? The Basic model will definitely be enough for you in this case. Do you already have several employees with a required access to staff accounts or is this planned in the near future? Then you should opt for the Shopify or Advanced model. Are you changing your shop system and already have a broad base of regular customers? Under these circumstances, opting for the Advanced model may well make sense.
Lower Shopify costs with annual or two-year plan
If you are sure of your business and it is not a first attempt to get a foothold in online business, you should take advantage of Shopify’s annual or two-year plans. Shopify offers a discount of 10% (annual plan) or 20% (two-year plan). For the Shopify model for €74 per month, the discount would mean that you reduce your Shopify costs by €90 in the annual plan and by €355 in the two-year plan. Before that, however, you should take advantage of the free trial. The trial period is 14 days.
The mini plan: Shopify Lite
In a few cases, it is a good idea to select the Shopify Lite plan for €10 per month. Shopify Lite does not let you create an online shop. Rather, it is a tool that allows you to sell products via blogs and social media. This includes the Buy button, but also order and product management, as well as reports and invoices.
The Maxi Plan: Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus, on the other hand, is the most comprehensive and expensive pricing plan Shopify has to offer. Only the larger online shops use this plan as an enterprise solution and are not recommended for small and especially new online shop, as the Shopify cost increases greatly. The minimum fee is $2000, with large businesses having to dig deeper into their pockets with a higher volume.
Shopify costs: transaction fees
In addition to the basic fees for Shopify plans, it is the transaction fees that make up a large portion of Shopify costs (e.g. credit card fees). The transaction fees depend on the respective Shopify plans and look as follows:
The comparison clearly shows that the transaction fees for credit card, Bancontact (important for Belgium), iDEAL (important for the Netherlands) and EPS change depending on the plan. Above all, the transaction fees for the credit card persuade many german online shops to opt for the Advanced plan. While the credit card fees in the Basic plan are 2.4%, the costs for credit card payments in the Shopify plan are reduced to 2.1% and in the Advanced plan to 1.8%.
What initially sounds like higher Shopify costs due to the higher basic fees, turns out to be significantly cheaper after a certain number of sales (for example, due to lower credit card fees). So, if you already have a large customer base or sell internationally, it is recommended to use the Shopfiy or Advanced plans. Fraud analysis, on the other hand, is an integral part of all plans.
Would you like to know which payment methods your customers want? Read the article Comparison of Payment Methods.
Payment gateway: Shopify Payments
In addition to these transaction fees, there are fees for the payment gateway. If you don’t use Shopify Payments, Shopify’s internal payment gateway, you’ll incur additional transaction fees of 2.0% in the Basic plan, 1.0% in the Shopify plan, and 0.5% in the Advanced plan. With Shopify Payments, you thus significantly reduce Shopify costs – especially if you already generate a lot of sales. If, on the other hand, you decide to use an external payment gateway, you’ll have to include the aforementioned transaction costs, which will drive up Shopify costs.
As an internal payment gateway, you enjoy other benefits with Shopify Payments besides lower Shopify costs: for example, you don’t have to worry about additional payment provider integrations because Shopify Payments already includes many major payment methods: SOFORT-Überweisung, Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay and credit cards (VISA, MasterCard & American Express).
Which brings us to the disadvantages of Shopify Payments. Not all popular payment providers are integrated into the payment gateway – first and foremost Paypal. However, since using Shopify Payments doesn’t mean excluding other payment gateways, you can easily integrate them.
Additional Shopify costs for offline sales
Do you operate a business with offline distribution channels in addition to your online shop, for example a brick-and-mortar store or a pop-up store now and then? If so, Shopify POS (Point of Sale) gives you the opportunity to connect the different distribution channels and thereby overcome some of the biggest challenges in multichannel sales. Shopify POS is GOBD compliant and TSE certified, making the feature legally safe to use.
Shopify POS is a point-of-sale system and helps you manage sales from the online shop and brick-and-mortar stores in a centralized and comprehensive way. Processes such as sales and the management of products and orders can thus be managed regardless of location. The feature lets you synchronize inventory, payment processing, and customer data across channels.
The great thing is that the Shopify POS Lite system is already included in all Shopify pricing plans. However, if you need more advanced features, you’ll need to upgrade to Shopify POS Pro, which increases your Shopify costs even more. For this, you pay €77 per month – no matter which Shopify price plan you use. In return, you can offer your customers an optimal experience by linking distribution channels: Products ordered online can easily be picked up in-store, or purchased in-store and shipped to the desired address – without you losing track.
Cost point Shopify Themes
Shopify, of course, offers its users ready-made themes that differ greatly from each other. The free themes look good and have proven themselves. However, in order for online merchants to distinguish themselves from the competition and stand out, many sooner or later resort to paid themes. The costs here range between 150 and 300 €. However, since these are one-time costs, Shopify costs do not increase much over a longer period of time.
By the way, individual themes from specialized Shopify agencies are also possible. In contrast to standardized themes, individual designs are tailored to your company and your target group. However, due to the significantly greater effort involved, you must expect a considerable increase in costs, even if these are not Shopify costs in the strict sense.
Costs for apps and integrations
An online shop without apps and integrations is severely limited in its scope of action. Whether it’s customer reviews, cross-channel sales, or conversion rate increases, Shopify apps not only give online merchants the finishing touches to their online shop, but also enhance the customer experience and thus increase sales.
However, apps and integrations are another cost that is added to the Shopify costs. Since the costs for the different apps vary greatly, it is not possible to make a blanket statement about the costs for your online shop. However, depending on the target group and company needs, you can assume that several apps are necessary at once.
We at uptain offer a Shopify plugin that reduces shopping cart abandonment in your online shop by up to 30%. Our success-based payment model gives you the security to only pay for actually generated additional sales minus discounts (when using discount codes), shipping and cancellations. Just try our price calculator! Good to know: You pay no setup fee and also get advice from our conversion rate experts.
Domain and Email: Possible via Shopify
Last but not least there are the costs for the domain and email addresses. You don’t have to, but you can handle these through Shopify. If you decide not to use an external provider, you will pay $14 per year for .de and .com domains with Shopify. For email hosting of an email address, you will incur costs of $10 per year.
Calculate individual Shopify costs and respond!
No matter if you already run an online shop or want to get into online business: An overview of your Shopify costs will help your business. Keep track and balance the costs with your needs and requirements:Do I really need every feature of the higher-priced Shopify plans, or should I even upgrade since my shop has already much higher volume? You should also ask yourself about useful integrations that can increase your sales.
Frequently asked questions about Shopify costs
What do offline sales cost with Shopify?
Connecting a brick-and-mortar store or pop-up store runs through Shopify POS, which synchronizes inventory, payment processing and customer data across channels. Shopify POS Lite is already included in every Shopify plan. If you need advanced features, Shopify POS Pro costs €77 per month regardless of your plan. The system is GOBD compliant and TSE certified, so it is legally safe to use.
Which Shopify plans are there and what do they cost?
Shopify offers three main plans: Basic, Shopify and Advanced. They differ in features such as the number of staff accounts and inventory locations. Which one fits depends on your business, and you can upgrade or downgrade at any time. An annual plan saves 10 percent, a two-year plan 20 percent, and a 14-day trial is free. Shopify Lite costs €10 monthly; Shopify Plus starts at $2,000.
What transaction fees does Shopify charge?
Transaction fees make up a large share of Shopify costs and depend on your plan. Credit card fees are 2.4 percent in the Basic plan, 2.1 percent in the Shopify plan and 1.8 percent in the Advanced plan. If you do not use Shopify Payments, additional fees of 2.0, 1.0 or 0.5 percent apply per plan. Fraud analysis is included everywhere.
How much do Shopify themes cost?
Shopify provides ready-made free themes that look good and have proven themselves in practice. Merchants who want to stand out from competitors usually switch to paid themes, which cost between €150 and €300. Because this is a one-off payment, it barely affects your Shopify costs over a longer period. Individual themes from specialized Shopify agencies are possible too, but considerably more expensive.
What do apps and integrations cost in Shopify?
App prices vary so widely that no blanket figure exists, and most shops need several apps at once: for customer reviews, cross-channel sales or conversion rate increases. Budget for them as a separate cost block alongside plan and transaction fees. The uptain plugin, for example, reduces cart abandonment by up to 30 percent and is billed success-based, with no setup fee.
What do a domain and email addresses cost with Shopify?
You can register your domain and email addresses through Shopify instead of an external provider. A .de or .com domain costs $14 per year, and email hosting for one address costs $10 per year. These are small items compared with plan and transaction fees, but they belong in a complete Shopify cost calculation from the start.
What costs do online retailers have to expect with Shopify?
Shopify costs are made up of six components, excluding agencies and logistics: basic fees for the Shopify plan, transaction fees such as credit card charges, offline sales via Shopify POS, themes, apps and integrations, plus domain and email. How high they add up depends on company size and requirements. Billing runs in US dollars, although some prices are listed in euros.
