Shopify Fee Calculator USA: How Much Does Shopify Take Per Sale?

US credit card interchange fees are unregulated, so card networks (Visa, Mastercard) charge merchants more per transaction than in the UK or EU. In the UK and EU, the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) caps these fees — a saving Shopify passes to merchants. US Basic plan pays 2.9% + $0.30 vs just 2% + £0.25 in the UK.

The Grow plan ($105/mo) saves 0.3% per transaction compared to Basic ($39/mo). The extra cost is $66/month. Break-even: $66 ÷ 0.003 = $22,000/month in sales. If you're processing more than $22,000/month through Shopify Payments, the Grow plan pays for itself in lower transaction fees alone.

Shopify does not charge sales tax on transaction fees for US merchants. However, you may owe sales tax on your Shopify subscription depending on your state — this varies by state law. Transaction fees themselves (the per-sale charges) are not subject to additional US sales tax.

Shopify takes between 1.4% and 2.9% plus a fixed fee per online transaction, depending on your plan and region. On the Basic plan in the US, that's 2.9% + $0.30 per sale. UK merchants on Basic pay just 2% + £0.25. If you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, an additional transaction fee of 0.6%–2% applies on top.

Shopify Payments is Shopify's built-in payment processor. When you use it, you only pay the processing fee (percentage + fixed fee). If you use a third-party provider like PayPal or Stripe, Shopify adds an extra transaction fee on top of what your processor charges. For most merchants, using Shopify Payments is cheaper overall.

When you issue a refund, Shopify returns the percentage portion of the processing fee but keeps the fixed per-transaction fee (e.g., $0.30 in the US, £0.25 in the UK). So on a $100 refund on the US Basic plan, you'd get back $2.90 but not the $0.30 fixed fee.

The only way to eliminate the additional transaction fee is to use Shopify Payments as your primary gateway. You cannot avoid the processing fee entirely — that covers the cost of accepting cards. Upgrading your plan reduces the processing rate (e.g., from 2.9% to 2.4% in the US).

Shopify Plus processing rates are negotiated directly with Shopify based on your monthly sales volume. Third-party transaction fees on Plus are 0.15% — the lowest of any plan. The Plus plan starts at $2,300/month in the US (3-year term) and £1,800/month in the UK.

Yes, but in-person (POS) rates differ from online rates. In the US, in-person rates via Shopify Payments are 2.6% + $0.10 (Basic), 2.5% + $0.10 (Grow), and 2.4% + $0.10 (Advanced). The fixed fee is lower for in-person because card-present transactions carry less fraud risk.

Shopify rarely changes core transaction fee rates. The most recent structural change was the renaming of the "Shopify" mid-tier plan to "Grow" in 2024. Shopify gives 30 days' notice of any fee changes. We review and verify the rates in this calculator every quarter.

UK and EU card processing is regulated by the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR), which caps interchange fees at 0.2% for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. This significantly lowers the underlying cost of card processing in Europe, a saving Shopify passes to merchants. US interchange fees are unregulated and typically much higher.