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True Shopify Profit Calculator

Most operators look at "gross margin" and think they're profitable. This calculator shows what's actually left after Shopify fees, payment processing, ad spend, your app stack, and shipping. Honest math, no spin.

[ Step 1 ]

Your Numbers

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Set to 0 if customers pay full shipping. Use the gap between what they pay and what it costs you.

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[ The Math ]

Where it actually goes

Revenue—
– COGS—
– Ad Spend—
– Shopify + Apps—
– Payment Fees—
– Shipping—
True Net Profit—
True Margin—

[ The Next Step ]

Now that you know the real number…

A 1-point lift in conversion rate adds straight to your bottom line. The full LeakAudit shows you the eight places to find it.

Find the conversion lift →

Why "gross margin" is lying to you

Most Shopify operators look at gross margin — revenue minus COGS — and assume the rest is profit. It isn't. Between Shopify's platform fee, the payment processor (2.9% + $0.30 per order on Shopify Payments, more on third-party processors), your ad spend, your app stack, your shipping subsidy, and a dozen smaller costs, true profit is often half of what gross margin suggests. Operators who don't track this end up scaling at a loss without realizing it.

The seven biggest margin killers

What's a healthy true margin for Shopify?

Once you've got an honest profit number, the highest-leverage way to grow it isn't usually "spend more on ads" — it's "convert more of the traffic you already have." Run the full LeakAudit to find the friction.

Profit Calculator FAQ

Five honest answers about the math.

How accurate is this calculator?

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Within a few percent for most stores. We model the seven biggest cost lines — COGS, ad spend, Shopify plan, payment processing, app stack, shipping, and the platform's standard $0.30 per-transaction fee. We don't model: state-level sales tax, chargebacks, fraud loss, returns refund processing fees, currency conversion fees, or third-party processor markups. For a typical Shopify store on Shopify Payments, the calculator lands within 2–3% of the bookkeeping number.

What if I use a third-party payment processor?

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Then your processor rate is whatever they charge (usually 2.4–2.9%) plus Shopify's third-party transaction fee (0.5–2% depending on plan). Total it and put the combined number in the payment processor field. If you're on Shopify Payments, ignore this — there's no third-party fee.

Why doesn't this account for LTV / repeat purchases?

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Because LTV is forward-looking and the calculator is backwards-looking — it tells you what's leaving your bank account each month. LTV is the right number for setting acquisition cost ceilings; this is the right number for knowing if you're actually profitable. If you want to back-of-envelope LTV, multiply your true monthly profit by your category's typical repeat-purchase multiplier (1.3–2.5x).

What's a healthy true margin for Shopify?

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Below 5% is dangerous — any cost shock pushes you negative. 5–15% is typical DTC. 15–25% is healthy and gives room to invest in retention. 25%+ is strong, usually high-AOV or differentiated product. The right number for your category depends on whether you're growing aggressively (ad-heavy, lower margin) or harvesting (ad-light, higher margin).

I'm at 3% — what do I cut first?

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Almost always: app stack and ad spend, in that order. Most stores carry $300–$800/month of apps they barely use — uninstall everything you haven't opened in 60 days. Then audit ad ROAS by channel; one or two channels are usually subsidizing the rest. The full LeakAudit finds conversion lift on the same traffic, which is the most direct path to lifting margin without cutting cost.

The number is the easy part.
Lifting it is the audit.

A 1-point CVR lift on the same traffic adds straight to your true profit. Find the lift.

Run My Free Shopify Audit →
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