Shopify âĸ Gateways
The 2.0% Third-Party Gateway Penalty on Shopify: How to Eliminate Surcharges
đ Key Takeaways & Executive Summary
- Shopify imposes an extra 2.0% (Basic), 1.0% (Shopify), or 0.6% (Advanced) penalty when using non-Shopify Payments gateways.
- This surcharge is charged in addition to the payment gateway’s own processing rate (e.g., PayPal’s 2.99% + 2.0% = 4.99%).
- Activating Shopify Payments as primary gateway waives the penalty fee on connected secondary PayPal Express checkout.
- Merchants in unsupported countries where Shopify Payments is unavailable are exempt from the penalty fee.
When launching a Shopify store, selecting your payment provider is one of the most critical financial decisions you will make. If you decide to bypass Shopify Payments in favor of a third-party gateway like external Stripe, Authorize.net, or CyberSource, Shopify assesses a punitive transaction fee ranging from 0.6% to 2.0% on every single order.
The Stacking Fee Penalty Example
Consider a store on Shopify Basic ($39/mo) using an external merchant account that charges 2.9% + $0.30:
- External Gateway Processing Fee:
2.9% Ã $100 + $0.30 = $3.20 - Shopify Third-Party Transaction Fee:
2.0% Ã $100 = $2.00 - Total Effective Fee: $5.20 (5.20%) per transaction.
đĄ How to Accept PayPal Without the 2.0% Penalty
Many merchants believe offering PayPal triggers the 2% fee. The secret: as long as you have Shopify Payments enabled as your primary card processor, Shopify completely waives the 2.0% platform fee on all orders processed through the integrated PayPal Express Checkout.
Simulate 3rd-Party Gateway Impact on Shopify
Switch the gateway selector to ‘3rd-Party (+2%)’ in our Shopify calculator to see how much profit you lose to gateway penalties.
đ Official Sources & Documentation