Guides

Six plain-language guides to where a Shopify store’s margin goes. Each uses your own Shopify reports and exports and cites the Shopify Help Center page behind every claim about how Shopify works. Dollar figures are invented examples.

• Discounts
  How to find the Shopify discount codes that are eating your margin
  Use Shopify's Sales by discount codes report to see which codes cost you the most, how stacking works, and what a discount does to margin.
• Shipping
  Free shipping and shipping margin: compare what customers paid with what the label cost
  Compare what customers paid for shipping with what the label cost you, using Shopify's shipping label reports. A step-by-step check.
• Returns
  What a Shopify return really costs beyond the refund
  A refund is only part of what a return costs. See where fees, shipping and restocking go, and which Shopify report shows your most-returned products.
• Payment fees
  Payment fees on Shopify: how to find what you actually paid
  Where to see the fees Shopify charged on your payouts, why they matter for margin, and how to turn them into a percentage of sales.
• Apps
  Your Shopify apps are a margin line. Here is how to total them
  Find every recurring, usage and external app charge, see how Shopify bills them, and decide which apps earn their cost.
• Product cost
  Missing product costs: why Shopify can show a profit report with the worst products left out
  Shopify profit reports only include variants with a recorded cost. Learn how to find products with no cost per item and what margin really means.

Want to check your own store? Download the free Shopify Margin Leak Self-Check, try the discount impact calculator, or get the $199 audit.