What does Shopify cost per sale?
No marketplace commission, but Shopify Payments takes roughly 2.9% plus a fixed amount per transaction, and using an external gateway adds a further fee. Your real cost per sale is dominated by advertising, not platform fees.
Why is my Shopify store less profitable than a marketplace?
Marketplaces charge a high fee but supply the traffic. On Shopify you pay for traffic yourself, so a store needs the same money spent on ads that Amazon takes in commission — the difference is you keep the customer.
What is a healthy cost per acquisition?
As a rule of thumb, keep customer acquisition cost below one third of gross profit per order. Above that, growth needs repeat purchases to work, which means email and retention rather than more ad spend.
Should I include returns and failed COD in the calculation?
Yes, and for cash-on-delivery markets it is the most important field on this page. Return-to-origin rates of 20–35% are normal in Pakistan, and a store that ignores them will believe it is profitable while losing money on every batch.