The fees for running print on demand on Shopify rarely show up as one number. They arrive as several separate line items across a few different accounts: the Shopify subscription, a payment processing rate, any paid apps or theme, and the per-order production and shipping cost from the connected print on demand app. This breakdown lays out each piece so a seller can see the real total before launch, not after the first month of invoices.
| Line item | What it covers | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify subscription | Storefront, checkout, hosting | Around $29-39/mo on entry tiers |
| Payment processing | Card processing on every sale | Standard card rate, higher without the built-in gateway |
| Apps and theme | Extra functionality, design | $0-100/mo depending on how many are installed |
| Production plus shipping | Per-piece printing, packing, and shipping | Varies by app, shipping is often billed to the buyer separately |
The most overlooked cost is shipping charged to the buyer at checkout. When a $28 t-shirt shows a $32 total after a $4-6 shipping charge appears at the last step, cart abandonment climbs. Sellers running Shopify plus a connected app should test showing the all-in price up front rather than adding shipping at checkout, since that last-step price jump is a well-documented conversion killer in apparel ecommerce.
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Before committing to either path, a seller should total up: the platform subscription, any apps or theme costs, expected monthly order volume times the per-piece production cost, and whether shipping is included or charged separately. Running that number for a projected first-month order volume, rather than looking at the subscription price alone, is the only way to compare the two paths honestly.
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Start FreeMany platforms, Shopify included, apply a higher processing rate when a seller routes payments through a third-party gateway instead of the built-in one. Check current rates directly with Shopify since these change over time.
It depends on the connected app and how the seller configures pricing. Many apps default to charging shipping at checkout unless the seller manually builds it into the item price.
No. The plan price and the product base price are the two numbers. Free shipping is included in the base price on every plan.
VIP base prices run $4 to $11 lower per item than the Free plan, depending on the product. A tee is $19.88 VIP versus $23.93 Free, for example.
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