Understanding payments and billing... help!

wpcrewmerch
Visitor
2 0 0

I am very confused on how the billing and payments work on this platform and I cannot seem to get a simple answer.

I am selling products on my site through two vendors (Printify and Printiful).  These vendors indicated that they will bill me for the product, taxes and shipping and then will later credit me with the full amount of payment received by the customer (product + mark-up, taxes and shipping).

I am also getting a monthly bill from Shopify (makes sense); and now credits directly to my business account after each sale.

What exactly is Shopify paying me if Printify and Printiful are supposedly going to also credit me the total amount received per sale?

I was hoping to speak to a customer rep from Shopify but I cannot seem to find a link for a call, chat or email option.

If anyone can help me understand this, I would greatly appreciate it!

Replies 3 (3)

Ava
Shopify Staff
1161 78 197

Hey, @wpcrewmerch!

I can walk you through the flow of payments, just to give you a better idea of the process from start to finish!

First, the customer will buy a product from you. At that stage, whatever payment gateway you are using will charge the customer the full price of the order at checkout. This money will be processed by your payment gateway, then deposited into the bank account you've linked with them. For example, if you are using Shopify Payments, the money from the order will be put into a payout and sent to you in a few business days. Payout times will vary depending on your location. If the customer chooses to pay via PayPal, the money from the order will show up in your business PayPal account (linked in the Shopify admin) immediately. You may also be using a third party gateway like 2checkout or Authorize.net, if that is the case you will have an account with them where you can link your bank account in order to receive payments from customer orders.

There would be additional charges per month depending on your payment gateway; for example credit card rates or transaction fees. You would need to use a payment gateway in order to accept credit card payments from your customers at the checkout.

The next step after receiving a customer order is to begin fulfilling that order! This means you would put the order through on the appropriate print on demand (POD) app. The apps you're using (Printify and Printful) will charge you for any order you need them to print and ship for you. They will take payment from you by charging the card you have linked to the Shopify admin under Settings > Billing. Once they have taken payment for the order, they will print up the purchased items and ship them to your customers on your behalf.

Finally, you will be billed by Shopify for your subscription plan. This covers the cost of using Shopify's services to run your online store. What you would pay would depend on what subscription plan you choose! For example, you may choose the Basic plan on a monthly billing cycle, which means you will be billed $29USD every 30 days. You can choose to be billed once every 30 days, once per year (annual), once every two years (bi-annual) or once every three years (tri-annual). There is more information here on billing cycles so you can decide which one is best for you, and more information here on how to view upcoming and past bills.

The invoice you receive from Shopify will also include a fee for using the apps - each app has it's own cost. Printful is free to use, but Printify will charge $29USD unless you decide to use their free plan option. App fees will be charged every 30 days, even if you decide to pay your Shopify subscription fee on a yearly basis. 

Let's use an example and break this down further!

  • We'll say you get an order in for a product that cost $50.
  • Credit card rates will be applied at this stage, so for this example, we'll assume you've chosen the Basic subscription plan.
  • The rates for this plan are 2.9% + 30¢ USD in credit card rates, and 2% in transaction fees (transaction fees are added to your monthly invoice, so are not charged at this stage). This means that $1.75 in credit card rates is taken away from the initial $50. (If you were using Shopify Payments, you would not be paying transaction fees)
  • $48.25 will then be deposited into your bank account after bank processing times, this will be your net profit after this sale.
  • You can put that order through using the corresponding POD app. Once the order goes through, the app will charge the payment method linked in your Shopify admin. 
  • This order may only cost you (for example) $30 to print and ship, so those funds will be taken away from your bank account.
  • The next charge you may get might be your monthly invoice from Shopify which will include any app fees, transaction fees, fees from Shopify email; There is an explanation here of each charge that may appear on your invoice and a guide on how to read your invoice here.
  • The total amount for the invoice will also be collected from the payment method linked in the admin under Settings > Billing.

 

I know there is a lot of information included above! We try to be as transparent as possible when it comes to billing so you understand what you are paying for. Have you paid any invoices yet, or are you looking for a clearer picture of what to expect once your invoice is due? I'd love to chat more with your about where you are in setting up your store at the moment! 

 

Speak soon!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

Ava | Social Care @ Shopify 
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wpcrewmerch
Visitor
2 0 0

Ava,

This was very helpful.  Can you help me find the best report that lays out exactly what is charged and what is credited?   

Ava
Shopify Staff
1161 78 197

No problem, @wpcrewmerch!

There is no specific report that will have all the debits/credits to your account I'm afraid. To get an overview like this, I'd recommend gathering the info from a few different places and then combining it into a report for yourself.

Settings > Billing would be the best place to start; you can see any charges that have been made to your card from Shopify. Here, you can click on 'summary of charges' to see fees we charge over the last 90 days. These fees include your Shopify subscription, app charges, shipping labels, and transaction fees. For the rest of the fees (the fees Printful and Printify would charge you every time you order a product from them), these will show up on your bank statement.

Any fees credited to your card (profits from sales), you can also see under Settings > Payments > View Payouts. This will show you incoming payouts, and all past payouts too. This is an example of what I can see from my test store:

02-54-79164-71169

 

If you are not using Shopify Payments and are instead using a third-party payment gateway, or your customer chooses to use PayPal, the funds for that will show up in your gateway's account or in your PayPal account.

All of these statements can be exported to a spreadsheet (I would recommend Google Sheets for ease of use!) and then combine them to create one report. Another option is to check your bank statements for a full overview of your card activity. Would you have a separate business account, or are you using your personal credit card? 

 

Let me know what you think!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

Ava | Social Care @ Shopify 
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog