Transaction Fee when using PayPal

[YukoY]

Hi. I'm still new at Shopify so any help is greatly appreciated. 

When someone purchased $10 e-gift voucher and paid thru PayPal, it said on PayPal site that the fee was $0.84. 

My Shopify Payments are activated. So on Shopify, it says PayPal transaction fee is $0. But is there any fee from Shopify? Or does PayPal charge 8.4% on every transaction? 

[Kitana · Accepted solution]

Hey @YukoY!, good question.

It's important to know that Shopify Payments and PayPal are two separate payment gateways but you can have them both active in your store checkout. When a customer selects PayPal as their payment option you are not charged any transaction fee from Shopify Payments. Instead the transaction fee is charged by PayPal.

You can learn more about how PayPal fees work with Shopify Payments, in this article!

If you have any additional questions, please let me know.

[shrakal]

such a misleading indication from shopify. 

 Such a misleading indication by shopify. It's like stating its night (obviously it's not day then)

[Zeecky]

Hi! Great question — and totally understandable, especially when you're just getting started with Shopify.

Here’s what’s happening:

When a customer pays via PayPal, the transaction fee is charged directly by PayPal, not Shopify. That $0.84 you saw on a $10 gift card is PayPal’s own fee, which typically includes:

• A fixed fee (e.g.$0.30)

• Plus a percentage-based fee, usually around 2.9%–3.4% depending on your country and account type

So in your case it might be:

• 2.9% of $10 = $0.29

• Plus $0.55 fixed fee (approx. in USD) = ~$0.84 total

Shopify doesn't charge an additional fee on top of that for PayPal transactions, if you're using Shopify Payments. That’s why Shopify shows a $0 fee on their side — because the fee is taken only by PayPal.

Quick summary:

• PayPal fees apply even if you're using Shopify Payments

• Shopify shows $0 because it’s not charging its own fee on top

• You’re still paying PayPal’s standard transaction fees

If you're looking to reduce fees, consider alternative options like Shopify Payments (for credit/debit cards) or even compare alternatives like Pay by Bank vs Shopify Pay Pal, which have lower transaction fees and faster payouts.