Does Shopify Billing API apply if our app fee is deducted from affiliate earnings, not charged to the merchant?

Technical Q&A
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1

Hi everyone,

I’m building a Shopify app for an affiliate marketing SaaS and want to make sure our billing structure would comply with Shopify App Store requirement 1.2 around Shopify Billing API / Managed Pricing.

The Shopify app would be used for:

  • Syncing Shopify products into our platform

  • Supporting discount creation/validation

  • Tracking confirmed orders for attribution

  • Tracking refunds/cancellations

  • Confirming affiliate-driven sales

We are not a customer-facing marketplace or sales channel. Customers still buy directly from the merchant’s Shopify storefront. Our platform is used by merchants and promoters/affiliates.

The billing model we are considering:

  1. Merchant signs up for our platform.

  2. Merchant connects their Shopify store.

  3. Merchant creates a campaign and sets a promoter commission, for example 20%.

  4. Promoter joins the campaign and shares a tracking link.

  5. Customer buys a $100 product on the merchant’s Shopify store.

  6. Merchant funds the $20 promoter commission.

  7. Our platform deducts a service fee from the promoter’s earned commission before payout, for example 15%.

  8. Promoter receives $17.

  9. Our platform keeps $3.

So the Shopify merchant is not paying us a separate platform fee, subscription, usage fee, or app fee. The merchant only funds the promoter commission they agreed to pay. Our fee is deducted from the promoter’s earned commission before payout.

My question:

Would Shopify likely view this as compliant because the merchant is not being charged a separate app/platform fee, or would Shopify still consider the merchant-funded commission flow an “app charge” that must go through Shopify Billing API?

Also, are there any existing affiliate/payout apps that use a similar structure where the app monetizes from affiliate/promoter earnings rather than charging the merchant directly?

Not looking for legal advice. I’m mainly trying to understand how experienced Shopify app developers would think about this before we finalize the billing architecture.

2

Hi, this is Vineet from Identixweb, a Shopify Development Agency.

Yeah I’d be careful with this model. For a public shopify app store app, Shopify’s requirement is that all app charges must go through shopify billing API or managed pricing, and apps using off-platform billing generally can’t be distributed through the app store unless shopify gives an exception.

Even though the merchant is not paying a separate subscription or platform fee, the $3 is still revenue generated from the app’s merchant-side functionality: tracking affiliate sales, validating orders, managing campaigns, and confirming payouts. Because the merchant funds the commission and your app keeps part of that flow, shopify review could still treat it as a performance-based app charge.

The safer structure would be:

  • Bill any merchant-facing subscription, usage fee, or performance fee through Shopify Billing.

  • If the fee is truly charged to the promoter, make that clear in promoter terms, payout screens, invoices, and reporting.

  • Do not present the fee as something the merchant is paying for app access or campaign performance outside Shopify Billing.

  • Get written clarification from shopify partner/App Review before finalizing the architecture.

Do update me on this issue in this thread.

4

Thanks, this is helpful.

That is exactly the distinction I’m trying to get clear on. The model we are leaning toward is not that the merchant pays a separate platform fee, usage fee, performance fee, or subscription.

The merchant would only fund the promoter commission they agreed to offer. For example, if they set a 20% promoter commission and a $100 sale is confirmed, the merchant funds the $20 promoter commission.

Then the platform’s fee would be charged to the promoter, not the merchant. The promoter earns the gross $20 commission, platform deducts a disclosed promoter-side service fee before payout, and the promoter receives the net payout.

So the structure would be:

  • Merchant funds promoter commission: $20

  • Platform service fee deducted from promoter earnings: $3

  • Promoter net payout: $17

This would be shown clearly in promoter terms, payout screens, invoices/reporting, and earnings breakdowns. On the merchant side, we would not present it as an platform fee or merchant app charge.

I agree we still need written clarification from Shopify App Review, but based on the Billing API docs, it seems like Shopify Billing is mainly structured around charges to the merchant through the merchant’s Shopify invoice. I’m trying to understand whether a fee charged to a non-merchant promoter from their own earnings would still be treated as a Shopify app charge.

Appreciate the input. I’ll update the thread if Shopify gives a clear answer.