Shopify Partner earning model FAQ

This page answers common questions about how Shopify Partners earn, including referral payouts, revenue share, Shopify POS and Shopify B2B incentives, payout timing, lead statuses, and attribution rules.

For general questions about the program, refer to the Frequently asked questions about the Shopify Partner Program.

All amounts are in USD.

1.0 Earnings overview

1.1 Which terms apply to my referral or launch, and what changed?

The terms applied to your incentives are determined by the following dates:

When the referral was submitted
When the store launched
When the Plus plan started

Existing stores remain under the terms that were in effect at the time.

Partner earning terms by referral or launch date, showing how earnings changed across program periods.
Category	2017 to December 2023	January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025	July 1, 2025 to August 9, 2026	August 10, 2026 onward (New Terms)
Basic, Grow, Advanced (Launch)	20% of subscription fee (perpetual)	20% of subscription fee (perpetual)	20% of subscription fee (perpetual)	20% of subscription fee + 0.1% of net eligible online GMV (4-year term)
Plus Launch (Partner Transfer)	Not available	Not available	20% of subscription fee (perpetual)
Plus Launch (Co-sold with Shopify)	Not available	Not available	15% of billed platform fee (perpetual)
Plus Referral	Plus Partner 20%, Non-Plus 10% (perpetual)	20% of subscription fee (perpetual)	$2,500 USD (net-new only)	$2,500 USD (net-new and upgrades)
POS Payments Profit Share	Not available	Not available	20% profit share (2-year term)	20% profit share (4-year term)
POS Referral (One-time)	Not available	Not available	$500 USD (net-new only)	$500 USD (net-new only)
B2B Payments Profit Share	Not available	Not available	Not available	20% profit share (4-year term)
Shop Pay off Shopify	Not available	Not available	Not available	0.1% of sales through Shopify Payments (1-year term)

2.0 Plus referral one-time payout

2.1 What is the $2,500 USD one-time payout?

A one-time fixed payout for referring a merchant to Shopify Plus, either as a net-new merchant or an existing Shopify merchant upgrading to Plus. The amount is subject to change.

2.2 How do I qualify?

To qualify, your lead must result in:

Early submission: Submitted before the merchant is in contact with Shopify Sales.
A 30-day timeline: A co-sold with Shopify deal must open within 30 days of submission.
A signed contract: Must close as a Plus or Enterprise agreement (no self-serve).
Active sales: The merchant must generate more than $5,000 USD in net Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV).

2.3 Which partner receives earnings on a Plus upgrade?

If an existing merchant upgrades to Shopify Plus, then a partner's earnings depend on their relationship with the merchant:

Original development partner: You keep your existing, ongoing revenue share alongside the merchant's upgrade.
Referring partner (non-developer): If you refer the upgrade but didn't originally build the store, then you earn the $2,500 USD one-time payout, but no ongoing revenue share.

2.4 Where do I submit a Plus lead?

In your Partner Dashboard, go to Sales > Leads > Submit a Plus lead.

Important submission rules:

Leads submitted after the sales deal is opened don't qualify for the $2,500 USD one-time payout.
All leads must be submitted through the Partner Dashboard. Referrals submitted through the general contact form or by contacting the Shopify Sales team directly don't qualify as valid leads.

2.5 Can I refer a merchant to Plus that I'm currently building a store for?

Yes. You must submit the lead before a Shopify Sales deal is opened. If the merchant is already talking to Shopify Sales, then the lead won't qualify.

Effective August 10, 2026, if you're the designated partner who transferred the store, then you earn:

20% of the base subscription or platform fee
0.1% of eligible online GMV

This applies to all Shopify plans (Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus) and lasts for a 4-year term.

Notes:

Earnings are calculated on the fees paid by the merchant to Shopify, net of any discounts or credits.
Eligible GMV includes online consumer transactions, excluding B2B, up to $100 million USD annually.
For existing merchants, earnings associated with a newly added product or expansion store are paid to the partner responsible for that product or store launch.
Starter and Lite plans aren't eligible for revenue share.
The final decision to grant payouts is at Shopify's discretion.

3.2 What does 0.1% of GMV actually mean?

The more you help the merchant grow, the more you earn.

The 0.1% share is calculated on the merchant's eligible GMV on a net basis (total sales minus returns and refunds). Eligible GMV includes online consumer transactions, excluding B2B, up to $100 million USD annually.

For example, if a merchant processes $1,000,000 USD in eligible GMV in a month, then you earn $1,000 USD in GMV share.

3.3 How do I qualify as a Launch Partner?

Partner-transferred deals: You must have built and transferred the development store to the merchant.
Plus deals, co-sold with Shopify: You must be selected as the Launch Partner and execute a Statement of Work (SOW).

For Advanced plans, partners working with Shopify Sales don't require an SOW. For these plans, revenue share is automatically paid to the development partner who originally built and transferred the store.

3.4 What counts as a valid Statement of Work (SOW)?

A valid SOW must outline the scope of building or migrating the store, be signed and dated by both the partner and the merchant, and be provided to the Shopify Sales rep before the deal closes. Email confirmation, or a retainer for marketing or SEO alone, doesn't qualify.

4.0 Shopify POS incentives

4.1 How do I qualify for the $500 USD POS Pro one-time payout?

Within 6 months of your referral, the merchant must:

Be new to POS Pro (no active POS Pro subscription in the last 365 days)
Pay full, undiscounted POS Pro fees for 2 consecutive months, or pay annually
Transact on 10 or more days per month for at least 2 months
Process more than $1,000 USD in in-person retail GMV per month

The POS Payments profit share is an ongoing incentive for partners to earn 20% of Shopify's net profit on a referred merchant's eligible in-person POS transactions processed through Shopify Payments. It's based on Shopify's net profit, not 20% of the merchant's sales or Gross Payments Volume (GPV).

The merchant must:

Be new to Retail Shopify Payments for POS (no POS payments processing in the last 365 days)
Process more than $1,000 USD in GPV through Shopify Payments for in-person POS transactions within 6 months of the referral

The partner must submit a Shopify POS lead form from their Partner Dashboard.

This is in-person POS volume only. It doesn't include online sales or cash transactions. POS incentives are available to merchants in eligible countries only. Check the Partner Help Center for the current country list.

4.4 If a merchant has multiple retail locations, do I earn the payout and profit share on each location separately?

No. The $500 USD POS Pro one-time payout and the 20% profit share are earned once per merchant, not once per retail location. Opening additional locations doesn't trigger separate payouts for the same merchant.

Profit share is calculated monthly in arrears, after each month closes, and paid through your Partner Dashboard on the regular payout cycle.

Your first payout lands on the next payout run after the profit share is activated, and includes backpay to your eligible start date. It then pays monthly.

5.0 Shopify B2B incentives

5.1 What are the partner incentives for Shopify B2B, and how do I qualify?

If you build and launch Shopify B2B for a merchant, then you earn a 20% profit share on their monthly B2B Payments profit for a 4-year term.

To qualify, you must meet three requirements:

Submit a lead: Submit a Shopify B2B lead form through your Partner Dashboard.
Submit an SOW: Provide a signed Statement of Work for the B2B build.
Net-new to B2B: The merchant must be completely new to Shopify B2B.

5.2 When do my B2B profit share payouts start?

Your 4-year payout term begins as soon as the merchant processes their first B2B transaction through Shopify Payments. Your first payment is issued within 30 days of all eligibility terms being met, and you're then paid on a monthly basis.

6.0 Shop Pay off Shopify incentives

6.1 How do I qualify for Shop Pay off Shopify earnings?

If you build and launch Shop Pay off Shopify for a merchant, then you can earn 0.1% of the Gross Payments Volume (GPV) processed through Shop Pay off Shopify for a 1-year term.

To qualify, the merchant must be net-new to Shop Pay off Shopify, and you must provide a signed Statement of Work (SOW) to the Shopify Sales team before the deal closes. There's currently no dedicated lead submission form in the Partner Dashboard for Shop Pay off Shopify.

6.2 When does the 1-year term start for Shop Pay off Shopify payouts?

Your 1-year payout term begins as soon as the merchant processes their first transaction through Shopify Payments using Shop Pay off Shopify. Your first payout is issued within 30 days of all eligibility terms being met, and is then paid monthly for the remainder of the year.

7.0 Payouts and timing

7.1 When will I get paid?

One-time payouts: Within 30 days of all eligibility milestones being met.
Revenue share: The payout clock starts after the merchant pays their first invoice, with a 30-day hold on the first payout.
Annual plans: Launch revenue share is paid manually after the merchant pays their annual Plus subscription.

Your account balance must reach $25 USD before Shopify issues a payout. Balances under $25 USD carry forward.

7.2 Why haven't I received my payout?

If your payout hasn't been received or is showing as $0, then check this list before contacting Support:

The merchant hasn't paid: They're on a free trial, using platform credits (invoice = $0), or their payment failed.
Expansion Stores: Expansion Stores have no standalone platform fee, so there's no revenue share. Starting August 10, 2026, you can earn 0.1% of eligible online GMV (4-year term) on new Expansion Stores.
POS timelines: The month hasn't closed yet, or the merchant didn't meet the 2-month or $1,000 USD threshold.
Missing paperwork (sales-led deals): For deals after July 2025, your Launch Partner role or SOW isn't confirmed on the deal. For deals before July 2025, you must have submitted the first lead before the deal opened.
Previous rules: An affiliate-link referral (moved to Impact in 2023) or a historical inactivity penalty was applied before August 2024.
Term ended: Your 4-year New Terms revenue share has expired.

7.3 How will I get paid?

Earnings are accumulated and paid out on the following schedule:

For earnings accrued between the 1st and 15th of the month, payment is issued 5 business days after the 15th.
For earnings accrued between the 16th and the last day of the month, payment is processed 5 business days after the end of the month.

Payments are made in USD and distributed twice a month if your balance for any activity type exceeds $25 USD. Balances below $25 USD are held until the next payout period.

Referral and sales earnings are calculated separately. If you meet the threshold for referral earnings but not for sales earnings, then you still receive your referral earnings, while sales earnings continue to accumulate until they meet the threshold.

7.4 Can I earn revenue on my own store?

No. Collecting Partner earnings on a store run by yourself in whole or in part is fraud and grounds for dismissal from the Partner Program.

7.5 Why can't I find out the revenue from each individual client?

To protect client privacy, individual client revenue details aren't disclosed.

7.6 What happens if I want to dispute an amount of revenue I've been paid?

For any payment disputes, contact Shopify Support with the full details of the issue. When you log in, select your Partner organization name for questions related to your Partner Account.

7.7 Does Shopify apply tax to Partner earnings?

Shopify might apply taxes to fees or referral commissions depending on your location, the type of Partner activity, and the tax information in your Partner Account settings. You might be responsible for remitting these taxes to the appropriate tax authority.

8.0 Lead statuses and tracking

8.1 What do the lead status labels mean?

Lead status labels shown in the Partner Dashboard and what each one means.
Status	What it means
In progress or Pending	Your lead has been received and is being reviewed by Shopify.
Eligible or Awarded	Your lead meets the requirements. This confirms eligibility, not that funds have been sent.
Ineligible	Your lead doesn't meet the one-time payout requirements.

Unqualified leads expire after 30 days.

8.2 Why did my Plus lead show as Ineligible?

If your lead was submitted and processed before August 10, 2026, then it was correctly marked Ineligible. Plus upgrades didn't qualify under the previous terms.

Under the New Terms, upgrade leads are now eligible provided all other requirements are met. If your lead after August 10, 2026 is marked Ineligible, then it's usually for one of the following reasons:

Late submission: The merchant was already in contact with Shopify Sales, so a deal was already open, before you submitted the lead.
Expired timeline: A sales deal wasn't opened within 30 days of your submission.
Self-serve upgrade: The merchant upgraded to Plus on their own through their Shopify admin, rather than while in contact with a Shopify sales representative.
Another partner was first: Another partner submitted a qualified lead for this merchant's upgrade before you did.

8.3 Can I resubmit an expired or ineligible lead?

Yes. You can resubmit a lead if both of the following are true:

The merchant is still interested in Shopify.
They haven't been in contact with the Shopify Sales team since the original submission.

If those two conditions are met, then resubmit the lead through the Partner Dashboard with updated merchant information. The new submission is evaluated under the terms in effect at the time of resubmission.

8.4 How do I track my milestones?

Where to track leads, payouts, referrals, and Launch Partner status in the Partner Dashboard.
What to track	Where to find it
Lead status	In your Partner Dashboard, go to Sales > Leads.
Upcoming and completed payouts	In your Partner Dashboard, go to Payouts.
Stores linked to your account	In your Partner Dashboard, go to Sales > Referrals.
Launch Partner role confirmation (co-sold with Shopify)	Confirm with your Shopify Sales rep or Partner Manager.

Partners don't have direct access to Shopify's internal sales system. For deals co-sold with Shopify, check with the Shopify Sales representative working with your merchant to confirm your SOW is attached and the Launch Partner role is assigned.

9.0 Expansion Stores and multi-store setups

9.1 Do I earn the 20% revenue share or the $2,500 USD payout if I build an Expansion Store?

An Expansion Store isn't the main Plus platform fee billing store, so it doesn't qualify for the 20% revenue share or the $2,500 USD payout. However, if you perform a client transfer for an Expansion Store on or after August 10, 2026, then you earn 0.1% of eligible online GMV for that specific store on a 4-year term.

9.2 If I did the client transfer, do my earnings change when the merchant adds Expansion Stores?

Your existing 20% revenue share is permanently tied to the main billing store, and continues as long as the merchant pays their platform fee.

For the new Expansion Store itself, the 0.1% of eligible online GMV (4-year term) goes to whoever creates it:

If another partner performs the client transfer for the Expansion Store, then they earn the 0.1% of eligible online GMV for that specific store.
If there's no development partner for the Expansion Store, and you're currently collecting revenue share on the main store, then you earn the 0.1% of eligible online GMV (4-year term) for that specific store.

10.0 Term changes and attribution rules

10.1 Who receives earnings when multiple partners are involved?

Revenue share can't be split between agencies on a single store. Attribution is awarded as follows:

Plus and POS payout: The partner who submitted the first qualified lead before the deal opened.
Revenue share (partner-transfer): The original development partner who built and transferred the store.
Revenue share (co-sold with Shopify): The designated Launch Partner with the signed SOW.
B2B and POS profit share: The partner who submitted the first qualified lead before the deal opened.

10.2 How do upgrades and plan changes affect my incentives?

If you're the original development partner actively collecting revenue share, then your incentive structure is permanently tied to the program terms that were in effect when the store originally launched. If the merchant upgrades or downgrades their plan, then you continue to collect revenue share under those exact same terms.

For example:

Previous Terms: A 2024 Advanced store upgrades to Plus. You earn your perpetual 20% against the new Plus fee. You don't move to a 4-year term or gain GMV share.
New Terms: An Advanced store on a 4-year term upgrades to Plus in year two. You earn your same 20% + 0.1% GMV against the new Plus fee for the remainder of the term.

10.3 Can I transfer my Launch Partner status?

No. You can't transfer this status to a third party, including during acquisitions or mergers, without Shopify's prior written consent.

10.4 What happens if a merchant changes their billing store?

Your revenue share is permanently tied to the original billing store:

If the original store keeps paying, then your revenue share continues.
If billing moves to a new store, then your earnings don't automatically transfer.

Still have questions?

If you have questions about joining the Shopify Partner community or getting started, then review the following Partner topics:

About the Shopify Partner Program: Get to know the Shopify ecosystem, understand your core benefits, and access the resources you need to succeed.
Frequently asked questions about the Shopify Partner Program: Find answers to common questions about the basics of the Shopify Partner Program.
Manage your Partner Account: Navigate the surfaces within your account to handle your tasks and settings as a Shopify Partner.
Manage clients and stores: Build a client transfer store on your client's behalf and transfer ownership to them.
Grow your business: Use Partner resources, get certified through Shopify Academy, and scale your service offerings.
Build & integrate: Develop apps and create integrations for your clients.

You can also explore the Shopify Partners glossary to better understand elements of the Shopify Partner Program.

Need further assistance?

Contact Shopify Support through your Partner Dashboard:

Log in to your Partner Dashboard.
Select your Partner organization name.
Go to Help and submit a support request.

Include your Partner ID, store URL or ID, lead submission date (if applicable), and a brief description of your issue.