Shopify Partner earnings
As a Shopify Partner, you earn money based on your contribution to the Shopify ecosystem (your activities). Your earnings might vary based on your location and the location of the merchants you work with. Your earnings might be subject to taxes depending on your location and applicable tax regulations.
The tables below break down the payout conditions and terms based on your activities.
On this page
Development store referrals
To perform a development store referral, you must create a development store in the Partner Dashboard and then transfer it to a client.
| Store plan | Earnings | Terms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 |
Basic Shopify Shopify Advanced Shopify |
A recurring commission equal to 20% of the merchant's monthly subscription fee. | Recurs monthly as long as the merchant remains a paying Shopify customer and you remain an active Shopify Partner. |
| 1.2 |
Shopify Plus |
A recurring commission equal to 20% of the Plus merchant's monthly base platform fee on the billing store, for each net new merchant referred by Partner that signs a Shopify Plus deal. |
You can build a development store for a merchant as part of a Shopify Plus deal. Refer to Shopify Plus referrals for detailed terms. |
| 1.3 |
Shopify Starter Plan Shopify Lite |
Not eligible for commission. |
You aren't eligible for recurring commission on the merchant's monthly subscription fee. |
Shopify Plus referrals
| Store plan | Earnings | Terms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4 |
Shopify Plus |
A recurring commission equal to 20% of the Plus merchant's monthly base platform fee on the billing store. Only applicable to all new Plus deals closed after February 23, 2023. |
Partners are eligible for commission for each net new Shopify Plus referral which results in a fully executed Shopify Plus agreement. Referrals can be done in one of two ways:
Shopify Plus referral commission terms
|
Shopify apps
| Earnings | Terms | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 |
100% of the total revenue from the one-time sale price or recurring subscription fees and all app purchases or upgrades made through the Shopify App Store on the first 1,000,000 USD. On revenue over 1,000,000 USD, you earn 85% of total revenue. |
All apps must comply with the Shopify Partner Program Agreement. Only the Partner who manages the App is eligible for earnings from App sales. If you want to enroll in the revenue plan, then you must register to sell in the app store and report all Associated Developer Accounts. |
Shopify themes
| Earnings | Terms | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.1 |
100% of the total revenue from themes sold through the Shopify Theme Store on the first 1,000,000 USD. On revenue over 1,000,000 USD, you earn 85% of total revenue. |
All themes must comply with the Shopify Partner Program Agreement. Only the Partner who manages the theme is eligible for earnings from theme sales. |
Promotions
The following promotions are available to Partners:
- Markets Pro Launch Bonus
- Point of Sale Pro Referral Bounty
- Commerce Components Referral Promotion
- Shopify Plus Repeat Referral Promotion
- 2x Shopify POS Pro Referral Bonus
4.1: Markets Pro Launch Bonus
| Partner location | All |
| Merchant location | USA |
| Earnings |
Commission is payable to a Partner for every new Markets Pro Merchant referred to Shopify by said Partner, where the Partner’s lead meets the Terms outlined in this Activity. The amount of commission (“Commission”) payable to a referring Partner is based on the volume of cross-border Markets Pro Gross Merchandise Value sold on the referred Markets Pro Merchant’s Shopify store, where the buyer ("Buyer") of products sold by the Markets Pro Merchant is located outside the Merchant’s jurisdiction. “Markets Pro Gross Merchandise Value” means, for the purposes of this promotion, the total dollar value of orders (inclusive of shipping fees, duties, and taxes) processed through the Markets Pro "Service" as outlined in the Service Terms during the first six (6) months of the referred Market Pro Merchant’s use of the Service, minus any refunds processed within that six (6) month period. Commission amounts are as follows, based on the first six (6) months of Markets Pro Gross Merchandise Value processed by the referred Merchant:
Shopify will make reasonable efforts to pay the Commission to the referring Partner within 60 days following the completion of the six (6) month period referenced above. Partners who receive a Commission payout for this promotion are responsible for remitting any taxes required in their jurisdiction from that total amount paid. For information about how payouts are made, refer to Getting paid. |
| Terms |
This promotion will run from January 30, 2023 until July 1, 2023. A referring Partner will be able to submit Markets Pro Lead Forms until that date. However, Shopify reserves the right to change or end this offer at any time. For the purposes of this promotion, a “Markets Pro Merchant” is defined as a user of the Markets Pro "Service", as outlined in the Service Terms, based in the United States. Commission is payable for every new Shopify Markets Pro Merchant that you refer by filling out and submitting the Markets Pro Lead Form within your Partner Dashboard, where the referred Markets Pro Merchant:
If you refer a qualifying Merchant that is also new to Shopify, then you are eligible to receive any applicable new Merchant referral payouts in addition to this Markets Pro Launch Bonus as specified in Shopify’s Partner Program Agreement. If you are a Partner that did not receive an email communication with the details of this promotion, then please email us at markets-partners@shopify.com. Shopify reserves the right to change or modify these Terms, or to suspend or terminate this promotion, at any time and in our sole discretion. |
4.2: Point of Sale Pro Referral Bounty
| Partner location | All |
| Merchant location | Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, UK, USA |
| Earnings |
A commission of 500 to 3,000 USD for every new Point of Sale Pro (POS Pro) Merchant referred by a Partner, where the lead meets the Terms outlined in this activity. The commission amount is based on the number of POS Pro subscriptions activated by the referred Merchant. One (1) Pro subscription represents one (1) Pro location. Commission amounts are as follows:
|
| Terms |
Shopify reserves the right to conclude this offer at any time. Commission is payable for every new Shopify POS Pro Merchant that you refer by filling out and submitting the Shopify POS lead form in your Partner Dashboard, where the Merchant:
In addition to the commission requirements described above, you might also be required to:
If you refer a qualifying Merchant that is also new to Shopify, then you are eligible to receive any applicable new Merchant referral payouts in addition to this POS Pro Referral Bounty. |
4.4: Commerce Components Referral Promotion
| Partner location | All |
| Merchant location | All |
| Earnings | 20% of Year 1 contract value of Commerce Components by Shopify products, capped at $200K USD. |
| Terms |
Promotion start date: February 26, 2023 Promotion end date: December 31, 2023 Deal eligibility will be reviewed and paid out manually after the end of each quarter (April, July, November). Shopify reserves the right to modify, suspend or end this promotion, at any time and in our sole discretion. |
4.5: Shopify Plus Repeat Referral Promotion
| Partner location | All |
| Merchant location | All |
| Earnings |
Payment is based on the total number of Shopify Plus referrals resulting in signed Plus deals. Tier 1: At 5 Shopify Plus deals: $5,000 USD Tier 2: At 10 Shopify Plus deals: $10,000 USD ($15,000 USD rolling total) Tier 3: At 15 Shopify Plus deals: $15,000 USD ($30,000 USD rolling total) Eligible deals will be calculated and paid out manually after the end of 2023 (Approximately January 2024) |
| Terms |
Promotion start date: February 26, 2023 Promotion end date: December 31, 2023 Repeatedly referring Shopify Plus Partners will be able to submit lead forms. The final decision to grant Shopify Plus referral commissions is at Shopify’s discretion. Shopify reserves the right to modify, suspend or end this promotion, at any time and in our sole discretion. |
4.6: 2x Shopify POS Pro Referral Bonus
| Partner location | All |
| Merchant location | Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, UK, USA |
| Earnings |
Partners who submit a referral through the POS lead form between April 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023 (the "Promotion Period"), where the referral meets the Terms of Shopify’s Point of Sale Pro Referral Bounty (4.2), are eligible to receive double the commission amounts, as detailed below. During the Promotion Period, commission amounts payable to an eligible, referring Partner are as follows:
Commission amounts are based on the number of POS Pro subscriptions activated by the referred Merchant. One (1) Pro subscription represents one (1) Pro location. |
| Terms |
This promotion is subject to be changed, suspended, or terminated by Shopify at any time. |
Experts Marketplace
| Earnings | Terms | |
|---|---|---|
| 5.1 |
90% of the total revenue collected by the Expert in respect of each job originating through the Experts Marketplace. |
The Expert is entitled to all amounts collected from merchants through the Experts Marketplace, less the 10% Shopify will retain together with any applicable taxes on Shopify's fees. |
Taxes on earnings
In some cases, Shopify charges you taxes on its fees or pays out taxes on your referral commissions. These taxes vary based on your location, the type of Partner activity, and the tax information you provide in your Partner account settings.
All taxes charged or paid to you by Shopify are recorded in an invoice. To learn how to view your fee and commission invoices, refer to Getting paid.
Taxes charged on Shopify fees
In some cases, Shopify charges taxes on its commission fee and other applicable fees for app, theme, or service sales on the Shopify platform. Any applicable taxes are deducted from your payout and reflected on your Shopify fees invoice.
Taxes are charged on Shopify fees in the following cases:
Canada
If your Partner Account contact information lists an address in Canada, then Shopify charges you taxes on Shopify fees. Shopify charges the applicable sales tax for your province or territory.
The United States
If your Partner Account contact information lists an address in the United States, and your address is in a state that charges sales tax on services performed by billing agents, then Shopify charges you taxes on Shopify fees. Shopify charges the applicable sales tax for your state.
Taxes paid out on referral commissions
If you provide a Canadian business account number (BN) in your Partner account tax information, then Shopify adds an additional 13% Ontario HST to your referral commission payout. This tax is added to your payout and reflected on your referral commission invoice. You're responsible for remitting these taxes to the appropriate government authority.
Regulatory Operating Fee
In some countries or regions, a Digital Services Tax (DST) is applied to products and services that are sold digitally. The DST is calculated as a percentage of the gross revenue from the sale of a digital service. The DST rate varies depending on the country or region where a merchant is based.
Starting January 5, 2022, Shopify will charge a Regulatory Operating Fee on public app and theme sales in the affected countries or regions to accommodate the DST. The following Regulatory Operating Fees apply when the merchant’s business address is located in one of the listed countries or regions:
| Country or region | DST rates |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2% |
| Italy | 3% |
| Turkey | 5% |
| India | 2% |
| Spain | 3% |
You can view the Regulatory Operating Fees applied to your app and theme sales in your Partner Dashboard or in the Partner payout CSV. Learn how to view payouts, or how to export payouts to a CSV file, refer to Tracking Partner earnings.
Glossary
To learn more about the different types of Shopify Partners, refer to the following resources:
Refer to the following table to learn about terms you might need to understand as a Shopify Partner.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Active Shopify Partner |
As a Shopify Partner, you can earn recurring commission payments for referrals and Plus upgrades. To continue receiving recurring commission payments for these previous referrals and upgrades, you must complete one of the following activities at least once every 12 months:
If you haven't completed one of these activities by the end of the 12-month period (from the date that the merchant switches to the relevant plan), then all recurring commission payments will reset to zero. You must carry out at least one of the above-listed activities during each consecutive 12-month period to continue receiving recurring commission payments. You can view the date that you need to complete another activity by on the Referrals page of the Partner Dashboard. This ongoing activity requirement has been in effect as of October 1, 2017. The Partner activity requirement does not apply to other ongoing earnings, such as earnings from App sales or Theme sales. |
| Base platform fee |
The current method of charging Shopify Plus stores for the use of our platform. Plus merchants that are charged platform fees aren't charged subscription fees. Platform fees replace subscription fees for these merchants. The base platform fee is the agreed upon base amount that is charged monthly. It doesn't include additional variable platform fees that the merchant pays when they sell more. |
| Billing store | The first store opened under a Shopify Plus merchant's contract. It's considered the primary store for the merchant organization. Financial information, such as billing for the platform fee, is accessed through the billing store. |
| Commerce Components by Shopify | Commerce Components by Shopify is the modern, composable stack of products for enterprise retail. Shopify merchants can select components of the Shopify platform offering to integrate with their own systems. |
| Development store referral |
As a Shopify Partner, you can create an unlimited number of development stores. A development store is a free version of a Shopify store that can be used to set up, theme, or develop a store for your client. Setting up a development store and handing it off to your client allows you to earn a recurring commission.
Note: As a Shopify Partner, you can earn commissions on Shopify Plus subscription fees only for the primary store (where billing is centralized) but not for any clones of this store. |
| Net new | A merchant Plus lead referral that is new to Shopify's internal database of prospective Shopify customers. |
| Partner assisted Plus auto-upgrade | A way for Shopify Partners to send Plus auto-upgrade invitations to prospect merchants through the Partner Dashboard. |
| Plus expansion stores | An additional store opened to complement the Plus merchant main store. This can be for the purposes of selling in different languages or currencies. Plus expansion stores are not the main billing store, and don't have a platform base fee. |
| Plus lead referral form | A form for submitting Shopify Plus referral leads to Shopify. The form is available in the Partner Dashboard. |
| Plus referral | A merchant who the Partner believes is a perfect fit for Shopify Plus. Partners can submit a Shopify Plus lead referral form that is unqualified or in the early stages to ensure net new credit and commission for eligible leads. |
| Processing fee | App billing is subject to a 2.9% processing fee. As of August 1, 2021, processing fees and taxes are charged on a separate line item. All processing fees are recorded on the payouts page. |
| Qualified Plus lead referral |
Within 90 days of a Shopify Plus lead referral form being submitted, the referral can be can be qualified and considered ready for the next stage of the Plus sales process. A qualified Plus lead referral is a referral for which Shopify receives all the qualifying information needed for the Shopify sales team to get in touch. This includes details about the the lead's headquarters, revenue, a confirmation of their budget, and their timeline. |
| Referral commission or "commission" | The commission Shopify pays you for referral activities, including Shopify Plus referrals and development store referrals. All referral commissions are recorded in a referral commission invoice. |
| Sales opportunity | Shopify deals that are in progress. Opportunity records track details about deals, including which accounts they're for, who the parties are, their stage in the sales funnel, and the amount of potential sales. |
| Shopify fees | Commission fees that represent Shopify's share of app, theme, or service sales. For example, if you sell a theme and are entitled to 70% of the sale price, then Shopify charges you a Shopify fee for 30% of the total theme sale and the remaining 70% is payable to you. All Shopify fees are recorded in a Shopify fees invoice. |
| Store upgrades |
Store upgrades occur when a current Shopify merchant upgrades to a store plan with a higher subscription fee. The upgrade can be completed by the Partner that originally referred the merchant, a Partner that did not previously refer the merchant, or Shopify's sales team. Only a Partner who originally referred the merchant through a development store will receive a commission based on the upgraded plan. If the merchant is upgrading to Shopify Plus, then you must fill out the Shopify Plus lead form in your Partner Dashboard to continue receiving a recurring commission. You're granted a commission only for net new Shopify Plus leads. The original lead must have been submitted by you, and the merchant must not have yet been in contact with the Shopify Plus team at the time of submission. |
| Unqualified Plus lead referral |
After 90 days of a Shopify Plus lead form being submitted, it will be unqualified if a Shopify Plus sales opportunity is not created from that lead form. Within 90 days of a Shopify Plus lead referral form being submitted, it can be an unqualified lead referral if it hasn't been nurtured enough to be forwarded to a sales team. These referrals are not eligible for commission. Examples of unqualified lead referrals:
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