What Are Operations Fees in Print-on-Demand? (Shopify Processing Fees)

Want to see how Operations Fees affect your order costs? Read our guide on Unit Ops (Average Payment Processing Fee per Order). If you’re ready to track processing fees, ad spend, and shipping in one dashboard, check out PodVector. For official rates, see Shopify Payments documentation.

What Are Operations Fees?

Operations Fees in POD represent the payment processing fees deducted from every order before you receive the payout. Shopify Payments is the most common gateway, but fees also apply to PayPal, Stripe, and other processors.

For example, Shopify Payments in the U.S. charges:

• 2.9% of the transaction amount
• + $0.30 per order (fixed fee)

These fees ensure credit card payments, fraud checks, and transaction settlements happen smoothly—but for sellers, they reduce profit on every sale.

Formula for Operations Fees

The formula is simple:

Operations Fees = (Order Value × Percentage Fee) + Fixed Fee

When looking across many orders, sellers often use Unit Ops to measure the average fee per order.

Example Calculation

Let’s say you sell a POD mug for $20.

• Percentage fee: 2.9% of $20 = $0.58
• Fixed fee: $0.30
• Total Operations Fee: $0.58 + $0.30 = $0.88

That means every $20 order loses $0.88 to payment processing. If you sell 1,000 mugs in a month, that’s $880 lost to Operations Fees.

Why Operations Fees Matter in POD

• Thin margins: POD already has slim margins due to product + shipping costs. Operations Fees take an additional slice.
• Low-ticket items: If your AOV is $15, a $0.88 fee is nearly 6% of revenue per order.
• Scaling effect: As order volume grows, Operations Fees grow linearly—making them impossible to ignore.
• Pricing accuracy: If you don’t include Operations Fees in your profit formula, you’ll overestimate profitability.

Benchmarks: Typical Operations Fees

Based on Shopify Payments rates in the U.S. (as of 2025):

• Domestic orders: 2.9% + $0.30
• International orders: 3.9% + $0.30
• PayPal/Stripe: Usually 2.9–3.5% + $0.30

Across a typical POD store with $25 AOV, Operations Fees average around $0.90–$1.10 per order.

How to Track Operations Fees

Manual (Spreadsheets)

1. Download Shopify payout or payment processor statements.
2. Total the processing fees for your chosen time period.
3. Divide by number of orders to estimate average per-order fee.

Automated (PodVector)

With PodVector, Operations Fees are included in real-time profit tracking. Every Shopify order automatically accounts for payment processing costs, along with product, shipping, and ad spend.

How Operations Fees Relate to Other Metrics

• Operations Fees vs Unit Ops: Operations Fees are the raw fees per order; Unit Ops is the average across many orders.
• Operations Fees vs AOC: Operations Fees are one component of AOC (Average Order Cost).
• Operations Fees vs Profit: Ignoring Operations Fees inflates your profit number. They directly reduce AOP (Average Order Profit) and operating profit.

FAQs

Are Operations Fees the same for every order?

No. The percentage part scales with order value, and international cards may carry higher fees. But the fixed fee applies to every order, regardless of size.

Can I avoid Operations Fees?

No. All processors charge some form of fee. However, you can reduce their impact by raising AOV, bundling products, or negotiating lower processor rates as you scale.

Are Operations Fees shown in Shopify reports?

Yes, Shopify’s payout reports list the processing fees for each order. But they don’t combine them with ad spend, refunds, and shipping—so you don’t get a true profit view.

Does PodVector calculate Operations Fees automatically?

Yes. PodVector pulls Operations Fees directly from Shopify so you see them included in real-time profit analytics.