Merchants treat “10% off,” “$10 off,” and “free shipping” as similar generosity. They are not. Shopify Payments and PayPal take a percentage of item plus shipping charged. A percent-off coupon shrinks that base. Free shipping sets shipping charged to $0 and leaves the label you actually pay on the order.
On a typical Basic-plan example — a $48 item, $6 shipping charged, a $5 label, $14 goods, $1 pack, and 2.9% + $0.30 Shopify Payments — list price keeps about $31.74. The same order under three common sales:
| Offer | Customer pays | Fees | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| List price | $54.00 | $1.87 | $31.74 |
| 10% off the item | $49.20 | $1.73 | $27.08 |
| Free shipping | $48.00 | $1.69 | $25.92 |
| $10 off the item | $44.00 | $1.58 | $22.03 |
If a sale has to run, 10% off keeps about $1.17 more than free shipping on that order. Free shipping is the one that can flip a thin listing to a loss: a $24 item with a $9 label and $10 shipping charged still profits under 10% off and loses money when shipping is advertised as free.
Rates change by country, plan, card type, and contract. This page does not publish Shopify’s live schedule. Open the Shopify fee calculator, enter the percentages from your statements, and compare the four offers on one order.
The calculator is arithmetic, not advice. It does not recommend a sale or claim a promo will increase volume enough to make up the difference.
Not on orders where the label is a large share of the advertised discount. A 10% coupon cuts the item price, so Shopify Payments or PayPal percentage fees also drop. Free shipping sets shipping charged to $0 and leaves the label you pay on the order. Run both against your costs before you pick a sale.
On a $48 item, 10% off is $4.80 and a $10 coupon is $10. Both also change the order total that percentage processing fees apply to. The calculator shows the net after fees, goods, and the label — not the face value of the discount.