Amazon FBA vs Direct Shopify Margin Calculator
Compare marketplace referral + fulfillment deductions against DTC credit card processing + subscription costs.
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WooCommerce (Cloudways VPS)
$562.90 /mo
Take-rate: 3.75% · Net $14,437/mo
Shopify Basic
$573.90 /mo
Take-rate: 3.83% · Net $14,426/mo
Amazon Professional Seller
$3,871.74 /mo
Take-rate: 25.81% · Net $11,128/mo
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On a $45 item, Amazon FBA referral + fulfillment takes ~$11.50 (25.5%) vs ~$1.61 card fee on Shopify (leaving $9.89/order for your own shipping & ads).
Total monthly cost across store revenue stages
All-in monthly fees (subscription + card processing at $45 AOV) as monthly GMV scales from $2,500 to $100,000.
| Plan | $2,500/mo sales | $10,000/mo sales | $35,000/mo sales | $100,000/mo sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Professional Seller | $681 (27.24%) | $2,594 (25.94%) | $8,985 (25.67%) | $25,594 (25.59%) |
| Shopify Basic | $128 (5.13%) | $396 (3.96%) | $1,287 (3.68%) | $3,606 (3.61%) |
| WooCommerce (Cloudways VPS) | $117 (4.69%) | $385 (3.85%) | $1,276 (3.65%) | $3,595 (3.59%) |
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Common questions
Which option is cheapest at $15,000/month in online sales?
At $15,000/month ($45 average order value), WooCommerce (Cloudways VPS) has the lowest combined subscription + transaction cost at $562.90/month (3.75% effective take-rate), saving $39706/year versus Amazon Professional Seller.
Does billing annually change the e-commerce plan break-even point?
Yes. Annual Shopify and BigCommerce plans cut fixed monthly subscription fees by roughly 25%, pulling upgrade break-even thresholds noticeably lower—use the Annual Billing toggle in the calculator above to test exact numbers.
How do third-party payment gateway fees affect store profit?
Using an external gateway on Shopify adds 2.0% on Basic, 1.0% on Grow, and 0.6% on Advanced on top of your card processor fee, whereas WooCommerce and BigCommerce add 0% gateway surcharges.