Transaction Cost %: Payment Processing Rate

Transaction Cost % measures payment processing fees as a percentage of revenue—showing the true cost of accepting payments.

Formula

Transaction Cost % = Total Transaction Costs ÷ Total Revenue × 100

Formula Components

Metric	Definition
Total Transaction Costs	Total payment processing fees
Total Revenue	Total order revenue

Metadata
Type	Percentage
Data Source	Shopify, Upstack Costs
Aggregation	Ratio

Example

Your Shopify store has $4,500 transaction costs on $150,000 revenue.

Component	Value	Calculation
Transaction Costs	$4,500	Payment fees
Total Revenue	$150,000	Order revenue
Transaction Cost %	3.0%	$4,500 ÷ $150,000

How It Works

Transaction Cost % varies by payment method and order size. Credit cards typically cost 2.4-3.0%, while Shop Pay and other methods may differ. Higher AOV reduces the effective percentage due to fixed per-transaction fees.

Benchmarks

Rating	Range
Excellent	< 2.5%
Typical	2.5% – 3.0%
High	3.0% – 3.5%
Very High	> 3.5%

Note: International transactions and certain card types cost more.

Metric	Relationship
Transaction Cost	Absolute amount
Transaction Cost per Order	Per-order average
CM2 %	Margin after transaction costs

See all Transaction metrics →

​Formula

​Formula Components

​Example

​How It Works

​Benchmarks

​Related Metrics

Formula

Formula Components

Example

How It Works

Benchmarks

Related Metrics