Processor Directory > Shopify
Shopify Review
In this Shopify review, we’ll talk about the company’s payment processing services, take a look at Shopify reviews, and give information on rates and fees. If you’re considering Shopify as your credit card processor, read on to get the details.
- About Shopify
- Shopify’s Payment Processing Services
- Shopify Capital
- What about equipment?
- Security
- How’s customer service?
- Shopify Rates and Fees
- Shopify Reviews
About Shopify
Shopify is a payment processor founded in Canada in 2006 that serves businesses in the US and Canada. For the purposes of this Shopify review, we’ll focus on the company’s US services. Shopify offers the ability to accept payments in-store, online, and via mobile devices and provides a free 14-day trial.
You can choose any combination of services, but some options require other services. For example, if you want to use Shopify POS, you’ll still need a Shopify Store account with a monthly fee.
Shopify’s Payment Processing Services
Shopify provides processing services for payments in store, online, and by mobile device. Shopify’s in-store point-of-sale systems allow acceptance of credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards. Additionally, Shopify can process partial payments, accept multiple forms of payment for a single transaction, process refunds or store credit, apply discounts, automatically calculate sales tax, and accept orders while offline that will process automatically when a connection becomes available. Some in-store features may require an additional Retail add-on package.
With Shopify, you can accept major credit cards, including MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express. A free Shopify card reader (pictured below) is available with monthly plans, allowing secure and convenient swiped transactions.
However, the free reader is for magnetic stripe cards only; it cannot support "dipping" EMV chip cards. You can still accept a chip card and run it as a magstripe card, but if you do that, you’re liable for fraudulent transactions or other issues. An EMV chip capable reader (pictured below) is available instead of the magstripe reader for a fee.
The chip reader also allows acceptance of Apple Pay and other digital wallets. Additioanlly, the built-in keypad enables you to accept PIN debit cards without running them "as credit" for customers who prefer to authorize their transactions with their secure PIN rather than signing for the purchase.
In 2017, Shopify announced another EMV-capable reader, which can connect to both Android and Apple devices through Bluetooth. The reader accepts both magstripe and chip credit cards, and supports Visa’s Quick Chip for fast chip transactions. The reader is free for new customers; otherwise, it costs $29.
Related Article: Quick Chip Speeds up EMV Transactions.
Ecommerce
Shopify is known more for ecommerce services than anything else. For convenient online sales, Shopify provides a full-featured e-commerce option, including a website builder, blog, support for international currencies, and gift card support.
Shopify integrates with more than 70 gateways. Some plans offer abandoned cart recovery, sending an email to customers about their abandoned shopping carts to recover lost sales and courage customers to complete their transaction.
Mobile
But Shopify isn’t only for ecommerce, and if you need to process payments on the go, Shopify offers a mobile option. You’ll have the ability to use smartphones or tablets to complete transactions and Shopify provides a free mobile credit card reader for quick and secure swiped transactions. Remember, the mobile reader that’s available free of charge does not accept chip cards, Apple Pay, or PIN debit cards.
Shopify offers this video introduction to mobile payment acceptance:
Mobile transactions include the ability to email receipts to customers.
POS
Shopify’s POS system is iPad-based and lets you add accessories to make the perfect system for your business. Shopify supports cash drawers, receipt or barcode printers, barcode scanners, and card readers. some functions of the POS system require the retail package for an additional fee. The Shopify POS system offers numerous features. Get the full details in our dedicated Shopify POS review.
Gift Cards
Additionally, you can sell gift cards to increase customer loyalty and provide an option for customer gift-giving. Gift cards can be emailed to customers, or printed using a receipt printer. Note that if you’re printing gift cards, you’ll need to subscribe to the Shopify retail package, which is available as an add-on to Shopify Store accounts. The retail package enables additional functions for retail sellers.
Shopify Capital
In 2016, Shopify announced a new merchant cash advance option, Shopify Capital. Currently, the feature is only available to US-based businesses, and eligibility will be determined by processing volume through Shopify accounts. If you’re eligible, Shopify will notify you and offer a choice of cash amounts and repayment terms. Once approved, money is deposited into your account quickly and can be used for almost any business-related expense.
Like all merchant cash advances, there is no fixed monthly repayment amount. Instead, you’ll repay the cash advance from a percentage of your daily credit card sales. Note that while cash advances may be easier to obtain than traditional small business loans, they can also be more expensive depending on your particular situation.
Related Article: Should You Get a Merchant Cash Advance?
What about equipment?
Shopify offers a bundled point-of-sale kit, comprising a complete retail solution once paired with an iPad. A free card reader is available with monthly packages for convenient and secure swiped transactions. The following bundle is currently available:
Complete Hardware kit, including:
- iPad Air stand
- Wireless receipt printer
- 16" Cash drawer
- Card reader
Shopify works with iPad devices, including iPad Air, iPad 2, 3, and 4. Shopify can also work with many existing terminals and devices.
If you prefer to create your own hardware solution, Shopify also sells items individually, including wireless receipt printers, wired receipt printers, paper, iPad stands, and cash registers. You can mix and match, choosing the devices required for their specific needs.
Shopify can be connected to Apple-certified wireless barcode scanners and thermal barcode printers to create, print, and scan barcodes easily in store. Shopify can also connect to wireless Star Micronics printers to print custom receipts.
How’s customer service?
Shopify provides customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Support is available by email, chat, and phone. Additionally, Shopify offers discussion forums and a knowledge base of common questions and answers to help assist businesses.
Shopify Rates and Fees
Costs are where Shopify gets a bit complicated. There are different costs for different services, but some services are only available as add-ons.
For credit card processing Shopify prices on a flat rate pricing model. While it’s not necessarily the most competitive pricing available, it usually has limited extra fees. Shopify has different rates for selling in store, online, or a combination of in store and online and publishes the following rates:
In-Store Processing
| Basic | Shopify | Advanced |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee: $29 Credit card rate: 2.7% |
Monthly fee: $79 Credit card rate: 2.4% |
Monthly fee: $299 Credit card rate: 2.15% |
The Basic package includes support for unlimited products and registers, as well as 24 hour customer service. The Shopify package includes all the features of the Basic package, plus support for gift cards, and the option to run professional reports for business management. The Advanced package includes all the features of the Shopify package, plus an advanced report builder for customized reporting options.
The Retail add-on is an additional $49/month.
Online Processing
| Lite | Basic | Shopify | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee: $9 Credit card rate: 2.9% + $0.30 |
Monthly fee: $29 Credit card rate: 2.9% + $0.30 |
Monthly fee: $79 Credit card rate: 2.6% + $0.30 |
Monthly fee: $299 Credit card rate: 2.4% + $0.30 |
The Lite package includes 1 GB of file storage, support for up to 25 products, and email and chat customer service support. The Basic package includes 1 GB of file storage, support for unlimited products, a discount code engine, free Shopify card reader for swiped transactions, fraud tools, and 24 hour customer service. The Shopify package includes 5 GB of file storage, support for gift cards, professional report capabilities, abandoned cart recovery options, plus all the other features of the Basic package. The Advanced Package includes unlimited file storage, support for unlimited products, an advanced report builder, real-time shipping, and all the features of the Shopify Package.
Rates for mobile processing only start at 2.15%. Shopify offers discounts on plans if you pay upfront for yearly accounts.
Pricing is accurate as of 2017. Prices subject to change. Be sure to check with Shopify directly for updated costs for your specific business if you choose to work with Shopify for processing, POS systems, or ecommerce.
You can also compare Shopify’s rates to other ecommerce or in-person credit card processors by using CardFellow’s free quote comparison tool.
Shopify Reviews
A well-known company like Shopify gets talked about online readily. A lot of what reviewers say is good, although there are some complaints on the company’s Better Business Bureau profile. Let’s take a look at what Shopify customers are saying to get an idea of what you can expect if you choose them for your business needs.
At the Better Business Bureau
Shopify has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 2012 and currently has an A+ rating, the highest available. When we first wrote about Shopify, the company had 43 complaints lodged with the BBB. That has since jumped to 76 as of 2017.
Reviews complain of issues including inability to process payments, long holding of processed funds, poor customer service, and unauthorized debits. Only a handful of the complaints are listed as resolved.
There are 3 customer reviews for Shopify on the BBB’s site as well. Interestingly, one complaint is negative, one is positive, and one is neutral. The negative complaint states that it’s difficult to reach customer service and that when you do, staff is unhelpful and cannot resolve customer issues. The postive review says that Shopify has many helpful features and it’s easy to get assistance when there’s an issue. The positive reviewer does warn that costs can add up, but mentions that Shopify offered a 10% discount to help keep prices down. The neutral review simply mentions that a manual renewal option would be preferable to the auto-renew, which is the only choice.
At Capterra
Shopify fares well at Capterra, garnering a 4.5-star rating out of 5. Customers typically rate Shopify highly overall, though customer service only receives an average 3-star rating.
Reviewers praise the platform as a good option for those who aren’t "tech-savvy" and mention that it’s easy to use and quick to set up. Many reviewers mention that it’s great to be able to get started selling through a website quickly. Minor complaints include the annoyance and cost of ala carte style pricing, where you pay for additional features. Some users also felt that the monthly fee is on the high side, but others thought that the costs were reasonable, especially for smaller business.
Other Reviews
Ripoff Reports lists 4 reviews in their complaint directory for Shopify. Reviews complain of deceptive billing practices, unresponsive customer service, high fees, and unexpected account debits.
Shopify includes a testimonials section of its website. Reviewers praise Shopify’s low rates, ease of use, and fast setup. Testimonials include the reviewer’s full name and business name.
Have you used Shopify? Leave your own review!
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4/5
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Posted by CardFellow on Feb 16, 2017
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4/5
Shopify has lots of good features, like options to sell online, in-person, or with a mobile device and sync inventory, but the pricing can add up. You'll need a Shopify Store with a monthly charge, then there's processing costs, equipment costs, a retail package "add-on" for an additional monthly fee if you want crucial retail functions, etc.
