How Shopify fees work in United Arab Emirates
Selling on Shopify in United Arab Emirates means three separate costs eat into every order, and it is easy to under-count them. This calculator brings them together so you see real profit per unit, not just the headline margin on your product.
- Subscription: a fixed monthly plan fee, spread across the orders you actually take.
- Payment processing: a percentage of each sale plus a small fixed fee, charged by Shopify Payments or your gateway.
- Third-party transaction fee: an extra Shopify charge that only applies if you don’t use Shopify Payments.
On top of those sit your product cost, shipping and advertising; the calculator subtracts all of them to give net profit, margin, break-even price and the maximum you can spend on ads per order before you lose money.
Shopify plan pricing in United Arab Emirates (AED)
Shopify bills UAE subscriptions in US dollars: Basic $32, Grow $92 and Advanced $399 per month, with lower effective rates on annual billing. The dirham figures below are converted at the pegged rate of 3.67 and rounded, so every number in the calculator stays in one currency.
Rates last verified 2026-08-05. Shopify occasionally adjusts pricing, so always confirm against the official United Arab Emirates pricing page before committing.
UAE payment methods
Shopify Payments in United Arab Emirates supports the local methods UAE shoppers expect. Each is selectable in the calculator’s advanced options:
- Standard card (Visa / Mastercard / Maestro)
- American Express: Amex and international cards share the same higher rate on each plan.
- International (non-UAE) card: Adds 1% to the standard rate, landing on the same figure as Amex.
Shopify Payments in the UAE is still in early access, so not every store gets it straight away. It handles online orders only, pays out in dirhams, and settlement takes at least five business days. Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay run at the normal card rates. Tabby and Tamara connect as third-party providers instead, which means the plan’s external transaction fee applies on top of whatever rate they quote you.
Third-party gateway fees
If you use an external payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify adds a transaction fee on top of whatever your gateway charges: 2% on Basic, falling to 0.2% on Plus. Switch the calculator’s payment method to “Third-party provider” to enter your gateway’s own rate and see the combined cost.
For most UAE merchants, using Shopify Payments removes this fee entirely and is the cheaper route unless a specific gateway gives you a materially better processing rate.
VAT considerations
Prices and profit here exclude VAT. The UAE standard rate is 5%. Registration becomes mandatory once taxable turnover passes AED 375,000 in a rolling 12 months (voluntary from AED 187,500). If your storefront prices include VAT, divide by 1.05 to get the net price before entering it here.
This tool works in net (VAT-exclusive) terms. If your listed prices include VAT at 5%, convert to net before entering them so your margin reflects money you actually keep.
How this calculator works
Every figure is traceable to a formula:
- Processing fee = Price × rate% + fixed fee
- Plan allocation = Monthly plan fee ÷ Monthly order volume
- Break-even price = (fixed costs + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − variable fee rate)
- Max ad spend = profit per order before advertising is deducted
VAT is excluded throughout. The price-sensitivity table re-runs the full model at ±10/20/30% of your price so you can see how margin moves before you discount or raise prices.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, but in early access, so Shopify enables it per store rather than for everyone. It processes online orders only (no POS), pays out in AED, and the first settlement takes a minimum of five business days. If your store does not have access yet, you will be on a third-party gateway and the plan’s external transaction fee applies to every order.
Shopify bills UAE merchants in USD: $32 for Basic, $92 for Grow and $399 for Advanced when billed monthly. Because the dirham is pegged at 3.67 to the dollar, we convert those to AED so the whole calculation runs in one currency. Your card statement will still show the dollar amount.
Neither is part of Shopify Payments in the UAE. Both connect as third-party providers, and neither publishes a fixed merchant rate; the fee is agreed when you sign up, and Shopify’s external transaction fee (2% on Basic, down to 0.6% on Advanced) is charged on top. Switch the calculator to the third-party option and enter your quoted BNPL rate to model it properly.
COD is still a large share of UAE ecommerce, but the fee belongs to your courier, not Shopify, so there is no processing rate to select. The practical approach: set the payment method to third-party with a 0% rate, then add your courier’s COD surcharge to the shipping cost field. Remember COD orders also return at a higher rate, which no calculator will show you.
Cards issued outside the UAE, and all Amex cards, run at the higher rate for your plan: 3.9% on Basic, 3.8% on Grow and 3.7% on Advanced, plus AED 1.00 per transaction. If a big share of your customers pay with foreign cards, use that rate in the calculator rather than the standard one.
No. Everything is net of VAT so margins compare cleanly. The UAE rate is 5%, and registration is mandatory once taxable turnover passes AED 375,000 in a rolling 12-month period. If your displayed prices include VAT, divide by 1.05 before entering them.
Sources
- Shopify UAE pricing
- Shopify Help Center, Shopify Payments in the UAE
- Shopify Help Center, UAE payment methods
