The Margio blog

The profit side of running a Shopify store

Straight answers on margins, fees, payouts, taxes and the numbers that decide whether a sale actually made money. Written to be read once and trusted, not padded for length.

Margins7 min read

Contribution margin, explained for Shopify sellers

The number that tells you whether a sale is worth making, once every cost that moves with the order is out of the way.

Customers5 min read

Customer segmentation and lifetime value for ecommerce

Not every customer is worth the same. Segmentation and lifetime value tell you which ones to spend on keeping.

Customers6 min read

Customer acquisition cost, LTV:CAC and payback period

What a customer costs to win, how long they take to pay you back, and whether the two numbers leave a business behind.

Bookkeeping6 min read

Shopify and QuickBooks: how to connect them, and when you don't need to

The real ways to link the two, why summary sync beats order sync, and the one mismatch that trips up almost every store.

Advertising6 min read

How to calculate ROAS, and the break even ROAS that actually matters

Return on ad spend is one division. The number worth knowing is the ROAS your margin needs a sale to beat.

Advertising5 min read

What is MER in marketing, and how is it different from ROAS?

One number for whether your whole marketing engine is working, immune to the attribution arguments that make ROAS unreliable.

Payouts5 min read

Shopify payouts, explained: schedule, timing, and why your bank shows less

When the money lands, why it is late, and why the amount never quite matches what you sold.

Print on demand5 min read

Is print on demand profitable? The real margins on Printful and Printify

The base cost is the number the calculators show you. The shipping, fees and ad spend are the numbers that decide whether you actually made money.

Comparisons4 min read

The best Shopify profit analytics apps, compared

TrueProfit, Lifetimely, Triple Whale, Polar Analytics and Margio all show profit. They disagree on where the truth comes from.

Costs5 min read

Landed cost: what it is and how to calculate your true COGS

The price on the supplier's invoice is not what the product cost you. Landed cost is.

Fees4 min read

Shopify fees explained: what Shopify really takes from a $100 sale

The subscription is the fee people notice. The processing fee on every order is the one that quietly adds up.

Tax4 min read

Shopify sales tax reporting: how to pull the report your accountant needs

Shopify can collect sales tax for you. It does not file it, and the difference is where stores get caught out.