Practical writing on Shopify profitability, ecommerce finances, and building a sustainable business.
Fundamentals
Why your Shopify revenue number is lying to you
Your Shopify dashboard shows a big revenue number and it feels good. But after Shopify Payments fees, refunds, chargebacks, and payout timing, you're actually keeping a fraction of that. Here's exactly how the math works — and why most founders are surprised when they see it.
The 7 ways ecommerce founders leak money without knowing it
From forgotten SaaS subscriptions to shipping cost drift to refund rate creep — money leaks in ecommerce are sneaky. Most founders have at least three of these. We analysed hundreds of Shopify stores to find the patterns. Here's what we found.
How to calculate your true profit margin (the right way)
Most "profit margin calculators" give you gross margin — revenue minus COGS. That's a start. But to get your true margin, you need to account for payment processing fees, refunds, ad spend, staff, and upcoming supplier obligations. Here's the formula we use at RealMargin.