Guides

• Cost per item in Shopify: what it is and what depends on it

  What Shopify's cost per item field holds, how to set it, which reports use it, who can see it, and the four things one static field cannot do.

• How to bulk update cost per item in Shopify

  Three ways to update cost per item for many Shopify variants at once: the bulk editor, a product CSV import, or an app. Steps and pitfalls for each.

• What happens to past orders when you change a cost in Shopify

  Shopify records cost at the time of sale. What that means for old orders when you change cost per item, for orders sold with no cost, and what you can do about it.

• How to keep a cost history in Shopify

  Shopify keeps only the current cost per item. Three ways to keep a history of cost changes (exports, a spreadsheet or an app) and what a useful history records.

• Why products are missing from Shopify profit reports, and how to find those with no cost

  Shopify leaves variants with no cost out of profit reports. How to see how much revenue is affected, and three ways to list every variant with no cost per item.

• Should cost per item include shipping, packaging, duties and fees?

  Shopify defines cost per item as the purchase price alone. Which extra costs to add to it, which to keep out, and a cost-by-cost table to decide.

• Landed cost in Shopify after Stocky

  Stocky ended on 31 August 2026 and Shopify purchase orders do not change cost per item. How to keep a landed cost per unit in Shopify now, by hand or with an app.

• Do Shopify purchase orders update cost per item?

  No. Receiving a purchase order in Shopify does not change a variant's cost per item. What purchase orders do with cost, and how to carry a new price through.

• How to cost a bundle in Shopify

  Shopify's docs do not say how a bundle's cost is set. How to work out a bundle's cost from its components, test what your reports use, and keep it current.

• One product, two suppliers, two costs: handling it in Shopify

  Shopify holds one cost per variant. Four ways to handle a product you buy from more than one supplier at different prices, and what each costs you.

• Margin on the Shopify product page, margin in reports, and markup

  Shopify shows margin, not markup, and the margin on the product page differs from the one in profit reports. The formulas for each, with Shopify's own example.

• Where to find cost of goods sold in Shopify

  Where Shopify reports cost of goods sold and gross profit, what those reports include and leave out, and how to check that the figure is complete.

Costs to add on top of the unit cost

• Packaging

  How to work out packaging cost per unit for a Shopify product, the difference between product packaging and shipping packaging, and where each belongs.

• Inbound freight

  How to turn a freight invoice into a per-unit cost for Shopify products, the three ways to allocate it across a mixed shipment, and a worked example.

• Import duties

  How to work out import duty per unit for a Shopify product, which taxes count as cost and which are reclaimed, and how to record duty so a rate change is visible.

• Pick and pack

  How to turn a 3PL's pick and pack fees into a per-unit cost, why the fee belongs in your margin but rarely in Shopify's cost per item, and how bundles change it.

• Payment processing fees

  How to count card processing fees in your margin per product, as a percentage of price plus a fixed part, and why they stay out of Shopify's cost per item.

• Outbound shipping

  When you offer free or subsidised shipping, the postage is a cost of the sale. How to estimate it per unit and keep it out of the cost of goods.

• Inserts and labels

  Thank-you cards, care leaflets, barcode labels and hang tags add cents to every unit. How to cost them and decide which belong in the product's cost.

• Returns allowance

  Returns cost return postage, handling and written-off stock. How to turn a product's return rate into a per-unit or percentage allowance so margins reflect it.