TpTvs
Shopify
TpT vs Shopify for teacher sellers
Shopify keeps almost every dollar and gives you a store that's fully yours. It also costs $39 a month and brings no buyers. Here's when that trade works.
What you keep per sale
| Fees | Keep on $5 | Keep on $1.50 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TpT Basic | 45% + $0.30 per resource | $2.45 | $0.53 |
| TpT Exclusive | 22.5% (+ $0.15 under $3) + $59.95/yr | $3.88 | $1.01 |
| Shopify | $39/month + card fees | $4.56 | $1.16 |
Card fees at 2.9% + $0.30 on a single-item US order. Shopify's monthly fee ($29 billed yearly) isn't spread per sale; Exclusive's yearly fee isn't either.
When the monthly fee pays off
- Against TpT Basic: Shopify keeps about $2.11 more per $5 sale, so roughly 19 sales a month cover the $39.
- Against Payhip's free plan: Payhip has no monthly fee and keeps $4.31 of $5. Shopify only pulls ahead above about $780 a month in sales.
So for most teacher sellers starting off TpT, Payhip is the cheaper first step, and Shopify is the upgrade once your own store has real volume. The TpT vs Payhip page has the details.
Who brings the buyers
Shopify is your own shop, not a marketplace: nobody browses it. Every sale comes from people you send there, from your email list, Pinterest, a blog or social media. If almost all of your sales today come from TpT search, Shopify's better rate applies to sales you don't have yet.
What TpT does that Shopify doesn't
- Sales tax. TpT collects and pays it as the marketplace. On Shopify that's your job (Shopify Tax can help). Not tax advice.
- File delivery. Shopify needs an app, such as the free Digital Downloads app, to send PDFs to buyers.
- Your listings. Shopify can import products from a CSV, but TpT has no export, so the listings have to come out of TpT first. The Shopify move guide covers the steps.
Not sure whether Basic is worth it at all? Run your numbers in the Exclusive vs Basic calculator.
Questions
Is Shopify worth it for a TpT seller?
Only once you send your own buyers to it. Shopify keeps about $4.56 of a $5 sale, against $2.45 on TpT Basic, but costs $39 a month and brings no shoppers of its own.
How many sales does Shopify need to pay for itself?
Against TpT Basic, about 19 sales of $5 a month cover the $39 fee. Against Payhip's free plan, which has no monthly fee, Shopify only comes out ahead above roughly $780 a month in sales.
Can a TpT Exclusive seller use Shopify?
Not for paid digital teaching resources. From January 1, 2027, Exclusive sellers can only sell those on TpT, though they can link their own site to their TpT listings.
Your whole store, as a Shopify import
LessonCrate turns your TpT listings into a Shopify CSV. They arrive as drafts, with descriptions and images. Free preview, from $19.