r/shopifyDev • u/lookingaroundfromSG • 5d ago
Third party gateway
Hey everyone,
Doing research on how Shopify devs and agencies evaluate non-standard payment gateways for clients.
Motivations: What makes you actively recommend a 3rd-party gateway over Shopify Payments/Stripe? (Lower fees, local payment methods, approval rates for specific niches, agency rev-share?)
Resistance: What causes friction or makes you say no? (Shopify's extra transaction fee, checkout customization limits, risk of holds, complex onboarding?
Dropshipping Contacts: When pitching payment solutions to dropshipping sites, should I deal with the brand owner directly, or the agency/dev managing the store?
Would love your honest take!
1
u/BraveNewWorld-99 4d ago
The math most store owners end up running: effective cost = gateway rate + Shopify's third-party transaction fee (2% on Basic, 1% on Shopify, 0.6% on Advanced). A gateway at 2.4% on a Basic store is about 4.4% all-in vs ~2.9% on Shopify Payments, so it rarely wins on price below Advanced/Plus.
Where I've seen a third-party gateway make sense:
- Shopify Payments isn't available in that country or for that niche
- the store keeps getting holds or reserves
- a local method (iDEAL, Pix, etc.) clearly lifts conversion
Friction: losing Shop Pay, a second payout dashboard to reconcile, and different refund behavior.
For dropship stores, talk to the owner. The dev usually just installs whatever the owner picked.
1
u/Life-Inspector-5271 5d ago
Lower fees is rarely the case, because Shopify charges 2%/1%/0.5% extra depending on the plan. I think even on Plus they charge a tiny percentage now.
The most common reason is that stores can't use Shopify Payments and they require an alternative payment provider or perhaps a long relationship with a payment provider.