Shopify Profit Reports: What They Show, What They Miss
Shopify profit reports show gross profit and gross margin: net sales minus the cost per item you recorded, by product, variant, POS location, order and market. They do not know your ad spend, app fees or payment fees unless you count them in elsewhere, so treat the number they give as the start of a profit calculation.
The report descriptions are from Shopify’s Help Center page on profit reports, read on October 23, 2026.
Costs count only from the day you record them
A profit report includes only products and variants that had a cost recorded when they sold. If you add cost per item today, last quarter’s orders stay out of the profit reports, and the net sales shown there will not match your sales report. The cost field also holds a static value, so the figures describe one moment; if your supplier price moves, the history does not reprice itself.
To record a cost, go to Products, open the product, click Cost per item in the Price section, enter the amount in Cost and click Save. Products with variants need the cost on each variant. Shopify’s guidance on what to enter: for a resold product, what you paid the manufacturer, excluding taxes, shipping and other costs; for a product you make, a value based on your labor and material costs. How to set prices from those costs is in how to price products on Shopify.
A quick completeness check before you trust any report: compare net sales in Gross profit by product with net sales in your sales report for the same dates. The gap is the sales of variants without a cost.
The profit reports
Open Analytics > Reports, click the Category filter and choose Profit Margin.
| Report | Groups by | Shows |
|---|---|---|
| Gross profit by product | Product | Net quantity, net sales, cost, gross margin, gross profit |
| Gross profit by product variant | Variant | The same columns per variant |
| Gross profit by POS location | POS location | The same columns per location |
| Profit margin by order | Order | Product, shipping, duties and import taxes charged, against product, shipping, duties and import taxes you paid |
| Average profit margin by market | Market | Profitability of each international market against your home market |
In the market report, click a market and then View market report by order to see margin per order for that market only. The same drill-down is in the reports list as Profit margin by order, but opened from there it shows all orders without a market filter.
We would read them in this order once a month:
- Gross profit by product for the products that make the money and the ones that sell a lot at a thin margin.
- Gross profit by product variant for the products from step 1 with a low margin, since one size or color with a higher cost can drag the whole product down.
- Profit margin by order for orders where shipping or duties you paid ate the margin, which points at free-shipping thresholds or rates that are too low.
- Average profit margin by market if you sell abroad, to see whether an international market earns less than your home market once its shipping and duties are counted.
- Gross profit by POS location if you sell in person.
Gross margin is calculated as (net sales − cost) ÷ net sales × 100. Gross profit is net sales minus cost. Net sales are counted after discounts and refunds, which is why the margin in a report can differ from the margin on a product page. Shopify’s example: a T-shirt priced at $20 with a $10 cost shows a 50% margin on the product details page; sell it at 25% off for $15 and the report shows 33%.
Ask Sidekick
If you have recorded cost per item, you can ask Sidekick for gross profit by product, by variant and by point-of-sale location, using a prompt such as “Show gross profit by product variant for the last 90 days”. It can’t group profit by market; use the market report for that.
From gross to net profit
The product reports stop at gross profit, and the order report adds shipping, duties and import taxes you paid. For a net figure, add the shipping customers paid (net sales leave it out) and subtract everything that sits outside the product cost. A worksheet with made-up numbers for one month:
| Line | Example | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $10,000 | Sales report |
| Cost of goods sold | −$4,000 | Profit report (cost per item) |
| Gross profit | $6,000 (60%) | Profit report |
| Payment processing fees | −$330 | Payments payout reports |
| Shipping charged to customers | +$600 | Sales report (shipping charges) |
| Shipping costs you paid | −$700 | Carrier or label bills |
| Advertising | −$1,500 | Ad platforms |
| Shopify plan and app subscriptions | −$250 | Billing page |
| Net profit before tax and salary | $3,820 (38% of net sales) |
Shopify’s note on its static cost field lists three options for dynamic reporting: run financial reports in an ERP or accounting system, use a reporting app, or calculate costs, profits and losses manually.
For choosing products with enough margin to carry the overhead, see profitable Shopify niches. Other pricing guides are in the pricing and sales hub.
FAQ
Where is the profit report in Shopify? Open Analytics > Reports and filter the Category to Profit Margin.
Why are some of my orders missing from the profit report? The report counts only variants that had a cost per item recorded when they were sold. Add the cost to every variant and new orders appear.
Does Shopify show net profit? Shopify’s reports show gross profit and margin from net sales and recorded costs, so net profit needs other sources for advertising, subscriptions and fees.
Why does the margin in the report differ from the product page? The product page margin uses the full price. The report uses net sales after discounts and refunds.