# Paydude for ecommerce

URL: https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-for-ecommerce
Type: Guide
Published: 2026-09-05 · Updated: 2026-09-05
Summary: Card processing from 2.6% + 25¢ for developer-built online stores. Where it fits, and where Shopify Payments or Square are the better answer.

**Paydude fits ecommerce built in your own codebase.** If your storefront is code and you want an API with published rates, it works well. If you are on Shopify, or selling in person, this page will tell you to use something else.

## Summary

Good fit: custom-built stores taking card payments through an API. Poor fit: Shopify stores, where the third-party gateway fee changes the maths. No fit: in-person sales — there are no card-present rates. Physical goods carry higher dispute risk and thinner margins than software.

## Ticket size decides more than the rate

Ecommerce average order values vary enormously, and the fixed fee behaves very differently across that range.

**Effective rate by average order value**

| Average order | At 2.9% + 30¢ | At 2.6% + 25¢ |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $15 | 4.90% | 4.27% |
| $35 | 3.76% | 3.31% |
| $75 | 3.30% | 2.93% |
| $150 | 3.10% | 2.77% |

The lower your average order, the more the fixed fee dominates — see the [payment fee impact calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/payment-fee-impact-calculator) for your own numbers.

> **If you are on Shopify:** Shopify charges an additional transaction fee for using any gateway other than Shopify Payments. That surcharge usually exceeds any rate advantage, which makes Shopify Payments the right choice for Shopify stores almost regardless of the comparison. See [Paydude vs Shopify Payments](https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-vs-shopify-payments).

## Disputes cost more on physical goods

A chargeback reverses the sale but not the costs, and physical goods have both higher dispute rates and lower gross margins than software. At a 40% margin, a single $50 chargeback can wipe out the profit from three clean sales.

The [chargeback cost calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/chargeback-cost-calculator) expresses that in sales rather than dollars, which is the more useful unit. Paydude's chargeback fee is $12, below the $15–$25 that is standard.

## What to check before switching

1. **Your real average order value**, from a statement rather than your product prices.
2. **Your effective rate today**, using the [effective rate calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/effective-rate-calculator).
3. **Your international share**, since cross-border cards carry surcharges everywhere.
4. **Whether your platform locks you in**, as Shopify does with its third-party gateway fee.

**Compare at your own order value** Published rates, and a calculator that uses your numbers. — [Open the calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/payment-fee-impact-calculator)

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Paydude good for ecommerce?

For stores built in your own codebase, yes — it is an API with drop-in card fields and published rates. If your store runs on Shopify, Shopify Payments avoids the third-party gateway surcharge and is usually the better answer regardless of rate.

### Does Paydude work with Shopify or WooCommerce?

Paydude is an API-first processor rather than a platform plugin. On Shopify specifically, using any third-party gateway incurs an additional Shopify transaction fee, so compare our rate against theirs plus that surcharge rather than against theirs alone.

### What about in-person sales?

Paydude does not support card-present payments — there is no hardware and no card-present rate. If any meaningful share of your volume happens across a counter, Square or Clover are the right shape.

### How do chargebacks work for physical goods?

Physical goods carry higher dispute risk than software because of non-delivery claims, and gross margins are usually lower, so each dispute costs more relative to profit. Paydude's chargeback fee is $12, below the $15–$25 norm, and delivery tracking is what wins representment.