Everything You Need to Know About Earning Your Referral Commission When Building A Development Store

As a Shopify Partner, there are multiple ways to earn through your contributions to the Shopify ecosystem. When you build a development store, you can earn up to a 20% recurring referral commission on the Shopify subscriber fees for each client you refer. By consistently referring clients who sign up for Shopify plans, you can earn a steady stream of commission. Highly engaged Shopify partners find referral commissions to be a valuable tool that can be used to hire more staff, expand services, negotiate with clients, and scale business. Learn how to get started.

Step 1: Build A Development Store

To earn referral commissions for the development stores you build, you must refer a client by building a development store in the Partner Dashboard. A development store is a free version of a Shopify store that can be used to design, build, test and optimize stores for your client. You can also leverage it to test themes and apps as you build a store. As a Shopify Partner, you can use our full development store environment to build as many stores, or test as many apps or themes as you want.

Step 2: Client Subscribes To A Full-Price Shopify Plan

After creating a development store, transfer store ownership to your client. When the transfer is complete and your client subscribes to a full-price paid plan, Shopify pays you a recurring commission equal to 20% of the merchant’s monthly subscription fee on Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify plans. For Plus referrals, you will earn a recurring commission equal to 20% of the Plus merchant’s monthly base platform fee. Note: Stores that are built as part of a Shopify free trialare not eligible for referral commission. You can only earn referral commissions by transferring a development store (not a trial store) to a merchant.

Step 3: Receive Your Recurring Monthly Commission Payment

Upon successfully referring a new client, you’ll receive your referral commission payout on a monthly basis through the Shopify Partner Dashboard. As an active Shopify Partner, you’ll continue to receive your monthly development store referral commission for each client you’ve referred. You must remain an active Shopify Partner to continue earning commissions by referring at least one active merchant to Shopify at least once every 12 months, or by upgrading an existing Shopify merchant to Shopify Plus, as outlined in the Partner Program Agreement. For additional eligibility details, review the Active Shopify Partner requirements.