About ShelfAudit
Who writes this, how the figures are checked, and what we do when the sources disagree.
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ShelfAudit exists because Shopify pricing is harder to pin down than it should be, and because most of the writing about it repeats a figure someone else published without saying when. We cover one platform, in depth, and we show our working.
How a figure gets onto the site
Every number is checked against Shopify's own published material first — the pricing page, the POS pricing page, the help centre and the developer documentation. Where Shopify does not publish a figure, or publishes one that varies by session, we cross-check at least two independent rate sheets and record the date each was last updated.
Everything then lands in a single reference file with its source and its check date before any of it reaches a page. Nothing gets quoted in an article that is not in that file. It is a dull process and it is the entire reason to trust the site.
What we do when sources disagree
We say so. Shopify App Store counts, for example, range from twelve thousand to over eighteen thousand depending on who is counting and when, so we publish the range and decline to pick a number. Where a figure comes from one source only, it is described as approximate. Where a claim originates with Shopify's own commissioned research — the checkout conversion statistic is the notable one — we attach that label in the same sentence.
What we will not do
- Quote a price without the date it was checked.
- Present a promotional rate as a plan's price.
- Invent a measurement. We assess documented capabilities and published rates; we do not publish load times or conversion figures we have not measured.
- Let a commercial relationship move a rating. The verdict on the Shopify review is 8.7, and the three-tenths it loses are for pricing disclosure.
Corrections
Shopify changes prices without announcing most of them, so some figure here will eventually be stale. If you spot one, tell us and we will check it and re-date the page. Corrections are made in place and the check date moves, which is the honest way to do it. Get in touch through the contact page.