Zest's pricing is designed to be transparent and flexible. This article explains how Zest transaction fees are calculated, displayed, and reconciled, so your finance team always knows exactly what to expect.
Overview: Zest's Pricing Model
Zest uses a two-part pricing model:
Monthly subscription fee: A flat recurring fee scaled to your business size and gifting volume. Pricing is customized to your contract — contact your Zest account manager for details.
Transaction fee: A usage-based fee (your contracted rate) applied only to orders processed through Zest-powered storefronts.
There are no setup fees, no onboarding costs, and no per-feature add-on charges. Everything is included in your plan.
Transaction Fee: What It Is and How It's Calculated
The transaction fee is based on your contracted rate and applied to each storefront order. It is calculated on the order subtotal — the total cost of products plus shipping, after any discounts are applied, but before sales tax.
Example calculation:
Item | Amount |
Products | $145.00 |
Shipping | $75.00 |
Volume discount applied | -$0.00 |
Fee base (subtotal) | $220.00 |
Transaction fee | Your contracted % × $220.00 |
Sales tax | Calculated separately on applicable items |
Key points:
The fee is always calculated post-discount (after discounts are applied to the order).
Sales tax is calculated separately and is not part of the fee calculation base.
Concierge orders do not incur an automatic transaction fee (see Section 8).
Who Pays the Fee: Configuration Options
You have full flexibility in deciding who absorbs the transaction fee. There are three approaches:
Pass through to the gifter (most common)
The gifter pays the full transaction fee at checkout, where it appears as part of the "Tax & Fees" line item. This is the most common setup for corporate gifting Storefronts.
Split between your brand and the gifter
You and the gifter each absorb a portion of the fee. For example, if your contracted rate is X%, you could absorb half and pass the other half to the gifter.
Brand absorbs the full fee
Your brand absorbs the entire transaction fee on the backend. At checkout, gifters see only any applicable sales tax in the Tax & Fees line — no platform fee is shown to them.
How to configure: Fee configuration is managed by the Zest team. Contact Zest support to set up or adjust how your fee is split. Changes are typically implemented within a business day. This is not currently a self-service setting.
How Fees Appear at Checkout (Customer-Facing Display)
When a gifter checks out on your storefront, fees and taxes are combined into a single line item labeled "Tax & Fees" (or a customized label if you've configured one).
The line appears after the gifter enters recipient information and the order is priced.
Before pricing is calculated, the line shows "To be calculated."
If your brand absorbs the full fee, the Tax & Fees line reflects only any applicable sales tax — the fee component is not shown to the gifter.
Customization options (available through Zest support):
Customize the label for the "Fees" portion (default: "Fees") and the "Tax" portion (default: "Tax").
Add a custom tooltip to explain what the fee is — this is especially helpful for gifters or their finance teams reviewing the charge.
Heads up on the "Tax & Fees" label: This combined label is a common source of confusion. Gifters and their finance teams sometimes assume a tax charge is being applied when the amount is actually the platform fee. Adding a custom tooltip is strongly recommended to prevent this confusion.
How Fees Appear in Shopify and Stripe (Backend Reconciliation)
In Stripe
Zest collects the transaction fee as a Stripe application fee. To view the full breakdown for any order:
Open the relevant order in your Zest dashboard.
Click the Stripe button or icon next to the order summary.
Review the payment breakdown, which shows:
The Stripe processing fee (set by your Stripe agreement)
The Zest application fee (your contracted platform percentage)
If your brand absorbs part of the fee, that amount is deducted from your Stripe payout — you won't receive a separate invoice for it.
In Shopify
By default, the Zest transaction fee is not included as a line item in Shopify orders. Zest collects the fee through Stripe before pushing the order into Shopify, so the Shopify order total may appear lower than the actual payment collected from the gifter.
Optional: Request a "Fees" line item in Shopify orders
Upon request, Zest can configure a "Fees" line item to be added to your Shopify orders. This makes the Shopify order total match the amount collected from the gifter, simplifying reconciliation.
Fulfillment note: When a fee line item is added to Shopify, it may appear as a product requiring fulfillment. Test how this appears in your fulfillment workflow before going live, and configure accordingly.
Reconciliation tip: Without the Fees line item in Shopify, use your Stripe transaction records alongside Shopify orders to account for the fee. The difference between the Stripe payment amount and the Shopify order total equals the transaction fee collected.
Shopify order discrepancy: If a fee is collected from the gifter but is not included as a Shopify line item, Shopify may flag the difference between the payment amount and the order total as a potential refund owed. Adding the Fees line item to Shopify resolves this.
Configuring Fees Per Storefront
Fee configuration is set on a per-Storefront basis, giving you complete flexibility to run different fee structures for different client portals. The Zest team manages this.
Examples of per-Storefront configurations:
Pass the full fee to gifters on your main corporate storefront.
Absorb the fee entirely on a consumer-facing or VIP client Storefront.
Use a 50/50 split on a private partner Storefront.
To configure fees for a specific Storefront: Contact Zest support with the storefront name and your desired fee structure. The Zest team will implement the change — typically within a business day.
Note for multi-brand setups: If you manage multiple brands and need separate fee tracking per brand (e.g., unique fee SKUs per brand), this requires coordination with the Zest team on a case-by-case basis.
Payment Processing Fees (Stripe vs. Shopify)
All storefront payments are processed through Stripe, not Shopify Payments. This means:
You will not be charged Shopify transaction fees on Zest Storefront orders. Shopify does not handle payment processing for these orders.
You will pay Stripe's standard processing fees per your Stripe agreement.
In your Stripe transaction details, the Stripe processing fee and the Zest application fee appear as separate line items, making reconciliation straightforward.
FAQ and Edge Cases
Which orders are subject to the transaction fee?
Only storefront orders (self-service corporate gifting) have the transaction fee automatically applied at checkout. Concierge orders do not — Concierge uses a separate invoiced commission structure.
Can I change my fee configuration myself?
Not currently. All fee configuration changes — including who pays, the percentage split, and per-storefront settings — must be requested through Zest support. Changes are typically implemented within a business day.
What does the "Tax & Fees" line show when there's no applicable tax?
In tax-exempt scenarios (such as certain corporate buyers or tax-exempt states), the Tax & Fees line will show only the platform fee amount. If the combined label says "Tax & Fees" but no tax is actually charged, the entire amount shown is the platform fee. Adding a tooltip explaining the fee is strongly recommended to avoid confusion.
What about alcohol and wine brands?
For alcohol and wine brands, regulatory restrictions may prevent passing the transaction fee to customers at checkout in certain jurisdictions. These brands may need to absorb the fee or build it into product pricing. Check your local regulations and consult your Zest account manager before configuring fee pass-through.
What if my order appears to calculate fees on the pre-discount amount?
The fee is always calculated on the post-discount subtotal (after discounts are applied). If a test order appears to calculate fees on the pre-discount amount, contact Zest support — this may be a configuration issue.