Margin Intelligence
What processors, gateways, and payment-method mixes actually cost per order, beyond the headline rate a single processor advertises.
Agentis analysis of Stripe's and PayPal's own published 2026 pricing pages shows PayPal Checkout costs 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction versus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30. Merchants absorb that difference silently when checkout offers both without weighting the true blended cost by payment-method mix.
Agentis analysis of Stripe's own refund documentation shows a fully refunded charge can't be disputed at all, while Stripe's processing fee is never returned either way. Refunding a $60 order costs the $2.04 processing fee you already paid. Losing that same order to a chargeback costs $75, the order value plus a $15 dispute fee.
Agentis analysis of Stripe's, Shopify's, and PayPal's own published fee terms shows currency conversion costs 1% with Stripe, 1.5% to 2% with Shopify Payments (Shopify's own example uses 1.5%), and 3% to 4% with PayPal, a gap of up to $30 more per $1,000 in international sales between Stripe's rate and PayPal's on a standard goods-and-services transaction.
Agentis analysis of Stripe's own published pricing confirms ACH bank transfers cost 0.8% capped at $5.00, while card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.30, with no cap at all. On a $2,000 order, that's $5.00 for ACH versus $58.30 for a card, a $53.30 difference that gets larger, not smaller, as the order value climbs.