AppStill Works

A guide for consignment and resale shops

How to set consignment splits on Shopify

The split is the heart of a consignment deal: the part of each sale that goes to the person who owns the item, and the part the shop keeps. Shopify has no place for it, so most shops keep splits in a spreadsheet and do the math on payout day. This guide covers how to set splits, what the split is figured on, how to give different consignors different splits, and how to change one without redoing old sales. The last part shows how Still Works Consignment keeps the split on every item.

1. Decide the split and write it down

A split is a percent. If the consignor's share is 60 percent, the shop keeps 40. Write it in the agreement the consignor signs, as the consignor's share, so there is no doubt about which side the number is.

Start with one shop split for everyone. Add exceptions only where you have a reason, such as a consignor who brings in a lot of furniture, or a long-time consignor on older terms. Every exception is one more thing to check on payout day.

2. Figure the split on what the customer paid

The fair base is the amount the customer actually paid for the item. That means after any discount code or markdown, and without sales tax, shipping or tips, which were never part of the item's price. If a $50 lamp sells with 20 percent off, a 60 percent share is 60 percent of $40, which is $24.

Round each share to the cent and let the shop keep the rest, so the two always add up to the sale. Say in the agreement how markdowns and discounts affect the share, because that is the question you will be asked.

3. Keep splits in plain Shopify

Shopify can tell you what each consignor's items sold for. It cannot apply a split. The usual setup:

  1. Put the consignor's number in each product's Vendor field, or in a tag like "consignor-142".
  2. Keep a consignor list in a spreadsheet with a split column next to each number.
  3. On payout day, export Orders with line items for the period, or open Analytics, then Reports, and use the sales by vendor report if your plan has it. It gives net sales per vendor, after discounts.
  4. Look up each consignor's split and multiply. A lookup formula on the consignor number does it for the whole sheet.

Check two things before you pay. Refunds in the period should come off the right consignor. And sales from Shopify POS are in the same export, so the counter is counted too.

4. Different splits for different consignors

A split per consignor is just a different number in their row. It gets harder when the split depends on the item, for example a lower share on items over a set price. Plain Shopify has no per-item split, so you would need a tag like "split-50" and a sheet that checks it on every line. If you can, keep splits at the consignor level and handle the rare item by a written note.

5. Changing a split without redoing the past

Splits change: a new shop default, or a better deal for a busy consignor. The fair rule is that a new split applies to items taken in from that day on. Items already on the floor stay on the terms they came in under, unless you and the consignor agree to move them. Sales already made never change.

In a spreadsheet, that means keeping the date of each change and the split in force on each item's intake date. Add the date to the split column, such as "60 from 2026-03-01", rather than typing over the old number.

6. Refunds take the share back

If a customer returns an item, the consignor's share of it comes back off their balance, even if you already paid them. Record it as a minus line in the next period, and the item goes back on the floor as theirs.

The same steps in Still Works Consignment

In the app, the shop's split is under Settings, in Consignment terms, as Consignor share, percent. It starts at 60. Each consignor can have their own share on their page, in Their share, percent. Left blank, they get the shop default. Decimals work, like 60.5.

The split is fixed on each item when it is taken in, like the agreement it came in under. Changing a consignor's share, or the default, applies to items taken in from then on. On the consignor's page there is also a box to use the new share for their items already in the store. A sale never changes after it is made.

When an item sells, online or on Shopify POS, the share is figured on what the customer actually paid: after any discount or markdown, without tax, shipping or tips. It is rounded to the nearest cent, and the store keeps the rest. A refund, an order edit or a cancelled order takes the share back. If your splits live in a spreadsheet now, a CSV import brings consignors over with their numbers, splits and balances owed, with a dry run before anything is saved.

The app is free for up to 15 active consignors and never takes a percentage of sales. It is on the Shopify App Store.

Where to go from here

The Still Works Consignment page has the plain description of what the app does and does not do. If something here does not match what you see, email the studio and it gets fixed the same business day.