How Billing Works

Dropio AI involves two separate payments, made to two different companies. This page explains exactly what each one covers, who charges it, and when.

Paid to Dropio

Your Dropio AI subscription

Starter, Pro, or Empire. Billed through the Shopify Billing API and charged to your Shopify account.

Paid to CJ Dropshipping

Product costs (COGS)

The wholesale cost and shipping for each order you fulfil. Charged directly by CJ Dropshipping, from your own CJ account.

Your Dropio AI Subscription

Your Dropio AI plan — Starter ($39/month), Pro ($99/month), or Empire ($299/month) — is billed through the Shopify Billing API. You approve the charge in your Shopify admin when you subscribe, and it appears on your regular Shopify invoice alongside your other app subscriptions.

  • Recurring monthly or annual charge, approved by you in Shopify
  • Charged in USD; Shopify converts to your store currency where needed
  • Upgrade or downgrade at any time from the in-app Billing page
  • Cancel at any time — you keep access until the end of the period you paid for

This subscription covers your access to the Dropio AI platform: AI copy generation, Product Scout, Finance analytics, Reviews Intelligence, and the other modules included in your plan. It does not include the cost of any physical products.

Product Costs (CJ Dropshipping)

When you import a product from the CJ Dropshipping catalog and a customer buys it, you pay CJ the wholesale cost of that product plus shipping. This payment is separate from your Dropio subscription. It is charged directly by CJ Dropshipping, from the CJ account you connect, at the moment you fulfil the order.

This is the standard arrangement in dropshipping: the wholesale cost of goods is paid to the supplier who ships them. Dropio AI is the software you use to find, list, and manage those products — CJ Dropshipping is the supplier who stocks and ships them.

Worked example

Customer pays you for the product$29.99 → your Shopify payout
You pay CJ for the item + shipping$8.40 → paid to CJ
Your Dropio subscription$99/mo → billed by Shopify

The $8.40 never passes through Dropio and never appears on your Shopify bill — it is charged by CJ, to your CJ account.

Setting Up Your CJ Account

The Supply Chain module (included with Empire) needs your own CJ Dropshipping account. Creating one is free — you only ever pay CJ for orders you actually fulfil.

  1. Create a free account at cjdropshipping.com.
  2. In your CJ dashboard, open Authorization → API and generate an API key.
  3. In Dropio, go to Supply Chain and paste the API key to connect your account.
  4. Add a payment method inside CJ — that is what CJ charges when you fulfil orders.
  5. Import products, and fulfil orders from the Supply Chain module as they come in.

Because the products are ordered through your own CJ account, your CJ balance, payment method, invoices, and refunds are all managed by you inside CJ Dropshipping.

Dropio never charges you for product costs

Dropio AI only ever charges your subscription fee, and only through the Shopify Billing API. Product costs go directly to CJ Dropshipping from your own CJ account. We do not take a cut of your cost of goods, we do not mark products up, and we never hold or process the money you pay your supplier.

Questions

If anything about billing is unclear, email [email protected] and we will walk you through it. You can also review our Terms and pricing.