Seller profit workflow
Know what one sale really earns.
A headline marketplace rate is not profit. Work through fees, complete unit cost, break-even volume, and customer value using one consistent scenario.
Provider fees vary by country, product, category, account, currency, and date. Use the editable rate shown by each calculator and confirm it against the linked official source before making a pricing decision.
- 1
Estimate the fee charged on a sale
Choose the provider that will actually process the order. Enter the full buyer payment where the provider calculates fees on shipping or tax, and check the displayed market and review date.
Carry the total fee—not only the headline percentage—into your cost calculation.
- 2
Find profit and gross margin per order
Combine product cost, packaging, platform and payment fees, and any shipping amount you absorb. Compare the complete cost with revenue before VAT or sales tax treatment changes the result.
Carry unit contribution—selling price minus variable cost—to the break-even step.
- 3
Calculate the sales volume needed to break even
Use fixed monthly costs for expenses that do not rise with each order. Use the complete variable cost from the previous step. A positive contribution per unit is required before break-even exists.
Compare break-even units with a realistic order forecast for the same period.
- 4
Check acquisition payback and customer value
ROI compares a return with its cost; it does not explain timing or cash flow. CLV is an estimate based on average order value, purchase frequency, gross margin, and retention assumptions.
Treat the lower, more conservative outcome as the planning case and test how it changes when fees or retention move.
A quick consistency check
Keep one currency and one time period throughout. Revenue should not include tax you merely collect and remit. Costs should not mix per-order values with monthly totals. Save both a base case and a conservative case rather than relying on a single optimistic result.