How to use the marketplace seller profit and fee calculator
- Enter your item price, the shipping the buyer pays, and your costs: the item, the shipping label and packaging.
- Enter the fees your marketplace charges: a listing fee, percent fees and any fixed fee per order. Look them up in your seller account, because the numbers here are examples.
- Tick the box if the percent fees also apply to the shipping you charge.
- Set a target margin and the orders per month. Read the profit per order, the margin, the break-even price and the price for your target.
Formula
Percent fees = fee % x (price + shipping charged, if the box is ticked)
Fees = listing fee + percent fees + fixed fee
Profit = price + shipping charged - fees - item cost - shipping label - packaging
Margin = profit / (price + shipping charged)
Break-even and target prices solve the same equation for the price, keeping every other number as entered.
A $30 item with $6 shipping
The buyer pays $36.00. Fees are a $0.20 listing fee, 9.5% (6.5% plus 3%) of $36.00, which is $3.42, and a $0.25 fixed fee, so $3.87. Costs are $9.00 for the item, $5.50 for the label and $0.75 for packaging. Profit is $36.00 - $3.87 - $15.25 = $16.88, a margin of 46.89%.
The break-even price is $11.35, and the price that earns a 25% margin is $17.97. With the percent fees only on the item price, profit is $17.45. Forty such orders earn $675.20.
Using your own fee numbers
Marketplaces change their fees and apply them in different ways, and the amounts here are examples, not any marketplace's current rates. This tool is not affiliated with any marketplace. Open your seller dashboard, find the listing, transaction and payment fees, and enter them as they apply to you.
If your marketplace charges a fee on shipping or on sales tax, tick the box or raise the percent to match. When in doubt, compare the result with a real order's payout and adjust the inputs until they agree.
Pricing for the margin you want
The price for a target margin tells you where to set the price so that profit is that share of what the buyer pays. If the fees and your target add up to 100% or more, no price reaches it, and the tool says so. Remember that your own time, taxes and returns are not in the numbers.
To go further on pricing, use the profit margin calculator or the markup calculator. The payment processing fee calculator works out card fees, and the dimensional weight calculator helps with shipping costs.
Assumptions and limits
- Every fee is a number you enter. The defaults are examples, not a marketplace's rates.
- Sales tax collected for the buyer, returns, refunds, your time, income tax and currency conversion are not modeled.
- Percent fees are added together and applied to the price, or to price plus shipping if the box is ticked.
- Margin means profit as a share of the money the buyer pays, price plus shipping.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my profit on an online sale?
Add what the buyer pays, subtract the marketplace fees, and then subtract the item cost, the shipping label and packaging. What is left is your profit per order.
What fees should I enter?
Enter the listing fee, the transaction or selling percent, the payment processing percent and fixed amount, and any ad or other percent fees that apply to you. Your seller account shows the current numbers.
What is the break-even price?
It is the item price at which your profit per order is exactly zero, with shipping and costs kept as entered. Pricing below it loses money on each sale.
Why can a target margin be unreachable?
The percent fees take a share of every sale. If those fees plus your target margin reach 100%, no price can cover them, so the tool shows that it is not reachable.