What each order really contributes
Ecommerce profit per order looks beyond the difference between a supplier price and a selling price. The result deducts entered variable expenses, advertising acquisition cost and allocated fixed overhead from net order revenue. Simple mode is useful for a quick first pass using product cost, shipping, CPA and combined percentage fees. Advanced mode separates additional costs and revenue adjustments. A positive result only covers the expenses you supplied; it is not a complete financial statement.
The formula
Keep currency, units and time periods consistent. Percentage inputs use percentage points (enter 5 for 5%). Results are rounded only for display; tiny nonzero values may use scientific notation. Undefined ratios are shown as unavailable.
A $69 sale with $20 COGS, $7 shipping, $2 packaging, payment fees of 2.9% + $0.30, a 1% platform fee, a 5% refund allowance and $1 other cost leaves $32.56 before ads. An $18 CPA leaves $14.56. Allocating $300 monthly fixed costs over 100 orders leaves $11.56 net profit, or approximately 16.8%.
Gross, contribution and estimated net profit
Gross profit usually starts with sales less product cost. Contribution before advertising also accounts for the other non-ad variable expenses. Profit before overhead subtracts acquisition cost from that contribution. Estimated net profit then deducts a share of the entered monthly fixed costs. Keeping these layers separate helps identify whether a margin change came from products, fulfillment, ads or allocation. The term net here describes this model’s remaining amount, which may still exclude tax, financing or other business-specific expenses.
Record revenue and fees consistently
Net revenue is selling price plus customer shipping minus the average discount amount. Percentage payment fees, platform fees and the return allowance apply to that net revenue. Fixed payment and platform charges apply per order. Use a single currency throughout. If a fee is already incorporated in another input, do not enter it a second time. Refund allowances are simplified revenue-based provisions; they do not independently model recovered inventory, chargebacks or reverse-logistics costs unless you include those effects in your assumptions.
Advertising impact and break-even buffers
Contribution break-even CPA is the acquisition cost that consumes all pre-ad contribution. Net break-even CPA also reserves the allocated overhead amount. Their ROAS equivalents divide net revenue by the corresponding CPA boundary, provided it is positive. The buffers change one variable at a time until modeled net profit reaches zero. For example, the shipping boundary adds current net profit to current shipping cost. These boundaries are conditional arithmetic, not independent limits you can all reach simultaneously.
Fixed costs and monthly estimates
Monthly fixed costs are divided by monthly orders. An order count is therefore required when you enter a positive fixed-cost amount. A lower order count raises allocated overhead per order even if the monthly bill stays unchanged. When monthly orders are supplied, the calculator also estimates revenue, profit, advertising spend and product cost at that volume. These are extensions of the same unit economics, not forecasts. They assume the entered order mix, costs and acquisition performance continue at the selected scale.
Use the stress test to review exposure
Compare baseline profit with higher CPA, COGS and shipping, plus a larger refund allowance in Advanced mode. The combined downside applies those changes together. The largest displayed change is the largest among the specific scenarios, not proof that a variable is always the most important driver. Review the scenario values against invoices and campaign data. Common mistakes include excluding packaging, mixing per-order and monthly numbers, counting shipping twice, and interpreting high ROAS as proof of positive net profit.
Method and reference sources
Method and content checked 2026-09-20. These sources provide background, not endorsement or professional certification. The formula and limitations above define this calculator.
- SBA — Break-even pointContribution, variable costs and fixed-cost break-even context; tool-specific extensions are explained above.
Frequently asked questions
How should I include monthly overhead in an order calculation?
In Advanced mode, enter fixed costs and order count for the same month. The tool divides the costs across those orders. Do not enter that same overhead again as a per-order expense.
What is a worked example for Ecommerce Profit?
A $69 sale with $20 COGS, $7 shipping, $2 packaging, payment fees of 2.9% + $0.30, a 1% platform fee, a 5% refund allowance and $1 other cost leaves $32.56 before ads. An $18 CPA leaves $14.56. Allocating $300 monthly fixed costs over 100 orders leaves $11.56 net profit, or approximately 16.8%.