Break-Even Calculator
Calculate the minimum sale price and number of units needed to cover all costs — per unit costs, platform fees, payment fees, and monthly fixed costs.
By Marginory teamContent reviewed
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Break-Even Analysis
Break-even price (per unit)$8.00
Contribution margin per unit$17.00
How this is calculated
Break-even price: (Variable cost + Shipping + Packaging + Payment fixed fee) / (1 − Platform fee rate − Payment fee rate)
Contribution margin: Sale price − Variable cost − Platform fee − Payment fee
Break-even units: Fixed costs / Contribution margin per unit
Assumptions
- Break-even price: zero profit per unit, no fixed costs
- Break-even units: monthly fixed costs divided by per-unit contribution margin
- Ad spend not included — treat it as a variable cost if relevant
Review the market, fee bases and exclusions shown with this tool. Published rates and illustrative cost inputs have different certainty. Compare your breakdown with an actual order statement. Sources and methodology.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate my break-even price?
Break-even price = (Variable cost + Shipping + Packaging + Fixed payment fee) / (1 − Platform fee rate − Payment fee rate). Example: a $8 product with $2 shipping, $0.50 packaging, a 6.5% platform fee, and a 3% + $0.30 payment fee: ($8 + $2 + $0.50 + $0.30) / (1 − 0.065 − 0.03) = $10.80 / 0.905 = $11.93. Sell above $11.93 to cover costs on that unit.
What's the difference between break-even price and break-even units?
Break-even price is the minimum price for a single sale to cover its own variable costs and fees, with zero profit. Break-even units is different: it's how many units you must sell at your chosen price to cover monthly fixed costs (subscriptions, ad retainers, tools) using the contribution margin each unit generates. You need both numbers — a low break-even price doesn't help if fixed costs require volume you can't hit.
What counts as a fixed cost vs a variable cost?
Fixed costs don't change with sales volume: Shopify's monthly plan, a paid app subscription, rent for a workshop. Variable costs scale per unit: product cost, shipping, packaging, and platform/payment fees (since fees are usually a percentage of the sale price). This calculator treats platform and payment fees as variable because they're rate-based, and everything else you enter as fixed costs is spread across your break-even unit count.
What's a common mistake when calculating break-even?
Leaving out the fixed portion of payment processing fees (e.g., Etsy's $0.25 or Shopify's $0.30 per transaction). On a $10 item, a flat $0.30 fee is 3% of revenue — easy to ignore, but across 500 orders it's $150 that many sellers forget to subtract when estimating their true break-even price.
Should ad spend be included in break-even calculations?
Not by default — this calculator's break-even price assumes organic (non-paid) sales. If you're running ads, treat cost-per-order from ad spend as an additional variable cost and add it to your inputs, or use the ROAS Calculator to find your break-even ROAS, which accounts for ad spend directly.
Does this work for Etsy, Shopify, eBay, or TikTok Shop?
Yes — enter your own platform fee rate and payment fee rate (or their combined equivalent) and the formula applies to any marketplace. Etsy is roughly 6.5% + 3%+$0.25, eBay is around 13.6% (fees included), Shopify Payments is 2.9%+$0.30, and TikTok Shop runs about 6% flat referral fee. Swap in your platform's actual rates for an accurate break-even number.