Break-Even Price Calculator for Sellers

The break-even price is your floor: the lowest price at which a sale does not lose money once every cost and fee is paid. Enter your costs and fees to find it, together with a safer minimum price and a target price.

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Add the product purchase or manufacturing cost.

Estimates only, based on the numbers you enter. Not tax or accounting advice.

Why the break-even price is higher than your costs

If a product costs you $12.00 to buy and $4.50 to ship, it is natural to think that anything above $16.50 is profit. But marketplace commissions and payment processing are charged as a percentage of the price, so they rise as the price rises. The true break-even price is the point where the price minus the percentage fees covers the fixed costs.

The formula is: break-even price = fixed costs per unit ÷ (1 − percentage charges). With 12% commission and 3% payment processing, the percentage charges are 15%, so the fixed costs are divided by 0.85. Add tax, minimum fees or shipping charged to the buyer and the arithmetic gets fiddly, which is what the calculator is for.

Example: costs of $17.30 break even at $20.36

Illustrative inputs, not a quote from any platform. Calculated with the same engine as the calculator above.

Product cost: $12.00
Packaging: $0.80
Shipping paid: $4.50
Marketplace commission: 12% of price
Payment processing: 3% of order

List price	$20.36
Customer pays (incl. tax)	$20.36
Indirect tax collected for authorities VAT / GST / sales tax — not seller revenue	$0.00
Net revenue	$20.36
Marketplace commission Marketplace / referral · 12% of item price incl. tax (20.36)	−$2.44
Payment processing Payment processing · 3% of order total incl. tax (20.36)	−$0.61
Product cost 12.00 USD per unit	−$12.00
Packaging 0.80 USD per unit	−$0.80
Outbound shipping 4.50 USD per unit	−$4.50
Contribution profit Contribution margin 0.03%	$0.01
Profit after allocated overhead	$0.01
Margin	0.03%
Markup on total cost	0.03%

With a 10% minimum margin the lowest acceptable price becomes $23.07.

Using your break-even price

Know it before you run a promotion: a 20% coupon on a product priced only 15% above break-even sells at a loss. Recheck it whenever a supplier, carrier or platform changes its prices. If you sell on several platforms, each one has its own break-even price because the fees differ. Try the Amazon, Etsy or eBay versions.

Frequently asked questions

What is a break-even price?

The break-even price is the selling price at which revenue after fees exactly covers all your costs for one unit, so profit is zero. Sell above it and you make money on each unit; sell below it and you lose money on each unit.

How do you calculate break-even price with percentage fees?

Add up the costs that do not depend on price (product, packaging, shipping, fixed fees). Then divide by one minus the total of percentage-based charges (commission, payment processing, advertising). For example, with 18% of percentage charges, divide fixed costs by 0.82. The calculator also handles tax, minimum fees and shipping charged to the buyer.

Is break-even the same as my minimum price?

Not quite. Break-even leaves no profit at all. Most sellers set a minimum acceptable price somewhat above it, so discounts and unexpected costs do not push them into a loss. Set your minimum margin in the calculator to see both.

Why can a break-even price be impossible?

If your percentage-based charges add up to 100% or more of the price, no price can cover the fixed costs, because every extra dollar of price is consumed by fees. The calculator tells you when this happens so you can cut a percentage cost such as advertising.