Pricing for the profit you actually want
Thinking in money per sale is often more useful than thinking in percentages. If each order takes you ten minutes to pack, you may want at least $6.00 per unit for your time and risk, whatever the product costs.
The catch is that percentage-based fees apply to the whole price, including your profit. To keep $6.00 after a 12% commission and 3% payment processing, you need about $7.06 of extra price, not $6.00. The calculator solves this exactly, including tax and minimum fees.
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
- Target profit
- $6.00
| List price | $27.42 |
| Customer pays (incl. tax) | $27.42 |
| Indirect tax collected for authorities VAT / GST / sales tax — not seller revenue | $0.00 |
| Net revenue | $27.42 |
| Marketplace commission Marketplace / referral · 12% of item price incl. tax (27.42) | −$3.29 |
| Payment processing Payment processing · 3% of order total incl. tax (27.42) | −$0.82 |
| 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 21.91% | $6.01 |
| Profit after allocated overhead | $6.01 |
| Margin | 21.91% |
| Markup on total cost | 28.05% |
Shipping you charge is part of the calculation
On many platforms the commission is charged on the item price plus the shipping you charge. If you add $4.99 of shipping to an order, part of it goes to fees. Enter your shipping charge so the target price is right. Our guide on calculating a target price with shipping and fees walks through it by hand.