Dropshipping
Dropshipping Break-Even Calculator
Work out the monthly order count that covers your fixed costs once product, shipping, payment fees and ad spend per order are paid — and the price you would need at a given order volume.
Break-even is a floor, not a target: at exactly break-even you have covered costs but kept nothing. Price and volume both move it, so test a lower ad spend and a higher price before you accept a high break-even count.
Formula
Contribution per order = selling price − supplier product cost − shipping cost − payment fee − ad spend per order, where payment fee = (payment fee rate × selling price) + fixed fee. Break-even orders per month = monthly fixed costs ÷ contribution per order, rounded up to a whole order. Break-even price at a given volume = (product cost + shipping + fixed payment fee + ad spend + monthly fixed costs ÷ volume) ÷ (1 − payment fee rate).
How it works
Enter your selling price, the per-order costs (supplier product, shipping, payment fee and ad spend per order — your advertising cost divided by orders, often called customer acquisition cost), your monthly fixed costs such as store and app subscriptions, and the order volume you expect. The calculator shows both the order count that covers fixed costs and the price that would break even at your expected volume. All costs are inputs from your own bills; dropshipping has no single fixed platform fee to hard-code here.
Worked example
Selling price $39.99, product $12.00, shipping $5.00, payment fee 2.9% plus $0.30, ad spend $8.00 per order, monthly fixed costs $300. Payment fee = 2.9% of $39.99 = $1.16, plus $0.30 = $1.46. Contribution = $39.99 − $12.00 − $5.00 − $1.46 − $8.00 = $13.53. Break-even orders = $300 ÷ $13.53 = 22.17, so 23 orders a month. At 50 orders a month, the break-even price = ($12.00 + $5.00 + $0.30 + $8.00 + $300 ÷ 50) ÷ (1 − 0.029) = $31.30 ÷ 0.971 = $32.23.
FAQs
How is ad spend per order worked out?
Divide your total ad spend for a period by the number of orders in that same period. If you spent $400 and got 50 orders, ad spend per order is $8.00.
What counts as a monthly fixed cost here?
Costs that do not change with each order: store plan, apps, and any fixed monthly tool. Per-order costs such as product, shipping and payment fees go in their own fields, not here.
Why is the break-even order count rounded up?
You cannot sell a fraction of an order. At 22.17 orders you are still short of covering fixed costs, so the first whole count that covers them is 23.
How is this different from the generic Break-Even Calculator?
This version is built for dropshipping: ad spend per order is a core input throughout, and product cost means the supplier price plus shipping you pay, not stock you hold.
What if contribution per order is zero or negative?
Then no volume fixes the problem — every extra order loses money or adds nothing. Raise the price, find a cheaper supplier, or cut ad spend per order before chasing more orders.
Stand: October 2026. Pure arithmetic — no platform rate is used; enter your own figures.
Sources: This calculator uses no published platform fee — every cost is an input from your own supplier invoices, ad account and payment statements. For the margin side of the same numbers, see the Dropshipping Margin Calculator.
Disclaimer: Results are estimates and general information only, not financial advice. Dropshipping has no single fixed platform fee, so every cost on this page is one you enter from your own supplier invoices, shipping bills and payment statements — check those documents before you set a price.
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Dropshipping Margin Calculator
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Know your break-even before you spend on ads
Find the order count that covers your costs, then advertise with a number in mind.