Before spending on a product idea, estimate how much each sale contributes towards your startup costs.
Enter your details to see a result.
How the tool works
Contribution per sale = selling price − variable costs − (selling price × selling fee/100). Divide fixed startup costs by a positive contribution and round up to whole sales.
Worked example
With 200 fixed costs, a selling price of 20, variable costs of 8 and a 10% selling fee, each sale contributes 10. You need 20 sales to cover the entered fixed costs.
Assumptions and limits
This simple scenario holds prices and costs constant. If contribution is zero or negative, extra sales do not cover your fixed costs under these assumptions.
Frequently asked questions
What is a variable cost?
A cost that changes with the number of items sold, such as materials or per-order packaging.
Why are sales rounded up?
A fraction of a whole sale cannot cover the remaining amount in this simple model.