Discount Profit Calculator
Educational estimate only. All amounts are calculated locally in your browser.
A discount that looks small as a percentage can be large relative to your margin. This calculator shows profit per order before and after a discount, side by side.
Results
| No discount | With discount | |
|---|---|---|
| Profit per order | — | — |
| Net margin | — | — |
| Break-even ROAS | — | — |
Profit change from the discount: —
What these results mean
A discount reduces order revenue directly, but your costs — COGS, shipping, packaging, ad spend — mostly stay fixed per order. That's why a discount usually cuts profit by more than the discount percentage itself; the comparison above shows exactly how much more.
Worked example
With a $29.99 price, $10 cost of goods, $3 ad spend, a 5% return rate, and the advanced defaults ($4 seller shipping, $1 packaging, 2.9% payment fee, $0.30 fixed fee), a 20% discount drops profit per order from $10.57 to $4.75 — a change of -$5.82, even though the discount itself is only about $6.00 off the price. Fixed costs like the payment processing fee's percentage component shrink slightly too, but not enough to offset the lost revenue.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a 20% discount costs 20% of profit. Because fixed per-order costs don't shrink with the discount, the profit impact is almost always larger than the discount percentage.
- Running a discount without checking break-even ROAS. A discount that halves your margin also lowers your maximum CPA — an ad campaign that was profitable before the discount may not be after it.
- Comparing discount impact using gross revenue instead of profit per order. A discount can boost total revenue through volume while still shrinking total profit if per-order economics turn negative.
FAQ
- Does this account for the extra orders a discount might bring in?
- No — this calculator compares profit per single order, before and after the discount, holding volume constant. It answers "is this order still profitable," not "will total profit rise from more orders."
- Should I enter the discount as a percentage or a dollar amount?
- This page takes a percentage of the sale price. For a fixed dollar-amount discount, use the main profit calculator, which accepts a discount amount directly.