Etsy Break-Even Calculator

Find out how many sales you need each month to cover your costs. Enter your fixed costs, price, and unit cost — we subtract Etsy's fees and show your break-even point instantly, right in your browser.

📖 How it works & FAQ

Monthly fixed costs ($) — materials batch, tools, ad spend

Item price ($)

Unit cost per item ($)

Shipping charged to buyer ($)

Your actual shipping cost ($)

Etsy transaction fee (%)

Payment processing (%)

Processing flat fee ($)

Listing fee per sale ($)

Offsite Ads fee

Why break-even matters on Etsy

Most sellers price by gut feel and hope the numbers work out. Break-even analysis flips that: it tells you exactly how many orders you need this month before you earn a single dollar of real profit. Your fixed costs — a batch of materials, new tools, monthly ad spend, subscriptions — get paid off by the per-item profit left after Etsy takes its cut. That cut is bigger than many sellers expect: a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee on the item price plus shipping, payment processing of roughly 3% plus $0.25, and another 12–15% when an order comes through Offsite Ads. This calculator stacks all of those fees, subtracts your unit and shipping costs, and divides your fixed costs by what is genuinely left over per sale.

How to use it

Enter your monthly fixed costs — everything you spend whether or not you sell, like materials batches, tools, and ads.
Enter the item price and the shipping you charge the buyer.
Enter your unit cost per item and what shipping actually costs you.
Adjust the fee fields if Etsy's rates have changed, and pick an Offsite Ads rate if it applies to your shop.
Read the results instantly: sales needed to break even, the revenue that represents, and your true profit per item.

Fee figures are approximate defaults you can edit — always check Etsy's current fee schedule, and treat results as estimates only, not financial advice.

FAQ

Why does it say I can never break even?: Your per-item profit is zero or negative: after fees and costs, each sale loses money. Raise the price, trim unit costs, or charge closer to your real shipping cost.
Should I count my time as a cost?: For an honest picture, yes. Add an hourly wage into your unit cost or your monthly fixed costs — many sellers run it both ways and compare.
Does the transaction fee really apply to shipping?: Yes. Etsy charges its transaction fee on the item price plus the shipping you charge the buyer, which is why free-shipping pricing changes your math.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?: No. Everything runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to a server or stored.