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10/9/2026

Break-even point for a product on a marketplace: how to find the minimum selling price

The minimum selling price on a marketplace is the price at which all product costs are fully covered and profit equals zero. There is gross revenue, but no earnings — the seller breaks exactly even. Any price below this threshold means a guaranteed loss on every unit sold.

For sellers on Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex Market this threshold is especially critical: in addition to the purchase cost, you need to account for the marketplace commission, logistics fee, storage, advertising, taxes, packaging and other expenses that "eat up" the margin.

What is a product's break-even point on a marketplace

A product's break-even point on a marketplace is the minimum price at which the sale of a specific SKU no longer generates a loss. Anything below is unprofitable, anything above starts generating profit.

In the classic business approach, the break-even point is often calculated in units: how much you need to sell to cover the company's fixed expenses. For a single product on a marketplace, it is more convenient to look not at sales volume but at price — what minimum unit price is acceptable to avoid going into the red.

Example. A product sells for 1,500 ₽. From this amount the following are deducted:

    cost price;

    marketplace commission;

    logistics fee;

    advertising;

    other expenses.

After all deductions, the seller is left with 250 ₽ of profit per sale. If the price is lowered to 1,200 ₽ for a promotion or campaign, the cost structure may change so that the product goes into the red, even though turnover and the number of orders grow. That is why relying only on gross revenue or the number of orders is dangerous — you need a benchmark in the form of a break-even point.

How to calculate the minimum selling price

The minimum selling price is calculated so that the sum of all product costs equals the gross revenue from its sale. In its simplest form it can be written as:

Minimum price = cost price + all costs of selling a unit of the product

But on marketplaces some expenses are tied to the product price as a percentage — most often the marketplace commission and taxes. Their amount rises or falls with the price, so simply adding up all expenses will not work.

If you separate expenses that:

    do not depend on price (fixed per unit),

    depend on price as a percentage (percentage-based),

it is convenient to use the formula:

Minimum price = fixed expenses per unit / (1 − share of percentage-based expenses)

Where:

    fixed expenses include:

      cost price;

      packaging;

      logistics fee (if it is fixed per unit);

      storage (if the rate can be attributed to one sale);

      other fixed costs that must be borne regardless of the price tag;

    the share of percentage-based expenses is the sum of all percentages charged on the price:

      marketplace commission;

      tax (for example, 6% under the simplified tax system "income");

      possible other fees tied to gross revenue.

This approach allows you to find a price at which percentage-based expenses are automatically accounted for and do not "shift" the calculation when the price changes.

Example of calculating the minimum price

Initial data:

    product cost price — 600 ₽;

    logistics fee and other fixed selling expenses — 200 ₽;

    marketplace commission — 20%;

    tax — 6%.

Then:

    fixed expenses per unit = 600 + 200 = 800 ₽;

    total percentage-based expenses = 20% + 6% = 26% = 0.26.

Substitute into the formula:

Minimum price = 800 / (1 − 0.26) = 800 / 0.74 ≈ 1,081 ₽

Conclusion: at a price of about 1,081 ₽ the product sells roughly at break-even. If all conditions remain the same, any price below this mark turns every sale into a loss.

What expenses to account for when calculating the break-even point

To correctly calculate the break-even point, it is not enough to add up the purchase cost and the marketplace commission. You need to include all significant costs associated with selling the product.

The calculation usually includes:

    cost price (purchase or production of the product);

    marketplace commission;

    logistics fee:

      delivery to the marketplace warehouse;

      delivery to the customer (if it falls on the seller);

    storage at the marketplace warehouse;

    processing and write-off of returns;

    advertising and promotion (on the platform and external, if it can be attributed to the SKU);

    packaging and consumables;

    taxes (for example, 6% under the simplified tax system "income");

    other expenses that can be directly or indirectly attributed to a specific product.

The set of costs differs:

    between marketplaces (Wildberries, Ozon, Yandex Market);

    between operating models (FBO, FBS, etc.);

    across different SKUs within a single account.

Therefore:

    you cannot calculate a single minimum price "for the whole store";

    you cannot use a single fixed markup percentage for any product and consider it safe.

The correct approach is a separate break-even calculation for each SKU and for each platform where it is sold.

Why a seller needs to know the minimum product price

Knowing the break-even point shows how much you can lower the price without turning sales into a loss. This is a key benchmark for pricing, participating in promotions and managing advertising.

In practice, this is needed for:

    setting the minimum acceptable product price;

    planning promotions and discounts;

    assessing the consequences of changing ad budgets;

    reacting to rising commissions and logistics tariffs;

    comparing the real profitability of different SKUs;

    calculating the maximum possible discount without going into the red.

Example. The marketplace offers to take part in a promotion and lower the price from 1,500 to 1,250 ₽.

    If the product's break-even point is 1,050 ₽, the seller has a buffer of 200 ₽, and participating in the promotion may be justified.

    If the break-even point is 1,280 ₽, a price of 1,250 ₽ automatically makes every sale unprofitable, even if the product "takes off" in terms of turnover.

Such an analysis allows decisions to be made not by the size of the discount in rubles or percentages, but by its impact on profit.

How the break-even point differs from margin

The break-even point and margin describe different things:

    The break-even point is the price threshold below which the product starts generating a loss.

    Margin is the share of profit in gross revenue (what percentage of the price remains after all expenses).

A product may sell above the break-even point but have such a weak margin that any change in conditions makes it unprofitable.

Example. The break-even point for a SKU is 1,100 ₽. The actual selling price is 1,120 ₽.

    Formally, the sale is profitable.

    But the buffer is only 20 ₽ — this is an extremely low margin and no "safety cushion".

In such a situation:

    any increase in the logistics fee;

    a rise in ad bids;

    a change in commissions

can instantly turn a profitable product into an unprofitable one.

The seller's task is not just to stay slightly above the break-even point, but to build a comfortable buffer for achieving target profit and resilience to changes in expenses.

How to monitor product profitability with Torgstat

With a large assortment and working on several platforms at once, it is practically impossible to manually track the economics of each SKU. Commissions and tariffs are revised, products are enrolled in promotions, and advertising and logistics expenses change from month to month.

The Torgstat service allows you to:

    collect the economics of products from Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex Market in a single interface;

    analyze key metrics for each SKU:

      gross revenue;

      cost price;

      commissions and other expenses;

      gross and net profit;

      margin.

This makes it possible to:

    quickly find products whose profit is "melting away";

    assess how profitability will change if the price is lowered or raised;

    look at each SKU not only through the lens of turnover, but also through real financial return.

As a result, the seller can make informed decisions about where it is safe to lower prices and increase discounts, and which products have already come right up to their break-even point.

What to do if the price has approached the break-even point

If the current price has almost matched the break-even point, this is a signal to review the product's economics. Raising the price is not the only option — first, it is worth looking for ways to reduce expenses.

What you can check:

    the cost price of purchase or production: supply terms, volume discounts, replacing the supplier;

    ad campaigns: disabling ineffective platforms and ads, optimizing bids;

    logistics fee: the shipping scheme, tariffs, delivery method;

    storage cost: optimizing remaining stock, redistributing inventory between warehouses;

    participation in promotions: opting out of promos that "eat up" the entire margin;

    packaging and related materials expenses.

Sometimes a SKU remains unprofitable not because the price is too low, but because of overly expensive promotion or suboptimal logistics.

If expenses cannot be cut and the economics cannot be improved, the seller has two options:

    raise the price and watch the demand response;

    discontinue the product or reduce its priority in the assortment.

FAQ

What is the minimum product price on a marketplace?
It is the price at which the gross revenue from the sale fully covers the cost price and all costs associated with the sale, and profit equals zero.

Can the minimum price be calculated as cost price plus the marketplace commission?
No, because in addition to the commission there are logistics, storage, advertising, taxes, packaging and other costs that also need to be accounted for.

Should the break-even point be calculated for each product separately?
Yes, since cost price, commissions, logistics, advertising and other expenses differ by SKU, there can be no single minimum price or identical markup for the entire assortment.

How do I know whether I can take part in a marketplace promotion with the offered discount?
You need to compare the product price after the discount with its break-even point: if the promotional price is below it, the sale will be unprofitable under the current expenses.

How often should the minimum product price be recalculated?
Every time there is a noticeable change in cost price, commissions, logistics, storage, tax burden, and before significant promotions or price changes.

Where is it convenient to monitor product profitability on marketplaces?
You can collect data manually in the platforms' seller dashboards or use an analytics service. In Torgstat, metrics for Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex Market are available in a single interface.