Dropshipping unit economics calculator
See your gross profit, break-even ad spend, and true net profit per order — and find out instantly whether your current CPA is making or losing money.
Enter your price, supplier cost, shipping, fees, and what you spend on ads per sale. The calculator tells you your break-even CPA and whether your current ad spend is profitable.
Dropshipping unit economics calculator inputs and results
How this calculator works
Gross profit (before ads) is sale price minus supplier cost, shipping, and percentage-based fees. Break-even CPA is equal to gross profit — it's the most you can spend on ads per order while still covering all other costs. Net profit is gross profit minus actual ad spend. Net margin is net profit as a share of sale price.
The profitability status compares your entered CPA against the break-even CPA and flags whether you're currently making or losing money at that ad spend level. This is the single most important number to check before scaling a dropshipping campaign.
This calculator does not include Shopify's $39/month plan fee, payment processor flat fees ($0.30 per transaction), refunds, or chargebacks — all of which reduce net margin further at lower volumes.
About this tool
This calculator shows the per-order economics of a dropshipping business. Inputs: sale price, supplier cost (what you pay the supplier per unit), shipping cost absorbed per order, platform fee % (e.g. Shopify transaction fee), payment processing fee %, and ad spend cost per acquisition (CPA). Outputs: gross profit before ads, break-even CPA (the maximum you can spend on ads and still make money), net profit after ad spend, net margin %, and a profitability status that flags when your CPA exceeds the break-even point.
Frequently asked questions
What is break-even CPA?
Break-even CPA is the maximum amount you can spend acquiring a customer through ads and still make exactly zero profit on the order. If your gross profit before ads is $12, your break-even CPA is $12. Spend less than that on ads and you profit; spend more and you lose money on every order. Most dropshippers target a CPA well below break-even to leave room for refunds, chargebacks, and overhead.
What platform fee should I enter?
Enter your platform's transaction fee percentage. Shopify charges 0.5–2% if you don't use Shopify Payments, or 0% if you do. If you use Shopify Payments, the payment processing fee (next field) covers it. WooCommerce has no platform fee but you pay a payment processor. Enter 0 if your platform doesn't charge a separate transaction fee.
Should supplier cost include shipping?
No — enter the two separately. Supplier cost is what you pay per unit for the product itself. The shipping field is what it costs to get the product from your supplier to your customer, which in dropshipping is usually charged by the supplier on top of the product cost. Many AliExpress suppliers offer "free" shipping (ePacket or similar) — in that case enter 0 for shipping.
Why does my net profit go negative even though I have positive gross margin?
Ad spend per sale is the most common culprit. If your gross profit is $8 but you're paying $15 in ads to acquire each customer, you lose $7 on every order. The calculator flags this by comparing your CPA against the break-even figure. Other causes include underestimating shipping costs, not accounting for payment processing, or missing the platform transaction fee.