What is the contribution margin of an item on OTTO?
Last updated: 31 October 2026 · The MargenOptimierer app is in German. Button and menu names are shown exactly as you see them, with the English meaning in brackets.
Contribution margin is the amount in euros left of your revenue after all costs per sale.
VAT, OTTO commission, ad spend, refunds and your own costs for purchase price, shipping and other costs come off your revenue. For the whole account, MargenOptimierer also subtracts the OTTO base fee, a fixed monthly amount. MargenOptimierer doesn't subtract your company's fixed costs such as rent or staff.
Example: Contribution margin per 100 € of garden furniture
Say 16 € of VAT, 19 € of OTTO commission, 36 € of own costs and 16 € of ad spend come off 100 € of garden furniture revenue. That leaves 13 € of contribution margin.
If you divide the 13 € by the 100 € of revenue, you have your margin, here 13%.
Where you see the contribution margin
Where you see it
The Marge (margin) page shows it at the top in the Deckungsbeitrag (contribution margin) tile. If you add up all rows of the table on that page for the whole account, including „Ohne Artikel“ (without item), you get the same amount.
When costs are missing
If items are missing a purchase price or shipping costs, those items show, for example, „Einkauf fehlt“ (purchase price missing). The Deckungsbeitrag tile then shows „unvollständig“ (incomplete) next to its name, because those costs haven't been subtracted.
Next
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