Calculator · Profit per item
Calculate profit and contribution margin per item on OTTO
Enter price and costs and choose the commission group. You see right away what's left after OTTO commission, ads and returns.
| Revenue including VAT | 249.00 € |
| VAT | −39.76 € |
| Commission on the price | −37.35 € |
| Purchase price | −95.00 € |
| Your shipping | −39.00 € |
| Ads | −24.90 € |
| Returns, spread per sale | −2.25 € |
| Profit per item (contribution margin) | 10.74 € |
Excludes the OTTO base fee, which is charged per account, not per item. As a business, you get the VAT on the commission back.
This calculation for all your items, every night, with your real OTTO numbers. That's MargenOptimierer. MargenOptimierer costs from 49 € net per month. You can test the first 14 days for free, no credit card needed.
Calculating contribution margin: the formula
Contribution margin is revenue excluding VAT minus variable costs. Variable costs arise with every single sale: purchase price, shipping, commission, ads and returns. What's left contributes to fixed costs, meaning costs that are the same every month whether you sell one item or a hundred, such as rent, software or a marketplace's base fee.
Contribution margin=revenue−variable costs
Contribution margin per unit=price−variable costs per unit
Profit=sum of all contribution margins−fixed costs
Break-even point=fixed costs÷contribution margin per unit
The break-even point is the number of sales from which the contribution margins cover the fixed costs. Only each sale beyond that is profit. If you deduct fixed costs in stages, first those of an item, then those of a product group, the interim results are called contribution margin I, II and so on. A seller works mainly with the contribution margin per item.
On a marketplace, a sale carries more variable costs than in your own store. Here's how to calculate it per item:
| Revenue including VAT |
| −VAT |
| −Commission |
| −Purchase price |
| −Shipping |
| −Ad spend |
| −Return costs per sale |
| =Contribution margin |
Margin=contribution margin÷revenue including VAT
Margin is the contribution margin as a percentage of revenue including VAT. MargenOptimierer calculates it this way too, because OTTO also calculates ACoS on the price including VAT, so you can compare the two directly.
Example: a piece of furniture at 249.00 €
Say you sell a piece of furniture for 249.00 € including VAT, with the values the calculator shows when it opens.
| Selling price including VAT | 249.00 € |
| VAT | −39.76 € |
| OTTO commission for furniture, in two price bands | −46.32 € |
| Purchase price | −95.00 € |
| Freight | −39.00 € |
| Ad spend (10% ACoS) | −24.90 € |
| Returns (5% × 45.00 €) | −2.25 € |
| Contribution margin | 1.77 € |
Margin=1.77 €÷249.00 €=0.7%
The OTTO base fee of 99.90 € per month excluding VAT is part of your account's fixed costs. With this contribution margin you cover it like this:
Break-even point=99.90 €÷1.77 €=57 sales per month
How OTTO calculates the commission
OTTO calculates the OTTO commission on the selling price including VAT. The rate depends on your item's commission group and is between 7% and 22%. Some groups have a separate rate per price band, furniture for example. The calculator works this out for every group.
On the shipping costs your customer pays, OTTO takes 16%, whichever commission group applies. On top of that comes the OTTO base fee of 99.90 € per month per account.
Read more
- How do I calculate my profit per item on OTTO?
- OTTO fees: what does selling on OTTO cost?
- All commission groups and rates in one table
- Calculate retail margin: calculator with formula and markup
- ROAS calculator: calculate break-even ROAS and ACoS for OTTO
- Calculate return costs: what a return costs you on OTTO