Ecommerce Profit Margin Calcualtor - The Ultimate Guide Inc Free Google Sheet

If you're running an ecommerce business and you don’t know your true profit per order… you're flying blind.

Margins aren't just about how much you charge vs. what you pay your supplier. With shipping fees, transaction charges, advertising costs, and even refunds eating away at your bottom line — getting an accurate picture of your profit is essential.

That’s why we built a free, comprehensive Google Sheets calculator to help you:

• Calculate your true cost of goods sold (COGS)

• Understand your total cost per order

• Model net profit and margin under real-world conditions

• Forecast breakeven points and scenario test price changes

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to use the calculator, step-by-step, and explain the reasoning behind each element — so you can finally master your unit economics.

🧾 Part 1: Understanding Your True COGS

Let’s start with the foundation of every good margin calculation: your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).

Most merchants think of COGS as “what my supplier charges me.” But in reality, your true COGS should include:

How to Use the COGS Calculator Tab

Here's a breakdown of what you'll need to input:

🎯 Shipment Inputs

• Supplier Unit Cost: What your manufacturer charges per unit (in original currency)

• Shipment Quantity: Number of units in the batch

• Freight Cost: Total shipping cost (air or sea)

• Freight Insurance: Optional but recommended if you insure shipments

• Import Duty %: Based on your product’s HS code and import country

• FX Rate: Convert from your supplier's currency into your local one (e.g., CNY → GBP)

📦 Packaging & Warehousing

• Packaging Cost Per Unit: Boxes, inserts, bubble wrap — it all adds up

• Warehouse Receiving Fee: What your 3PL charges per unit to scan/receive stock

🔍 Adjust for Loss

• Loss Rate %: Account for shrinkage, damaged goods, or units lost in transit (common: 1–3%)

✅ Outputs You'll Get

Once you fill this in, the calculator gives you:

• FX-Adjusted Unit Cost

• Freight & insurance per unit

• Duties per unit

• Brokerage fees per unit

• Final landed cost per unit

• COGS adjusted for loss rate

This is your real per-unit cost — and it’s probably higher than you thought.

💰 Part 2: Calculating Profit Per Order

Now that you have your COGS, it’s time to move over to the Profit Calculator tab.

This is where you plug in your operational and marketing costs, and find out exactly what you’re making (or losing) per order.

🔧 Inputs You’ll Need

🛍️ Revenue Side

• Selling Price: What the customer pays you (tax exclusive)

• Discount Rate %: If you often run promos, this is crucial

💸 Platform & Fulfillment Costs

• Transaction Fee %: What Stripe, Shopify, or PayPal charge

• Flat Platform Fee: Often $0.30 per order

• Shipping Cost: What you pay to send it to the customer

• Affiliate / Influencer Payout: Per-order commission or fee

🎯 Marketing Costs (CAC)

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC):
  If you're unsure, use this formula:

CAC = Ad Spend / New Customers Acquired

Example: You spent £3,000 and got 120 customers.
Your CAC = £25

Try averaging this over 30 or 90 days to reduce volatility.

Refunds & Support

• Refund Rate %: What % of orders typically get refunded (include both full & partial)

• Avg. Support Time per Order: Minutes per customer interaction

• Support Staff Cost (per hour): Use your hourly support wage or contractor rate

📈 What You'll Get

Once you enter the above, the calculator automatically generates:

🔁 Bonus: Adjust and Forecast

Want to know what happens if your CAC drops? Or if you increase your price by £3?

Just tweak your inputs — and the sheet updates instantly.

You can also build scenario models by duplicating columns or rows and comparing:

🧠 Why This Matters

When you know your real per-order profit, you can:

• Price your products with confidence

• Understand if you’re scaling a profitable business

• Negotiate better supplier or shipping terms

• Plan inventory based on profit, not just revenue

• Optimize your CAC targets for paid ads

🎁 Grab the Free Calculator Template

You can copy the full Ecommerce COGS + Profit Calculator here:
👉 (Insert Google Sheet link here once available)

It’s 100% editable and includes:

• A tab for COGS

• A tab for profit breakdown

• Prebuilt formulas

• Tooltips and notes in every cell

🚀 Final Thoughts

Profit margin isn’t something you calculate once — it’s a living, breathing number that should guide every pricing, marketing, and supply chain decision.

This calculator makes it easy to stay on top of it — whether you’re just starting out or doing 7-figures per year.