Start with landed unit cost
Use the all-in per-unit planning cost, not only the factory quote. Freight, duty, inspection, packaging, and expected quality loss can change the answer.
Quick Answer
What does this calculator do?
A product break-even calculator estimates how many units must sell before contribution covers fixed launch and operating costs. Enter landed unit cost, selling price, platform and payment fees, fulfillment, advertising, return reserve, fixed costs, and a target profit. The result shows contribution per unit, contribution margin, break-even quantity, revenue, and target-profit volume.
Core formulaFixed cost divided by unit contribution
Channel costsFees, fulfillment, advertising, returns
Best usedBefore MOQ approval or purchase deposit
Important limitNot a cash-flow or demand forecast
Interactive Workspace
Method reviewed 2026-07-16Build a transparent planning scenario
Your inputs are saved only in this browser for convenience. Every output is directional and should be replaced with current project evidence.
Methodology
How to use the import product break-even calculator
The calculator is deliberately transparent: it organizes buyer inputs, shows the resulting logic, and identifies where professional confirmation is still required.
Add variable selling costs
Include channel fees, payment fees, fulfillment, advertising, and a reasonable returns or refunds reserve for the intended sales channel.
Separate fixed costs
Tooling, design, photography, certification, setup, and launch expenses belong in the fixed-cost layer when they do not change with each sale.
Run downside cases
Test lower selling price, higher landed cost, and higher return or advertising cost. The useful result is the range, not one optimistic point estimate.
Interpretation
How to read the result
Use the output to compare scenarios and prepare better questions, not to turn uncertain assumptions into false precision.
Contribution is not gross revenue
Contribution per unit is what remains after modeled variable costs. That remainder covers fixed costs first and only then contributes to profit.
MOQ can exceed break-even
A supplier MOQ may be larger or smaller than the break-even quantity. Compare both numbers with realistic sell-through timing and working-capital capacity.
Margin can hide cash pressure
A positive contribution margin still needs a separate cash-flow schedule for deposits, inventory, freight, duties, and channel payout delays.
Evidence Checklist
Improve the inputs before making a decision
Stronger inputs make the tool more useful. Replace placeholders with dated documents, comparable quotations, test results, and provider confirmations.
Use a channel-specific fee stack
Amazon, TikTok Shop, Shopify, wholesale, and retail each have different fees and fulfillment economics. Use the costs for the channel where the product will actually sell.
Reserve for returns and markdowns
A percentage reserve is a planning shortcut. Mature products should replace it with observed return, refund, discount, storage, and disposal data.
Link break-even to purchase quantity
Compare target-profit volume with MOQ, carton quantity, forecast period, and reorder lead time. A profitable unit can still create excess inventory.
Sources and Boundaries
Method references and related guidance
These references explain the framework behind the inputs. Destination rules and current project evidence remain authoritative for the actual order.
Open to Transparent Buyer Feedback
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Frequently Asked Questions
Import Product Break-Even Calculator questions
Concise answers to the questions buyers should settle before relying on a planning result.
It is the sales quantity at which total unit contribution equals entered fixed costs. At that point the model has covered those costs but has not yet produced the target profit.
Use landed unit cost. Factory price alone excludes freight, duty, import charges, inspection, packaging, and other costs that can materially change contribution.
Include percentage marketplace or payment fees, per-unit fulfillment, advertising, and a returns or refunds reserve. Add storage or other per-unit costs when they are material.
The product cannot reach break-even under the entered assumptions because each sale loses money before fixed costs. Change price, cost, channel expense, or product strategy before ordering.
No. It is the volume required under the cost model. It does not show whether the market will buy that quantity or how quickly sales will occur.
Update it when supplier price, packaging, freight, duty, exchange rate, platform fees, advertising cost, return behavior, or selling price changes.
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Open Tool📅Timeline
Open the dedicated timeline workspace with its own inputs, method, result explanation, and verification guidance.
Open Tool
Need China-side evidence?
Ask LIFA to review the assumptions behind the result.
Send the product specification, supplier quote, destination, and the questions the calculator revealed.
