--- title: "Break-even discount calculator" description: "How many more buyers a discount has to bring to earn what full price earns, with the discount taken out of the order's margin after shipping, fees and refunds." url: https://offersuite.io/calculators/break-even-discount updated: 2026-10-13 --- # Break-even discount calculator A discount comes out of margin, not out of revenue. Fifteen percent off a product that keeps 38% of its price takes far more than fifteen percent of what the order earns, because the label, the pick and the unit cost stay the same. This prices the order at full price and at the discount, and gives the conversion lift the discount needs to earn the same per visitor. ## Result At 15.0% off the order keeps **$9.83** instead of $15.36. To earn the same per visitor, the discount has to bring **56.3% more buyers**. ### Full price Revenue $40.00 to contribution margin $15.36 (38.4%) Revenue $40.00 Cost of goods −$12.00 Pick and pack −$1.18 Packaging −$0.50 Shipping label −$7.50 Card fee per order −$0.30 Refunds −$2.00 Card processing −$1.16 Contribution margin $15.36 2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option ### 15.0% off Revenue $34.00 to contribution margin $9.83 (28.9%) Revenue $34.00 Cost of goods −$12.00 Pick and pack −$1.18 Packaging −$0.50 Shipping label −$7.50 Card fee per order −$0.30 Refunds −$1.70 Card processing −$0.99 Contribution margin $9.83 2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option Margin per order at full price and at $34.00 | Per order | Full price | 15.0% off | | --- | --- | --- | | Revenue | $40.00 | $34.00 | | Cost of goods | −$12.00 | −$12.00 | | Pick and pack | −$1.18 | −$1.18 | | Packaging | −$0.50 | −$0.50 | | Shipping label | −$7.50 | −$7.50 | | Card fee per order | −$0.30 | −$0.30 | | Refunds | −$2.00 | −$1.70 | | Card processing | −$1.16 | −$0.99 | | Contribution margin | $15.36 | $9.83 | | Margin % | 38.4% | 28.9% | **Profit per visitor at full price** $0.46 **At the discount, at the same conversion** $0.29 **Conversion lift to break even** +56.3% Other discounts on the same order | Discount | Price | Margin per order | Lift to break even | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 5.0% | $38.00 | $13.52 | +13.6% | | 10.0% | $36.00 | $11.68 | +31.5% | | 15.0% | $34.00 | $9.83 | +56.3% | | 20.0% | $32.00 | $7.99 | +92.2% | | 25.0% | $30.00 | $6.15 | +149.8% | | 30.0% | $28.00 | $4.31 | +256.4% | | 40.0% | $24.00 | $0.62 | +2377.4% | | 50.0% | $20.00 | −$3.06 | no lift is enough | Margin at 15.0% off $9.83. Lift to break even +56.3% ## Your numbers **The offer** Price before the discount $40.00 Discount 15% Product unit cost $12.00 Shipping charged $0.00 Conversion rate at full price 3.0% **Fulfilment and payment** Pick and pack, per order $1.18 Each extra item picked $0.20 Box and packing, per parcel $0.50 Shipping label, per parcel $7.50 Card processing rate 2.9% Card fee per order $0.30 Refund reserve 5% The share of revenue you expect to refund. [Reset to the example](https://offersuite.io/calculators/break-even-discount) ## How it's calculated - Discounted price = price × (1 − discount) - Margin per order = price + shipping charged − unit cost − pick and pack − packaging − label − card fees − refund reserve, at each price - Lift to break even = margin at full price ÷ margin at the discount − 1 - Profit per visitor = margin per order × conversion rate Every figure on this page comes from Offer Suite's own margin engine, the same code the product uses to forecast each offer's and option's profit and to compute realized margin on orders. Money is computed in whole cents. ## Worked example A bag of coffee sells at $40.00 and keeps $15.36 after its cost, fulfilment, the label, card fees and refunds. Take 15% off and it sells at $34.00. The bag, the pick and the label cost what they did, so the order now keeps **$9.83**: the discount took $5.53 of the $15.36. At 3.0% conversion the page earned $0.46 per visitor at full price and earns $0.29 at the discount. To get back to $0.46, the discount has to bring 56.3% more buyers. At 50.0% off the order keeps −$3.06, and no number of extra buyers makes that up. ## Assumptions - The discount changes the price and nothing else: the same product, parcel and costs. Card fees and the refund reserve fall a little with the price, which the figures include. - Every buyer pays the discounted price, including the ones who would have bought at full price. - The comparison is on the first order. A discount that brings buyers who come back is worth more than this shows; the subscription calculators follow later orders. - Pick and pack $1.18 per order and $0.20 for each extra item are the defaults of the engine's DTC-US profile, a typical third-party warehouse contract. Use your own contract. - The shipping label ($7.50) is an assumption for a domestic ground parcel of about a pound. Your carrier account or shipping app has your rate. - Card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 is Shopify Payments' online rate for a standard card on the Basic plan in the United States. The Shopify Payments fees pages list every plan and country; enter yours. - The refund reserve (5%) is a share of revenue set aside for refunds. Cost is not reduced by a refund, because the goods were already picked and shipped. ## Questions ### How do I calculate the break-even point of a discount? Work out what one order keeps at full price and at the discounted price, with every cost in. Divide the first by the second and subtract one: that is how many more orders the discount has to bring for the same profit. ### Why does a small discount need such a large lift? Because the discount is taken from the part of the price you keep. With the defaults on this page a $40.00 order keeps $15.36; 15% off removes $6.00 of price and leaves $9.83, so the discount needs 56% more buyers to earn the same. ### Is the usual formula, discount ÷ (margin − discount), wrong? It is right for the margin it is given, and it is usually given gross margin. Shipping, pick and pack and the card's fixed fee do not shrink with the price, so the margin that matters is the contribution margin per order. Using gross margin understates the lift. ### What discount can never pay for itself? One that leaves the order keeping nothing. No number of extra buyers earns back a loss on each of them, and the table marks those discounts. ## Embed this calculator Paste this where you want the calculator. It opens on the numbers above, recalculates as your readers change them, and links back to this page. **Show the embed code** ``` ``` ## See what your own offers earn. Offer Suite opens to Shopify brands a few at a time. Join the waitlist, or ask for a free profit audit of your past orders: realized profit per item and per offer option, what each costs you, and where margin leaks. [Join the waitlist](https://offersuite.io/waitlist) [Request a free profit audit](https://offersuite.io/profit-audit) ## Related - [Calculators **Profit calculators for Shopify offers** Calculators for contribution margin per order, break-even discounts, average order value, shipping by weight and zone, card fees, Amazon and TikTok Shop fees, break-even ROAS and CPA, upsell funnels, gifts, subscriptions, bundles and free-shipping thresholds, each run on Offer Suite's margin engine.](https://offersuite.io/calculators) - [Feature **Offer experiments judged on profit per visitor** Test a live offer against up to three verified challengers on realized profit per visitor, with always-valid statistics and a daily real-cart guardrail.](https://offersuite.io/features/experiments) - [Feature **Forecast and realized profit per offer option** Forecast and realized profit per offer, option, version, item and traffic source from one margin engine in whole cents, with ad spend, realized CAC and subscription LTV.](https://offersuite.io/features/profit) - [Glossary **Break-even conversion lift: definition and formula** How much more an offer has to convert to earn, per visitor, what another offer earns: the gap a cheaper offer, a gift or a discount must close.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/break-even-conversion-lift) - [Calculator **Contribution margin per order calculator** What one order keeps after product cost, pick and pack, packaging, the label, card fees and a refund reserve, as an amount, a share of revenue and the ROAS your ads break even at.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/contribution-margin-per-order) - [Calculator **Gift with purchase profit calculator** What a free gift costs per order, after its unit cost, its extra pick and its handling, and how much conversion it has to add to pay for itself.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/gift-with-purchase-profit)