---
title: "Sample-to-subscription offers for coffee brands"
description: "A half-size sample shipped free, then a subscription, for coffee brands on sourced costs: what each sample loses, and the share of samplers who have to subscribe to pay for it."
url: https://offersuite.io/playbooks/sample-to-subscription-for-coffee-brands
updated: 2026-10-13
---

# Sample-to-subscription offers for coffee brands

A half-size sample shipped free, then a subscription, for coffee brands on sourced costs: what each sample loses, and the share of samplers who have to subscribe to pay for it.

### Sample, shipped free

Revenue $10.00 to contribution margin −$9.58 (−95.8%)

Revenue

$10.00

Cost of goods

−$6.00

Pick and pack

−$3.20

Shipping label

−$9.29

Card fee per order

−$0.30

Refunds

−$0.50

Card processing

−$0.29

Contribution margin

−$9.58

2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option

### Sample, shipping charged

Revenue $19.29 to contribution margin −$1.02 (−5.3%)

Revenue

$19.29

Cost of goods

−$6.00

Pick and pack

−$3.20

Shipping label

−$9.29

Card fee per order

−$0.30

Refunds

−$0.96

Card processing

−$0.56

Contribution margin

−$1.02

2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option

The sample order, shipped free and with shipping charged

| Option | Customer pays | Shipping charged | Costs | Margin | Margin % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Sample, shipped free | $10.00 | $0.00 | $19.58 | −$9.58 | -95.8% |
| Sample, shipping charged | $10.00 | $9.29 | $20.31 | −$1.02 | -5.3% |

The subscription a sampler moves to, per order

| Option | Customer pays | Shipping charged | Costs | Margin | Margin % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| First subscription order | $32.00 | $0.00 | $31.80 | $0.20 | 0.6% |
| Renewal | $36.00 | $0.00 | $27.63 | $8.37 | 23.3% |

The share of samplers who have to subscribe, at three retention rates

| Subscribers who take the next order | Profit per subscriber over 12 orders | Samplers who have to subscribe |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 50.0% take the next order | $8.57 | no share is enough |
| 70.0% take the next order | $19.34 | 49.5% |
| 85.0% take the next order | $39.69 | 24.1% |

Every figure is computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from the costs below.

## What the numbers say

The sample is a half-size bag of coffee at $10.00, a quarter of the full price, shipped free. Its unit cost is $6.00, and the order pays the same pick and pack and a $9.29 label, so each sample loses $9.58.

A sampler who subscribes takes the subscription as its own playbook prices it: the first order keeps $0.20 and each renewal keeps $8.37. If 70.0% take each next order, that subscriber earns $19.34 over twelve orders. So 49.5% of samplers have to subscribe for the samples to pay for themselves.

Charging the $9.29 label on the sample changes that order to one that loses $1.02, and fewer visitors will take it. The half size and the quarter price are this page's terms, not sourced figures: a sample that costs less to make or to ship needs a smaller share.

## The cost structure, and where it comes from

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Price | $40.00, a bag of coffee. Offer Suite's dev store catalog |
| Unit cost | $12.00. “Single Bag: price 40.00, unit cost 12.0 · mug gift: unit cost 4.0, compare-at 18.00” Offer Suite's dev store catalog |
| Pick and pack | $3.20 per order and $0.48 for each extra item. [Fulfill.com, 3PL pricing benchmarks (The Fulfillment Advisor 2025 survey of 600+ warehouses), read 23 September 2026](https://www.fulfill.com/3pl-pricing) |
| Shipping label | USPS Ground Advantage, commercial, Zone 5, by weight rounded up to the pound: 1 lb $9.29 · 2 lb $10.50 · 3 lb $12.12 · 4 lb $13.89 · 5 lb $14.53. Packed weight is an assumption: 0.8 lb per unit. [USPS Notice 123, USPS Ground Advantage Commercial, Zone 5 (effective 4 October 2026), read 13 October 2026](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm) |
| Card fees | 2.9% + $0.30 per order: Shopify Payments' online rate for a standard card on the Basic plan in the United States. Higher plans pay a lower rate, and premium cards a higher one. [Shopify's pricing page for the United States, online standard card rates, read 12 October 2026](https://www.shopify.com/pricing) [Rates by plan and country](https://offersuite.io/fees/shopify-payments/united-states) |
| Refund reserve | 5%, Offer Suite's default assumption for consumables. NRF's all-category figure for online sales is 19.3%, but consumables are rarely returned; use your own rate. |
| Gift | A mug: unit cost $4.00, retail $18.00. The dev store's mug gift: unit cost $4.00, compare-at $18.00. |

## The offer, as an agent writes it

An agent writes this offer as one document for Offer Suite's API, validated against the offer schema. Below is one option of it: what the buyer gets and the price it promises. Offer Suite checks with a real cart that checkout charges exactly the prices above.

**Show one option 2 options · excerpt**

```
{
  "key": "sample",
  "display": {
    "title": "Sample"
  },
  "lines": [
    {
      "role": "main",
      "quantity": 1,
      "purchase": {
        "type": "one_time"
      }
    }
  ],
  "pricing": {
    "promise": {
      "firstChargeCents": 1000,
      "renewalChargeCents": null
    }
  }
}
```

How Offer Suite validates, versions and publishes a document like this one: [offer documents](https://offersuite.io/features/offer-documents).

## Questions

### Is a sample-to-subscription offer profitable for coffee brands?

On these costs each half-size sample at $10.00, shipped free, loses $9.58, and a subscriber earns $19.34 over twelve orders at 70.0% retention. The offer is profitable when enough samplers subscribe to cover every sample sent.

### How many samplers have to subscribe for coffee brands?

At 50.0% retention, no share is enough. At 70.0% retention, 49.5%. At 85.0% retention, 24.1%.

## 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

- [Playbooks **Offer playbooks by vertical** Bundles, subscriptions, samples, gifts, free shipping and quantity breaks for coffee, supplement, beauty, pet, apparel, fashion, footwear, jewelry, household, home goods and outdoor gear brands, on sourced costs.](https://offersuite.io/playbooks)
- [Feature **Offer documents: one validated document per offer** An offer is one validated, versioned document your agent writes: tiers, bundles, subscriptions, gifts and prices, with no offer types to pick from.](https://offersuite.io/features/offer-documents)
- [Calculator **Subscription payback calculator: CAC and churn** How much a subscriber's first order loses against what you paid to acquire them, how many renewals it takes to earn that back with churn, and in which month.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/subscription-payback)
- [Calculator **Subscription first order vs renewal calculator** Margin on a subscription's first order and on each renewal, and the expected profit per subscriber over time at your retention, against a one-time buyer.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/subscription-first-order-vs-renewal)
- [Benchmark **Food and beverage benchmarks from annual reports** What 5 US-listed companies selling coffee, drinks, pantry food and food gifts report: a median gross margin of 37.9%, from 34.6% to 48.0%. Read 13 October 2026.](https://offersuite.io/benchmarks/food-and-beverage)
- [Glossary **Retention rate: definition, formula and example** Of subscribers who received an order, the share who receive the next one. Each renewal's profit is weighted by it, so small changes compound quickly.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/retention-rate)