How do you calculate dropshipping profit per order?
Start with what the customer pays and take off everything the order costs you, except ads:
- Revenue = selling price + any shipping you charge
- Profit before ads = revenue − product cost − supplier shipping − payment fees − other % fees − refund allowance
- Profit per order = profit before ads − ad cost per order (CPA)
- Margin = profit per order ÷ revenue
Payment fees depend on your platform. On Shopify’s Basic plan with Shopify Payments, a US online card sale costs 2.9% + 30¢ (Shopify pricing, checked 10 Oct 2026); the Shopify transaction fees guide covers the other plans and when Shopify adds its own fee. The refund allowance is the share of revenue you set aside for refunds and replacements. Use your own refund rate; we don’t quote an average.
What is the break-even ROAS formula?
ROAS (return on ad spend) = revenue from ads ÷ ad spend. You break even when ads use up all the profit before ads, so:
Break-even ROAS = revenue per order ÷ profit before ads
Break-even CPA is the same idea in dollars: the most you can pay in ads for one order, which equals your profit before ads. Ads reporting a ROAS above your break-even make money on each order; below it, they lose money.
Worked example: a $49 dropshipping product
Example numbers, not benchmarks. They match the defaults in our calculator, so you can check them there.
| Per order | Amount |
|---|---|
| Selling price (no shipping charged) | $49.00 |
| Product cost | −$14.00 |
| Supplier shipping | −$6.00 |
| Payment fee (2.9% + 30¢) | −$1.72 |
| Refund allowance (5% of revenue) | −$2.45 |
| Profit before ads = break-even CPA | $24.83 |
| Break-even ROAS (49 ÷ 24.83) | 1.97 |
| Ad cost per order (CPA) | −$12.00 |
| Profit per order | $12.83 (26.2% margin) |
At 100 orders a month with $50 of fixed costs (plan and apps), monthly profit is 100 × $12.83 − $50 = $1,233. The ads here run at a ROAS of 49 ÷ 12 = 4.08, well above 1.97. If CPA climbed to $24.83, profit per order would be zero.
Break-even ROAS vs target ROAS
Break-even means zero profit. To plan for a real margin, take the profit you want out first:
Target ROAS = revenue ÷ (profit before ads − target profit per order)
For a 20% margin on the $49 product, target profit is $9.80. The most you can spend per order is $24.83 − $9.80 = $15.03, so the target ROAS is 49 ÷ 15.03 = 3.26. That is the number to judge campaigns against, not 1.97.
What lowers your break-even ROAS?
Anything that raises profit before ads. Starting from the example:
- Supplier cost $3 lower ($11): profit before ads $27.83, break-even ROAS 1.76.
- Price $5 higher ($54, same costs): fees and the refund allowance rise a little, profit before ads $29.43, break-even ROAS 1.83.
- Fewer refunds: each percentage point of refunds on a $49 order takes $0.49 off profit before ads.
Supplier cost usually has the most room. If you’re comparing suppliers, Zendrop affiliate link, Spocket affiliate link and AliExpress affiliate link all have dropshipping catalogues; get a real quote, including shipping cost and delivery time, before you switch. Our dropshipping app quiz compares Zendrop, Spocket and Doba on your answers.
Run your own product’s numbersEnter your price, supplier cost, shipping, fees and ad cost. See profit per order, margin, break-even ROAS and CPA, and the price you’d need for your target margin.Open the dropshipping profit calculator