BREAK-EVEN ON ADS · FREE

A 4× return can be excellent. Or a straight loss.

It depends on your purchase price, shipping, fees, returns and on the value you send to the ad platform. Work out your own break-even point.

  • Result without an email
  • Tax and tax-free modes
  • CZK, EUR and USD
Sample data · 30 daysCalculated
Revenue excl. tax€33,900Model store
Net profit€2,8148.3 % · net margin
Gross margin44.6 %Before logistics
Break-even point2.71×From contribution before ads
Where revenue goes
  • Cost of goods55.4 %
  • Logistics7.7 %
  • Marketing18.2 %
  • Operations10.4 %
  • Left over8.3 %
Margly foundThree campaigns below break-even.
Your numbers· 01

How much an order may cost.

Enter the economics of one order and the value you report to the ad platform. You'll see the point below which you're selling at a loss.

Currency
Country for tax

Currency changes only the unit and number format. Your entered values are never converted.

The amount you actually charged for the goods.

What the items in this order cost you.

What it costs you on average to win one order.

The same average conversion value your ad platform uses to calculate return. It usually includes tax and shipping, so it differs from revenue — that's why it has its own field.

Enter your numbers on the left.

The result appears as soon as you fill the first field. Nothing is sent anywhere — the maths runs in your browser.

Turnover isn't profit· 02

Same order. Completely different picture.

An ordinary calculator stops at the difference between selling and purchase price. Here we go further — to the amount you can actually spend on running and growing the business.

Basic calculation

Gross margin

  • Revenue excl. taxCan't be calculated
  • Cost of goodsCan't be calculated
  • Gross profitCan't be calculated
The Margly view

Contribution after costs

  • Gross profitCan't be calculated
  • Shipping, fees and returnsCan't be calculated
  • AdvertisingCan't be calculated
  • Left for advertisingCan't be calculated

Fill in the calculator above and both cards recalculate on your numbers.

How it's calculated· 03

What ROAS do you need in order not to lose money?

Return on ad spend on its own says nothing about profit. What decides it is how much of the order was left before you paid for advertising. At a 40% contribution the break-even point sits somewhere entirely different than at 15% — and that's the whole difference between a great result and selling at a loss.

What does a worked example look like?

On a 1,490 order including 21% tax you're left with 497.66 before advertising. The ad platform reports a conversion value of 1,490, so the break-even point is 2.99×. If it reported revenue excluding tax — 1,231.40 — the point would be 2.47×. That's why the reported value is a separate field: miss the difference and you set your threshold 17% too low, which is exactly the tax factor.

How does tax enter the calculation?

Before anything is added up, every amount is converted to one economic basis. If you're registered for tax, output tax comes off revenue and input tax comes off costs, because you can reclaim it. The payment fee isn't converted — financial services are exempt, so there's nothing to reclaim. The country preset is only a suggestion; what you set is what counts.

Highest cost per order
contribution before ads
Break-even return
value reported to the ad platform ÷ contribution before ads
For a target margin
value reported to the ad platform ÷ (contribution before ads − target margin × revenue)
01

Counting a return twice

The refunded amount reduces revenue. Return shipping and the work involved are an extra cost. Put both in one field and the result looks worse than it is.

02

Advertising folded into the margin

You can't derive a break-even point from a margin that already has advertising deducted — it's circular and the number means nothing. That's why we start from the contribution before advertising.

03

Mixing prices with and without tax

Revenue including tax minus a purchase price excluding tax gives you a margin that doesn't exist anywhere. So the calculator converts everything to one basis first.

Who this is for· 04

You might recognise one of these.

  • Your ad platform reports a 4× return and you don't know whether that's enough.

    Your break-even point comes from your cost of goods and your costs, not an industry average.

  • You're deciding whether to switch a campaign off or put more into it.

    See how much an order may cost before the campaign slips into a loss.

  • Revenue in your ad account never matches revenue in your books.

    Conversion value is a separate field — precisely because it's usually tax-inclusive and before returns.

From calculator to product· 05

You worked out one order. Margly does it for all of them.

You worked out the point for one order. Margly works it out for every campaign and shows which ones earn and which don't.

  1. 1Pick your platformShoptet, Upgates, Shopify or WooCommerce.
  2. 2Let it load real dataOrders, products and purchase prices come in on their own.
  3. 3Fix the biggest impact firstA specific opportunity, an amount and a recommended step.
Connect your ads and see profit per campaign

14 days free · no card required · data in the EU

Sample data · 30 daysAfter connecting
  • Do todayMove budget out of three campaigns below break-even.Sample
  • ProductsRaise visibility of a product with above-average margin.Sample
  • ShippingA carrier whose shipping balance doesn't add up.Sample
Before you decide· 06

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to sign up to see the result?
No. The result appears immediately and the maths runs in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere. Signing up makes sense once you want the same thing for every order, not just one.
Does Margly calculate the same way inside the app?
Yes, with the same formulas. What differs is where the numbers come from: here you type them in for one order, in the app they're read from your store's real data. Add operating costs to the calculator and you get exactly the level the app works with.
Why isn't advertising deducted twice?
The break-even point answers the question of how much advertising is allowed to cost. Derive it from a margin that already includes advertising and the calculation is circular. So it starts from the contribution before advertising.
Why is the value reported to the ad platform a separate field?
Ad platforms routinely report a different value from your economic revenue — usually including tax and shipping, before refunds and with a different attribution window. Merge the two and the break-even point comes out tens of percent off.
What does it mean when there's no finite break-even point?
That the order loses money before advertising. No return can save it — only a higher price, cheaper purchasing or lower fulfilment costs will.
Next step· 08

Let Margly calculate your whole store.

Orders, products, purchase prices, advertising and operating costs in one view. On your data, not on a generic benchmark.

Connect your ads and see profit per campaign

14 days free · no card required · data in the EU