ETSY SALE & COUPON PROFITABILITY CALCULATOR
Check whether your Etsy discount, sale, or promo code is still profitable after fees — and how much extra volume it would take to break even.
🔒 All calculations run in your browser — no data is stored or sent to our servers.
The Required Volume Increase Formula
Required Volume Increase (%) = ((Original Profit ÷ New Discounted Profit) − 1) × 100
This tells you how many more units you'd need to sell at the discounted price to end up with the exact same total profit as if you'd sold fewer units at full price. If the discounted profit is zero or negative, no volume increase can make up the difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much discount should I offer on Etsy without losing money?
It depends on your starting margin — a product with a 60% margin can absorb a 20% discount and stay solidly profitable, while a product with a 20% margin can be pushed to a loss by the same 20% discount. Run your numbers through this calculator before setting a sale percentage rather than picking a round number.
Do Etsy fees apply to the discounted price or original price?
Etsy's transaction fee (6.5%) and payment processing fee are calculated on the actual price the buyer pays — meaning the discounted price, not your original listed price. This is good news in one sense (lower fees on the sale) but doesn't offset the profit lost from the discount itself.
Is a discount ever "not recoverable by volume"?
Yes — if a discount drops your profit per sale to zero or negative, no amount of additional volume makes up the difference; you're simply losing money faster. In that case, the discount needs to be smaller, or you need to reduce your production cost before running the sale.
Should I run Etsy Sales Events or use manual coupon codes instead?
Etsy Sales Events (Sale Details / marketing tools) automatically discount listings shop-wide and can trigger more Offsite Ads exposure, while manual coupon codes let you target specific buyers or listings. Both apply Etsy's standard fees to the discounted price — the profitability math in this calculator applies to either method.
How much can I discount before I lose money?
The price at which you break even is (your cost + $0.45 fixed fees) ÷ 0.905 with standard US Etsy fees. For a $14 cost that's about $15.97, so any discount that takes a $35 item below $16 loses money.
Do Offsite Ads fees apply to discounted orders?
Yes. If an order is attributed to Offsite Ads, the 15% fee (12% for shops over $10,000 in yearly sales) is charged on that order as well. Model it separately if your shop is enrolled.
Worked Example 1: A Healthy Margin With 15% Off
- 1. Before the sale: original price $35, product and shipping cost $14. Etsy fees are $3.78, so profit is $17.23 (49.2% margin).
- 2. With 15% off: the price is $29.75. Fees drop to $3.28 and profit falls to $12.47 (41.9% margin).
- 3. Extra sales needed: $17.23 ÷ $12.47 − 1 = +38.1%. If you usually sell 20 a month, you need about 28 during the sale to earn the same total profit.
Worked Example 2: A Thin Margin With 25% Off
- 1. Before the sale: original price $20, cost $11. Fees are $2.35, so profit is $6.65.
- 2. With 25% off: the price is $15. Fees are $1.88, so profit is $2.13.
- 3. Extra sales needed: $6.65 ÷ $2.13 − 1 = about +213%. You'd need to triple your sales just to stand still.
If that discounted sale came through Etsy Offsite Ads (15% fee = $2.25), you'd make about −$0.13 on the order. That's a loss.
The lesson: a big discount on a low-margin item can turn into a loss, especially when Offsite Ads fees apply to the same order.
Discount Math Cheat Sheet
- • Required sales increase = (original profit ÷ discounted profit) − 1.
- • Etsy fees are charged on the discounted price, so they shrink a little, but never enough to cover the discount.
- • If profit per sale hits $0 or less, no amount of extra volume can fix it.
Sales, Coupons or Free Shipping?
A shop-wide sale is visible to every shopper. A coupon code targets specific people, like past buyers or newsletter subscribers, so you don't give away margin to people who would have paid full price. For US shops, Etsy prioritizes listings with free shipping on orders of $35 or more in search. Sometimes moving shipping into your price does more than a discount. Run each option through the calculator before you choose.
Source: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy. Verified on 27 September 2026: 6.5% transaction fee, $0.20 listing fee, Offsite Ads 15% / 12%.
Reviewed by the ZingCalc Team · Last updated: 2 October 2026
About This Calculator
Fee assumptions follow Etsy's standard US seller schedule (6.5% transaction fee, ~3% + $0.25 payment processing, $0.20 listing fee) — toggle fees off to model a non-Etsy discount scenario.
Last reviewed: 2026
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