Seller ProfitHow returns cut your profit
Every returned order costs more than the sale you lost. This shows the return rate your product can afford.
The break-even return rate
If a kept order earns 120 and a returned order loses 150, a return costs more than a sale earns. Profit falls to zero when the return rate reaches 120 divided by (120 + 150), which is 44 percent. Long before that, the profit is not worth the effort, so work out the rate at which you would stop selling the product.
What to do about returns
- Find the reason. Read the return reasons in your seller account: wrong size, damaged, not as described.
- Fix the cheapest cause first. Photo and size-chart changes cost almost nothing.
- Pack better. A stronger box costs a few rupees; a refund costs the whole price.
- Price in the returns. If returns cannot be avoided, put the expected cost into the price.
The profit calculator includes returns in its last two boxes, so every result already shows profit per order placed.
Common questions
What counts as the loss on a returned order?
The shipping you paid both ways, fees that are not refunded, damage or loss of the product, and any resale discount. Estimate it from your last 20 returns.
How do I lower the return rate?
Accurate photos and descriptions, a size chart, careful packing and quick answers to buyers before they order reduce most returns.
Keep going
Fee percentages, GST rates and other figures in the examples on this site are made up to show the working. They are not the fees or rates of any marketplace or country: type the numbers from your own seller account and from the tax authority. Checked 14 November 2026.