What is the break-even point?
The break-even point is the sales volume at which your revenue exactly covers your costs — the line between loss and profit. Below it every month ends in the red; above it each additional unit becomes profit. Knowing this threshold is essential before launching a new product, setting a campaign price or committing to a fixed cost like rent or advertising.
How break-even is calculated
The calculation rests on splitting your costs into two groups. Fixed costs do not change with unit sales (rent, salaries, subscriptions, fixed advertising), while variable costs arise with each sale (product cost, per-sale commission, shipping/desi, packaging). The bridge between them is the contribution margin:
- Contribution margin / unit = sale price − variable cost / unit. This is what each unit contributes toward covering fixed costs.
- Break-even units = fixed costs / contribution margin. Rounded up to a whole unit, since you can't sell a fraction.
- Break-even revenue = break-even units × sale price.
A concrete example makes it clear:
| Input / measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixed monthly costs | 30.000 TL |
| Sale price / unit | 300 TL |
| Variable cost / unit | 180 TL |
| Contribution margin / unit | 300 − 180 = 120 TL |
| Break-even units | 30.000 / 120 = 250 |
| Break-even revenue | 250 × 300 = 75.000 TL |
So this business must sell 250 units — 75.000 TL of revenue — a month just to cover its fixed costs. Every unit beyond 250 adds 120 TL of profit. If the contribution margin is zero or negative (variable cost meets or exceeds the price), there is no break-even point at all: each sale only deepens the loss, and the price or variable cost has to change.
Using break-even on a marketplace
This tool is marketplace-neutral: it assumes no commission rate or shipping tariff, so you enter them yourself inside the variable cost. On a marketplace, the variable cost per unit is the product cost plus the per-sale commission plus the shipping/desi cost — verify the exact rates and amounts from your own seller panel. To break those deductions out per sale first, use the Trendyol profit calculator, and to work backward from a target margin to a price, see the profit margin calculator.