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Seller Profit Doctor

Example shop · candles on Etsy · one month

GradeWatchBased on 4 of 4 checks.

You keep $11.80 of each $35 order, about $1,180 a month.

That’s before paying yourself. About $446 a month is leaking at these numbers, about $5,356 a year.

From about $3,500 a month in sales (100 orders of $35.00), about $42,000 a year. Estimate from your answers. This page shows an example; yours uses your own answers.

Profit check-up

Example shop · candles · sold on Etsy

One month · 100 orders of $35

Money in

  • Item sales 100 × $303,000.00
  • Shipping paid by buyers 100 × $5500.00
Total in3,500.00

Money out

  • Materials and supplies 100 × $8−800.00
  • Packaging 100 × $1, typical−100.00
  • Shipping labels 100 × $7−700.00
    Leak: $3 short per order−300.00(crossed out: this leak has a fix)

    Fix: Item to $33.36, shipping stays $5: +$300

  • Etsy fees 100 × $3.78−378.00
  • Offsite Ads 12% on 10% of sales−42.00
    Leak: not in your price−42.00(crossed out: this leak has a fix)

    Fix: About $0.47 more on the item: +$42

  • Etsy Ads 30 days × $10−300.00
    Leak: doesn't pay back−104.31(crossed out: this leak has a fix)

    Fix: Turn off ads on listings with ROAS under 2.3: +$104

Total out−2,320.00
You keep today$1,180.00
Per $35 order$11.80
Share of money in33.7%
With the shipping fixabout $1,480

At today’s numbers, if orders hold. The other fixes add more, but they overlap a little, so the report works out the combined figure rather than a simple sum.

GradeWatch

Thank you for selling handmade.

Red lines leak. Green lines are the fixes.

Your three biggest leaks, each with its fix

Sure dollars first, biggest first. Tap “I’ll do this” on the fixes you’ll try, and the total adds them up.

  1. Kraft paper boxes tied with red and white twine, a handwritten tag and a sprig of green on top

    Biggest leak

    Shipping gap: about $300 a month

    Each order costs about $8.00 to ship (label $7.00 + packaging $1.00, typical) and the buyer pays $5.00, so about $3.00 an order goes missing. At your numbers, that's about $300 a month.

    Per order
    −$3
    A month
    −$300
    A year
    −$3,600

    The fix

    Raise the item price from $30.00 to about $33.36 and keep shipping at $5.00, under Etsy's $6 search line. If orders hold, you'd keep about $300 more a month.

    +$300a month, if orders hold

    Risk: Orders could fall by about 17% (about 1 in 6) before this fix leaves you worse off. A higher price can lose orders.

    Or: Switch to calculated shipping

    Charge buyers what shipping costs you, about $8.00 an order, with calculated shipping, which Etsy's $6 search rule leaves out. Etsy's fees apply to shipping too, so if orders hold you'd keep about $268 more a month.

    Orders could fall by about 15% (about 1 in 7) before this fix leaves you worse off. Buyers see a higher shipping price, which can lose orders.

    How we worked it out

    gap per order = share free × (label + packaging) + (1 − share free) × max(0, label + packaging − shipping charged) = $3.00; monthly = gap × orders = $3.00 × 100 = $300.00

    price rise = gap ÷ (0.905 − Offsite rate × share) = $3.00 ÷ 0.893 = $3.36; value = gap × orders = $3.00 × 100 = $300.00; orders can fall by 1 − π ÷ (π + gain) = 1 − $14.80 ÷ $17.80 = 16.9%

    Etsy favors US listings with domestic shipping under $6 in search, since October 1, 2024; digital listings, calculated shipping and items over $35 in shops offering free US shipping at $35 are left out of that rule (Etsy Seller Handbook). Shipping labels and later adjustments are taken from your balance (Fees & Payments Policy, October 5, 2026). Etsy's free US shipping program applies to items or orders of $35 and up, counted after discounts (Etsy Help, August 7, 2025).

  2. Quick win 2

    Etsy Ads that don't pay back: about $104 a month

    At your numbers, ads cost $300 a month and bring about $450 in sales (ROAS 1.5), which earns about $196 after costs. They pay back only at ROAS 2.30 or more, so they cost about $104 a month more than they bring in.

    A month
    −$104
    Your ROAS
    1.5
    Break-even ROAS
    2.30

    The fix

    Turn off ads on listings with ROAS under 2.3 (Etsy Ads page > Manage Advertised Listings). If your other orders hold, you'd keep at least $104 more a month, even if every ad sale stopped.

    +$104a month, at least

    Risk: Some buyers find you through ads and come back later, and ad numbers count some sales that would have happened anyway, so ROAS can be off either way. Etsy suggests giving a change 30 days before judging it.

    Or: Raise your margin with the price fixes

    With the price rises above, each ad order earns more and your ads pay back from ROAS 2.08. If orders hold, about $45 a month of those fixes comes from your ad orders; it's part of their value, not on top of it.

    A higher price can lose orders, ad orders included. This is the price fixes' value on ad orders, so don't add it to them.

    How we worked it out

    margin for ads m = (order − Etsy fees − materials − packaging − label) ÷ order = $15.22 ÷ $35.00 = 43.5%; break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ m = 2.30; monthly leak = spend × (1 − ROAS × m) = $300.00 × (1 − 1.5 × 0.4349) = $104.31

    ad sales = ROAS × spend = 1.5 × $300.00 = $450.00; earned = ad sales × margin for ads (43.5%) = $195.69; value = spend − earned = $104.31; break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ margin = 2.30

    Etsy Ads charge per click, up to a daily budget ($1 minimum; $25 starting maximum, recalculated weekly). All listings are advertised by default. Since June 2026, listing strategies need a daily budget of $25 or more. Etsy suggests 30 days before judging a strategy (Etsy Help, July 20, 2026; EcommerceBytes, June 4, 2026). Whether Etsy's ad revenue includes shipping is unverified.

  3. Quick win 3

    Offsite Ads fees not priced in: about $42 a month

    Your shop has passed $10,000, so Etsy charges 12% on Offsite Ads orders for the life of the shop. At Etsy's typical 10% of sales, that's about $42 a month.

    Fee rate
    12%
    Share of sales
    10%
    A month
    −$42

    The fix

    Raise prices about 1.3%, roughly $0.47 on a $30.00 item. If orders hold, you'd keep about $42 more a month.

    +$42a month, if orders hold

    Risk: Orders could fall by about 3% before this fix leaves you worse off. Your Offsite share moves month to month; check yours at Marketing > Offsite Ads. A shop past $10,000 can't opt out.

    How we worked it out

    monthly = share × orders × min(rate × order, $100) = 10% × 100 × $4.20 = $42.00

    price rise = rate × share ÷ (0.905 − rate × share) of the order = $0.42 ÷ 0.893 = $0.47 (1.34% of $35.00); value = rate × share × sales = $42.00; orders can fall by 1 − π ÷ (π + gain) = 1 − $14.80 ÷ $15.22 = 2.8%

    Offsite Ads cost 15% of item + shipping + gift wrap on an attributed order for shops under $10,000 in the prior 365 days (opting out is allowed), and 12% once a shop reaches $10,000, for the life of the shop; at most $100 an order; not on US sales tax. An order counts when it comes within 30 days of an ad click; if the buyer's last click was an Etsy Ad, only the Etsy Ads fee applies (Fees & Payments Policy, October 5, 2026; Etsy Help, October 8, 2026). Whether the fee comes back on refunds is unconfirmed.

Solid: your price covers your costs.

Not checked yet: refunds, sales and coupons, packaging (we used $1.00), your time, your Offsite Ads share (we used 10%). Go deeper, about 30 seconds of extra questions, adds them. It comes soon.

Each fix uses today's numbers. Taken together, the price rises come to about $33.83. If orders hold, you'd keep about $342 more a month. Orders could fall by about 19% (about 1 in 5) before this fix leaves you worse off. Some fixes overlap, so the report works out the combined figure.

Etsy's fees on one order

Listing fee
$0.20
Transaction fee (6.5%)
$2.28
Payment processing (3% + $0.25)
$1.30
Total
$3.78

On an order of $35, item and shipping. Offsite Ads and Etsy Ads are on the receipt.

Good to know

Costs with no fix you control. Never counted as leaks.

  • USPS surcharge in your label: USPS adds 8% to Ground Advantage and Priority base postage until January 17, 2027: about $0.52 of your $7.00 label, about $52 a month. USPS calls it a bridge to permanent pricing, so the drop isn't certain.
  • Processing fee on sales tax: Etsy charges its 3% processing fee on sales tax too: about $0.07 on a $35.00 order at a 7% example rate, about $7 a month.

You could keep about$0 more a month

Tap “I’ll do this” on a fix to add it here.

Estimate from your answers, if orders hold · 0 of 3 fixes picked

Rates and assumptions

Fixed formulas; no AI computes a number.

Rates as of

Etsy fees as of October 5, 2026 (Fees & Payments Policy) and July 31, 2026 (Payments Policy), checked October 13, 2026.

We check every rate again by April 13, 2027. See every rate we use

What we assumed

  • Orders a month: 100 orders a monthFrom your band (76–150).Change: Orders a month
  • Materials and supplies per item: $8.00Your number.Change: Materials and supplies per item
  • Packaging per order: $1.00Typical, weakly sourced.in Go deeper
  • Label cost: $7.00Your number.Change: Label cost
  • Offsite Ads fee: 12%Your shop has passed $10,000, so 12% for the life of the shop.Change: Offsite Ads fee
  • Share of sales from Offsite Ads: 10%Etsy's typical 10% (2020); check yours at Marketing > Offsite Ads.in Go deeper
  • Etsy Ads a month: $300.00We assumed your full budget is spent: 30 days × $10.00 = $300.00 a month (from your band).Change: Etsy Ads a month
  • Etsy Ads ROAS: 1.5From your band.Change: Etsy Ads ROAS
  • Sales tax in the fee math: NoneWe left sales tax out of the fee math. Etsy also charges its 3% processing fee on sales tax.

Paid once, never a subscription

Want every leak, with the steps?

This check found about $446 a month at its numbers. The free result shows the top three. The reports show every leak that applies, with the steps to fix each one.

Profit report

$19.99once

For one shop that wants to know where the money goes.

  • Every leak that applies, ranked by dollars, each with its fix, value and risk line
  • Numbered steps for each fix: “do today” and “test it”
  • A few more questions inside the report, for the smaller leaks the free check doesn't ask about
  • Guardrails: break-even price, break-even ROAS, the most an ad can cost per sale, the shipping charge that breaks even
  • Offsite Ads at 5%, 10% and 20% of sales
  • Profit and target price for up to 5 products
  • Every know-this fact, and the full dated fee table with sources
  • Exact fees from one Etsy monthly statement, once the statement reader ships
  • A 30-day plan
  • Page + PDF
Start with your free check-up

Full audit

$29.99once

For shops with many products, two platforms, or at tax time.

Everything in the profit report, plus:

  • Up to 50 products, each with its guardrails
  • Scenarios for your biggest price change: sales down, flat or up
  • A tax-season fee summary by category for your accountant, estimated from your numbers (not tax advice)
  • A spreadsheet (CSV) of every number
  • Your Etsy shop side by side with your Shopify store or Amazon sales
  • A day-30 re-check, compared like for like
  • Up to 12 months of Etsy statements and a 12-month view, once the statement reader ships
  • Page + PDF + spreadsheet
Start with your free check-up
  • Both cost less than the $300 a month this shop's shipping gap costs. $19.99 is about the shipping gap on 7 of its orders.
  • 14-day any-reason refund. 14 days to change your mind, no reason needed.
  • Start with the profit report and upgrade to the full audit for $10 within 14 days.
  • Until the statement reader ships, both run on the numbers you type.

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