Calculate product margins before I stock my store
Works out landed cost, fees, and true profit per item so you only launch products that make money.
The prompt
Help me check whether the products I want to sell will actually make money.
Products (name, expected selling price): [LIST]
Cost per unit from supplier: [AMOUNTS, plus minimum order quantity]
Shipping from supplier, duties, and import fees: [AMOUNTS or "not sure"]
Packaging cost per order: [AMOUNT]
Where I'll sell: [own store / Etsy / Amazon / other - fees vary]
Shipping to customers: [what I'll charge vs. what it costs me]
Expected return rate: [% or "not sure"]
Marketing budget per sale: [AMOUNT or "not sure"]
Do this:
1. Calculate landed cost per unit (product + inbound shipping + duties + packaging).
2. Subtract platform and payment fees. Use the fee rates I give; if I don't know them, show them as [CONFIRM CURRENT FEE] rather than guessing.
3. Account for returns, damaged goods, and free-shipping costs.
4. Show gross margin and contribution margin per unit, and the maximum I can spend to acquire a customer and still break even.
5. Flag any product with a contribution margin under 30% (or my own threshold) and suggest fixes: price change, bundle, cheaper packaging, different supplier, or drop it.
6. Calculate the cash needed for my first order across all products.
Output: a table (Product | Price | Landed cost | Fees | Contribution margin $ | % | Max acquisition cost | Verdict), then the cash-needed total and recommendations.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Finance & Accounting prompts
What to fill in
- LIST
- AMOUNTS, plus minimum order quantity
- AMOUNTS or "not sure"
- AMOUNT
- own store / Etsy / Amazon / other - fees vary
- what I'll charge vs. what it costs me
- AMOUNT or "not sure"
- CONFIRM CURRENT FEE
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
Related prompts
- Build financial projections for a business3–5 year revenue, cost, profit, and cash projections from clear assumptions.
- Write ALCO commentary on interest rate risk and net interest marginClear asset-liability committee commentary explaining NIM drivers, rate sensitivity, deposit behavior, and recommended actions.
- Write the qualitative factor memo for our CECL allowanceDocumented support for qualitative adjustments to the credit loss allowance, tied to evidence, direction, and size.
- Write a budget request for a new or expanded public programA budget decision package with the need, costed options, performance measures, and consequences of not funding, ready for budget office review.