# 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.

- Topic: Finance & Accounting
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Finance, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/calculate-product-margins-before-i-stock-my-store

## Prompt

```text
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.
```

## 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

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.