How much profit does your subscription box make?
What does your subscription box earn?
Enter your own numbers, every amount without VAT. The calculator starts on the worked example further down this page.
All results are estimates from your inputs, not figures from your store.
How does the box profit calculator work?
- Cost per box = product cost + packaging + shipping you pay + payment fee per order + box price × (payment fee % + app fee %).
- Profit per box = box price − cost per box.
- Margin per box = profit per box ÷ box price.
- Boxes per month = active subscriptions × boxes per subscription a month. Enter 1 for a monthly box, 26 ÷ 12 ≈ 2.17 for every 2 weeks and 52 ÷ 12 ≈ 4.33 for every week, the same conversion as the MRR glossary page.
- Revenue per month = boxes per month × box price.
- Break-even = fixed costs per month ÷ (profit per box × boxes per subscription a month), rounded up to whole subscriptions. When a box costs more than it earns, there’s no break-even.
- Profit per month = boxes per month × profit per box − fixed costs per month.
What does a €39 box earn at 500 subscriptions?
Example (made-up numbers): a €39 box (without VAT) delivered every month to 500 subscriptions, with €14 of products, €2.50 of packaging, €5.90 of shipping, a payment fee of 1.5% + €0.25 per order, an app fee of 1% and €300 of fixed costs a month.
| Result | Calculation | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per box | €14 + €2.50 + €5.90 + €0.25 + €39 × (1.5% + 1%) | €23.63 |
| Profit per box | €39 − €23.625 | €15.38 |
| Margin per box | €15.375 ÷ €39 | 39.4% |
| Boxes per month | 500 × 1 | 500 |
| Revenue per month | 500 × €39 | €19,500 |
| Break-even | €300 ÷ €15.375 = 19.5, rounded up | 20 |
| Profit per month | 500 × €15.375 − €300 | €7,388 |
A €2 higher box price in this example adds €1.95 per box after fees: €975 a month.
What belongs in the cost per box?
- Products: what the items in one box cost you, free extras included.
- Packaging: the box, filling, inserts and cooling packs, plus picking and packing if a fulfillment partner charges per box.
- Shipping: what you pay the carrier per box. Add any shipping fee subscribers pay to the box price.
- Payment fees: your payment provider’s percentage and fixed fee per order.
- App fees: any share of revenue your subscription app takes. A fixed monthly app fee goes into the fixed costs.
What does the estimate leave out?
- Churn. Every cancelled subscription takes its boxes with it. The churn calculator shows what that costs over a year.
- Acquisition costs and discounts. What you spend to win a subscriber and any introductory discount come on top.
How does Zubs help with a box subscription?
With build-a-box in Zubs, subscribers pick the items in each box, so enter the average box as your product cost. You can set a minimum order value, so a box below it is never charged or shipped.
Bottom line
A subscription box earns its price minus product, packaging, shipping and fees, and the month earns the boxes’ profit minus the fixed costs. Work it out per box first, because a thin margin needs many subscriptions to cover the fixed costs alone.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I enter prices with or without VAT?
- Without. The VAT in your box price goes to the tax office, so enter the box price, every cost and the fixed costs as net amounts.
- What counts as fixed costs?
- Monthly costs that don't grow with each box, such as software subscriptions, storage space or a part-time packer on a fixed wage. Costs that grow with every box belong in the costs per box.
- Why is the break-even a whole number?
- It's the number of subscriptions whose profit covers the fixed costs, rounded up, because a part of a subscription brings in nothing.
- Is my data stored or sent anywhere?
- No. The calculation runs in your browser, and nothing you enter leaves the page.