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Seller Margin Lab

Fee rules checked August 23, 2026 · Shipping checked August 23, 2026

Calculation methodology

Every major result is derived from documented report fields or values you enter. This page explains the formulas, assumptions, and known limitations.

MetricFormula or source
Net Whatnot earningsSum of Transaction Amount across every report row
Gross salesPost Coupon Price for Order Earnings rows, with Original Item Price as a fallback
Platform feesCommission Fee + Payment Processing Fee + taxes on those fees
Estimated profitNet Whatnot earnings − reported COGS − additional costs entered
Profit marginEstimated profit ÷ gross sales × 100
Giveaway show cost(item cost + shipping + packaging) × giveaways per show
Seller shipping shareShipping charge − buyer contribution
Show profitpaid-sale contribution × sales − giveaways − other show costs

Why Transaction Amount is the payout base

Whatnot defines Transaction Amount as the positive or negative amount that affects the seller’s balance. The analyzer sums all rows so that separate tips, refunds, appealed refunds, and shipping charges affect the result instead of being silently ignored.

Cost of goods assumptions

Reported COGS is included for Order Earnings rows when present. Blank COGS rows trigger a warning. The additional-cost field can represent missing inventory cost, packaging, supplies, promotion spend, or another expense not captured by the weekly report.

Pre-sale fee estimates

The US fee calculator applies category commission to the eligible item price and payment processing to total order value. Current promotions, seller-specific rates, cross-border differences, and taxes on seller fees may make the actual receipt different.

Shipping estimates

The shipping calculator maps packed weight to Whatnot’s published US ranges through five pounds. An entered actual charge overrides that estimate. Rates above five pounds are not estimated because Whatnot says they vary; the calculator requires an actual charge instead.

Show-level estimates

The show calculator applies the selected fee model to one average paid sale, subtracts per-sale inventory, seller shipping, and packaging, then multiplies that contribution by completed sales. Giveaways and other show-level expenses are subtracted afterward as fixed show costs.

Known limitations

  • • Multiple currencies are displayed without conversion.
  • • Weekly reports include completed transactions, not every business expense.
  • • Profit remains an estimate until all inventory and operating costs are included.
  • • Export formats and fee programs may change after the verification date.

Primary sources

Ready to apply these formulas? Open the CSV analyzer.