Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Profit at requested quantity
$47.50
Profitable at this quantity?
Yes
Implied price per unit from budget
$3.067
Minimum breakeven quantity
126
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How to use this
- 1Enter landed cost per unit ($).
- 2Enter one-time setup/imprint fee ($).
- 3Enter client's total budget ($).
- 4Enter quantity client wants.
- 5Read your profit at requested quantity on the right — it updates as you type.
- 6Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Promotional product orders often carry a fixed setup charge (screen or digitizing fee for the imprint) on top of a per-unit landed cost, and clients frequently negotiate the total price down to a round number, which can accidentally push a small order below breakeven once you account for that fixed setup. This calculator takes your per-unit landed cost, one-time setup/imprint fee, and the flat total price a client has agreed to pay, then computes the exact quantity needed to break even and shows your profit or loss at the client's actual requested quantity. It's the sanity-check step to run before confirming any quote with a fixed total price rather than a per-unit price, especially common in nonprofit and school fundraising orders where a buyer has a set budget and wants to know 'how many can I get for $500' — this flips that question around to also confirm you're not losing money filling it.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Landed cost per unit: 2.75 $
- One-time setup/imprint fee: 40 $
- Client's total budget: 500 $
- Quantity client wants: 150
Results
- Profit at requested quantity: $47.50
- Profitable at this quantity?: Yes
- Implied price per unit from budget: $3.067
- Minimum breakeven quantity: 126
What each field means
Inputs
- Landed cost per unit ($)
- The landed cost per unit used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 2.75 $ so you have a working example on load.
- One-time setup/imprint fee ($)
- The one-time setup/imprint fee used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 40 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Client's total budget ($)
- The client's total budget used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 500 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Quantity client wants
- The quantity client wants used in the calculation. Starts at 150 so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Profit at requested quantity
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Profitable at this quantity?
- Returned as a plain value. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Implied price per unit from budget
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Minimum breakeven quantity
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Why would a fixed-budget order lose money?
If a client insists on a specific total price and a specific quantity, and your landed cost plus setup fee at that quantity exceeds the budget, filling the order as requested loses money even though the headline dollar amount sounds reasonable.
What should I do if an order isn't profitable at the requested quantity?
Offer alternatives: reduce quantity to hit breakeven or better, suggest a cheaper base product to lower landed cost, or ask for a modest budget increase — most clients would rather adjust than have the order declined outright.
Does this apply to bulk fundraising or school spirit wear orders?
Yes, this scenario is extremely common there — a PTA or booster club often says 'we have $800, how many shirts can we get' and expects both a quantity and a workable price, so checking real profitability before quoting protects your shop from a well-intentioned but underpriced deal.
How does setup fee size affect small fixed-budget orders?
Setup fees hit small orders disproportionately hard since they're spread across fewer units — a $40 setup fee is 8% of a $500 budget but would be under 1% of a $5,000 budget, which is why minimum order quantities exist for certain decoration methods.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
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Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Promotional Product Order Breakeven Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/promo-product-breakeven
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/promo-product-breakeven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Promotional Product Order Breakeven Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Promotional Product Order Breakeven Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/promo-product-breakeven) (2026).