AlphamotionALPHAMOTION · MUMBAI
MANUFACTURING & SOURCING · INDIA

Manufacture in India —
without flying in.

Finding a factory is the easy part. Knowing it is a factory, holding it to the specification, and getting the goods out on the date is where sourcing from abroad usually comes apart. We do that part, from Mumbai, on your side of the table.

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FREE TOOL · INDIAN MARKETPLACES

What does a marketplace
actually pay you?

Gross sales are not revenue. Put your numbers in and see what is left per order after commission, shipping, returns, advertising and GST — and the return rate at which the channel stops making money.

Sale, net of GST—
Marketplace fees—
Cost of goods sold—
Cost of returns—
Advertising—
You keep, per order—
Contribution margin—
Per 100 orders—
Break-even return rate—

Rates shown are indicative starting points, not a live fee table. Marketplace commissions differ by category and change without notice — take the exact numbers from your own seller agreement and settlement reports, and put those in. Nothing is sent anywhere; the calculation runs in your browser.

What most sellers get wrong

Counting GST as revenueThe tax you collect was never yours. On an 18% product that is roughly a sixth of the top line that has to come straight back out.
Costing returns as lost marginA return costs both shipping legs and earns nothing. At a 12% return rate you are paying for shipping on 112 orders and being paid for 88.
Charging ads only to attributed salesAd spend is a cost of the whole channel. Divided across every order it usually changes which channel looks profitable.
Ignoring the break-even return rateMost brands know their return rate. Very few know the rate at which the channel stops paying — which is the number that should trigger action.

Common questions

How much commission does Amazon charge in India?

It depends entirely on the category — broadly 2% to 20%, with most consumer categories falling between 5% and 15%. On top of the referral fee there is a closing fee, a shipping or fulfilment fee, and storage if you use FBA. Because these change and vary by category, every rate in this calculator is editable rather than fixed — put your own numbers in and the answer will be right for you.

Why is my marketplace profit lower than I expected?

Usually returns and advertising, in that order. A 10% return rate does not cost you 10% of your margin — you lose the outbound shipping, often the return shipping, sometimes the unit itself, and you keep none of the sale. Advertising then quietly takes a further slice of every order rather than only the ones it caused. Both are in the calculation above.

Should GST be counted as revenue?

No, and treating it as revenue is the most common mistake we see. GST collected on a sale is not yours — it passes through to the government, less the input credit you can claim on your own costs. This calculator strips it out on both sides so the contribution figure is money you actually keep.

What is a healthy contribution margin on a marketplace?

There is no universal number, but if contribution per order is negative before advertising then no amount of volume fixes it — you are buying sales. Many Indian brands discover one channel is carrying the business and another is quietly losing money on every unit, which is only visible once commission, returns and ads are all in the same calculation.

In more detail

Why gross sales is the wrong number to run a business on

Every marketplace dashboard leads with gross sales, because it is the flattering number and the one that makes the channel look indispensable. It is also the number furthest from your bank balance. Between the two sit a referral commission that varies by category, a closing fee, a shipping or fulfilment charge, storage if you hold stock with the platform, returns that cost you twice and earn you nothing, advertising, and the GST that was never yours. It is entirely normal for a channel showing strong gross sales to be contributing very little, and not unusual for one to be losing money on every unit.

The number worth managing

Contribution per order — what is left after everything that varies with the sale — is the figure that tells you whether to put more stock, more attention and more advertising behind a channel. Run the same calculation for each place you sell and the picture usually resolves quickly: one channel is carrying the business, one is fine, and one is quietly being subsidised by the others. That is not a conclusion any single platform dashboard can give you, because none of them can see the other three.

Where this stops being a spreadsheet problem

Working out the contribution is arithmetic. Changing it is not. It usually means correcting the catalogue so the right products get the visibility, renegotiating what shipping costs, finding where returns originate and fixing that rather than absorbing it, and pointing the advertising at products that can carry it. That is the work — and it is the work the Scan prices before anyone commits to doing it.

Want this done on your actual numbers?

The Scan runs this calculation across every channel you sell on, with your real settlement data rather than estimates, and ranks what each fix is worth — ₹75,000 + GST introductory, credited in full against the Deep Audit if you go deeper. Or ask the assistant on this site; it answers directly.

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