Resale ROI vs margin vs hourly profit, and sell-through explained.

Every variable, in plain words

Sale price is what the buyer pays for the item. Fees are the percentage and per-order charges the platform keeps. Cost of goods is the buy price plus any tax and sourcing costs. Holding cost is storage rent per item plus the return you give up on money tied in stock. Sell-through is the share of listed items that sell in a period; the sell-through rate calculator shows three common definitions. Turnover is how many times stock is sold and replaced in a period: a seller who sells everything in 30 days turns twelve times a year, so a small margin repeats.

ROI vs margin vs hourly

Margin tells you how much of each sale dollar you keep: $22.81 of $60 is 38.0%. ROI tells you how hard your outlay worked: $22.81 on $28.63 of costs is 79.6%. High ROI on a cheap item can still be a poor use of time: a $5 profit that takes 40 minutes is $7.50 an hour. Low margin on a fast-turning item can beat a high margin on one that sits for a year, because turnover repeats the profit. Each ratio hides something, so check all three.

Why sell-through matters more than it looks

If only 70 of 100 listings sell, the 30 that do not still cost shelf space and supplies, and their money is not free. Expected profit per listed item here is $14.93 against $22.81 per sold item. The gap widens as days to sell and storage cost rise. Sell-through is a base rate from your own history; this page does not forecast it.

Methodology

ROI is net profit divided by all costs except platform fees (buy price, tax paid, sourcing, shipping label, supplies, storage share and capital cost); platform fees come off revenue first. Margin divides by the sale price. Other definitions exist, such as ROI on the buy price only, and they give different percentages for the same sale, so compare like with like. The inputs and the form are shared with the full flip profit calculator, which has the rest of the formulas.

What this page does not cover

• Platform-specific fee rules; use the platform fee calculators.
• Forecasting sell-through or prices for a particular item.
• Tax advice. The set-aside field is a planning percentage only.
• Business-wide metrics such as gross margin return on inventory investment across a whole store.

Sources (retrieved October 2026)

• eBay fee tables: 13.6% final value fee for most categories (up to $7,500 per item) and the per-order fee of $0.30 on orders of $10.00 or less and $0.40 above. Categories differ; check yours. Retrieved October 2026.
• IRS, Self-employment tax: The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%. This site only offers a user-chosen set-aside percentage; your actual tax depends on your whole return. Retrieved October 2026.

Every other number on this page is an input you type or a labelled example. Platform fees change and differ by category, so confirm them on the platform before relying on a result.

FAQ

Is ROI or margin better for resellers?

Neither alone. Margin shows how much of each sale you keep; ROI shows the return on money and costs put in. Hourly profit shows whether the time was worth it.

What is sell-through?

The share of listed items that sell in a period. Different tools define it differently, so be consistent.

Why is my ROI high but my hourly pay low?

ROI ignores time. A cheap item with a high percentage return can still take as long to list and ship as an expensive one.

What is inventory turnover for a reseller?

How often you sell through and replace your stock in a period. Faster turnover repeats a small profit more often, but it is only an advantage if you can keep sourcing at the same cost.

Does this predict what I will earn?

No. It converts the numbers you type into ratios, and results vary with real fees, demand and time.