THE FLIPWORTH CALCULATOR / RESALE PROFIT
Reselling ROI Calculator
See exactly how much you could make on a resale. Enter your purchase price, expected selling price and costs to calculate profit, ROI and margin instantly.
Calculate your resale profit
Changing currency only changes the symbol. It does not convert the values you have entered.
Results
Profitable- Profit
- £17.10Selling price minus purchase price, fees, shipping and other costs.
- ROI
- 85.5%Return relative to the amount you paid for the item.
- Margin
- 34.2%How much of the final selling price remains as profit.
- Maximum Recommended Purchase Price
- £24.73Based on a target ROI of 50%. This is a calculation from your inputs, not a universal recommendation.
Calculations run locally in your browser. No account required. Results are estimates, not guarantees.
01 / WORKED EXAMPLE
Reselling ROI Example
Buy an item for £20, sell it for £50, and pay £6.40 in marketplace fees, £4.50 shipping and £2 in other costs.
- Revenue
- £50.00
- Purchase price
- £20.00
- Marketplace fees
- £6.40
- Shipping
- £4.50
- Other costs
- £2.00
- Total costs
- £32.90
- Profit
- £17.10
- ROI
- 85.5%
- Margin
- 34.2%
In plain English, the reseller makes £17.10 after the entered costs, which is an 85.5% return on the £20 originally spent. Each number is just the previous ones combined: £20 + £6.40 + £4.50 + £2 = £32.90 in total costs, and £50 − £32.90 = £17.10.
Formulas used by the calculator
Profit = Selling Price − Purchase Price − Fees − Shipping − Other Costs
ROI % = Profit ÷ Purchase Price × 100
Margin % = Profit ÷ Selling Price × 100
Maximum Purchase Price = Available After Costs ÷ (1 + Target ROI ÷ 100)
The 12.8% default fee in the calculator is only an example. It is not an actual, maintained marketplace fee rate, so check the current fee schedule for where you sell.
02 / THE BASICS
What Is ROI in Reselling?
ROI, or return on investment, measures profit relative to the amount you originally spent buying the item. It tells you how hard each pound or dollar of purchase money worked.
Formula
ROI = Profit ÷ Purchase Price × 100
Example
Buy for £20, make £10 profit
£10 ÷ £20 × 100 = 50%
If the purchase price is zero, ROI is not applicable because you cannot divide by zero. The calculator says so rather than showing a misleading number.
03 / THREE NUMBERS
Profit vs ROI vs Margin
All three come from the same profit figure. They differ in what they divide by, so they answer different questions.
| Metric | What it tells you | Calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Profit | How much money you make | Money after costs |
| ROI | Return relative to what you paid | Profit ÷ purchase price × 100 |
| Margin | Profit relative to the sale price | Profit ÷ selling price × 100 |
A £10 profit on a £5 item is a 200% ROI; the same £10 on a £200 item is 5%. Margin looks at the sale price instead, so it can never exceed 100% when profit is positive.
04 / COSTS
Costs Resellers Should Include
Sellers often underestimate costs. Leaving them out can make an apparently profitable flip much less attractive.
- Purchase price
- Marketplace selling fees
- Payment processing fees
- Shipping
- Packaging
- Cleaning
- Repairs
- Refurbishment
- Promoted listing fees
- Other transaction costs
Use the Marketplace fees, Shipping and Other costs inputs above to capture these. Combine packaging, cleaning and repairs into Other costs.
05 / EVIDENCE
Why Sold Prices Matter
Your expected selling price should ideally come from sold comparable listings, not active asking prices. Active sellers can ask any price they like. Sold listings are stronger evidence of what buyers have actually been willing to pay.
Learn how sold comps work, or use the eBay sold price checker to look at completed sales for a specific item. For a fuller pricing process, read how to price items for resale.
06 / WORKING BACKWARDS
How Much Should You Pay for an Item to Resell?
Work backwards from the expected selling price:
- 01Estimate a realistic resale value.
- 02Deduct marketplace fees.
- 03Deduct shipping.
- 04Deduct other costs.
- 05Decide the return you require.
- 06Calculate the maximum purchase price.
Default example: 50% target ROI
£50 sale, 12.8% fees (£6.40), £4.50 shipping, £2 other
Available after costs = £50 − £6.40 − £4.50 − £2 = £37.10
Maximum purchase price = £37.10 ÷ 1.5 = £24.73
That is the Maximum Recommended Purchase Price result in the calculator. It depends entirely on the target ROI you enter and the inputs you trust. It is a calculation, not financial advice or a guarantee of profit. If your costs leave nothing available, there is no buying budget at that target.
The resale value calculator guide covers estimating the selling price itself.
07 / BEFORE THE CALCULATOR
Find the Numbers Automatically With FlipWorth
The hardest part of calculating resale ROI is often knowing what an item is likely to sell for. This calculator works best when you already have that figure. FlipWorth helps with the step before it.
- 01Take or upload a photo.
- 02FlipWorth identifies the item. You can also learn to find an item from a photo.
- 03FlipWorth searches for comparable marketplace listings.
- 04Sold data comes first where available. Any active-listing fallback is shown separately.
- 05FlipWorth estimates resale value.
- 06Potential profit and ROI are calculated.
Results are estimates based on the data available, not guaranteed values or profits. See how to find an item from a photo.
Don't know the selling price yet?
Upload a photo and let FlipWorth estimate what the item could be worth.