AOV break-even calculator.
Enter your CAC (customer acquisition cost), COGS, fees, and shipping. See the average order value (AOV) you need to break even — and what it takes to actually be profitable.
Per-order costs
Defaults work for most small shops in the EU.
Minimum AOV to break even
Why "raise AOV" is the most over-prescribed and under-calculated ecommerce advice.
Every ecommerce blog tells you to raise AOV. Almost none tell you the minimum AOV your store needs to make any money at all. That number is brutal once you do the math — and many stores are scaling losses every time they get a new customer because their AOV is below break-even.
The formula
Break-even AOV = (CAC + COGS + shipping + fixed Stripe fee) ÷ (1 − Stripe % fee)
If you spend €18 to acquire a customer, COGS is €14, shipping is €5, and Stripe takes 1.5% + €0.25 per order, your break-even AOV is about €37.30. Selling under that = losing money, even at full price. Selling at €30 means you're paying customers to take your products.
Why CAC is the dominant lever
For most small ecommerce shops, CAC is bigger than COGS. Cutting CAC by €5 (better targeting, better creative, better organic flow) moves break-even AOV by more than cutting COGS by €5. Most owners spend all their optimization effort on COGS and ignore CAC.
What to do
Don't optimize for "AOV up by 10%." Optimize for "AOV is at least €X above break-even" — and watch CAC and AOV together, not separately.