Profit per order on Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho, after fees, GST, TCS and returns
The short answer. A ₹999 order with 18% GST, a ₹350 product and ₹234.85 of marketplace fees leaves ₹199.56 of profit, a 19.98% margin. Profit is the price without its GST, minus the product cost, the fees, packaging, ads and the average cost of returns. GST on fees, TCS and TDS lower the payout, not the profit.
Selling online looks profitable until every deduction is counted. The method below follows one order from the price the buyer pays to the money that is left, and it is the same on every marketplace. What differs between Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho is which fees they charge and how much, and those amounts are not in this guide on purpose: they depend on your category and price band, and the marketplaces revise them several times a year. Read yours from your own seller account.
Where to find your fees
| Marketplace | Fees it charges | Where the figures are |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.in | Referral fee (% of price), closing fee, shipping or weight-handling fee | Seller Central > Fee Preview, or the "Selling on Amazon fee schedule" for your category |
| Flipkart | Commission (% of price), fixed fee, shipping fee | Seller Hub > Rate Card for your category |
| Meesho | No commission on most categories; shipping, penalties and returns still apply | Supplier Panel > the payment breakdown of an order |
Each marketplace fee carries 18% GST on top.
The calculation, step by step
- Take the GST out of the price. The buyer's price includes GST, which goes to the government. At 18%, ₹999 ÷ 1.18 = ₹846.61 is yours; ₹152.39 is GST.
- Work out the fees. A percentage fee is charged on the price the buyer pays, GST included: 15% of ₹999 is ₹149.85. Add the fixed or closing fee and the shipping fee.
- Spread the returns over every order. Multiply the share of orders returned by what one return costs you. At 8% and ₹90 a return, that is ₹7.20 on every order sold.
- Subtract everything else per unit: the product cost before GST, packaging, and ad spend divided by units sold.
- What is left is the profit. Divide it by the selling price for the margin.
A worked example
These are the E-commerce Profit Calculator's example figures, there to show the method. They are not any marketplace's rates.
| Line | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|
| Selling price, GST included | 999.00 |
| Less GST at 18% | −152.39 |
| Price without GST | 846.61 |
| Product cost, before GST | −350.00 |
| Referral fee, 15% of ₹999 | −149.85 |
| Closing fee | −20.00 |
| Shipping fee | −65.00 |
| Packaging | −15.00 |
| Ads per unit sold | −40.00 |
| Returns: 8% of orders × ₹90 | −7.20 |
| Profit per order | 199.56 |
That is a margin of 19.98% of the price, and 57.02% on the ₹350 the product cost. The break-even price, the lowest selling price at which this order still covers every cost, is ₹712.87.
On Flipkart the boxes are named commission and fixed fee instead of referral and closing fee; the sum is the same. On the Amazon and Flipkart pages the calculator opens with that marketplace already chosen.
Profit and payout are different numbers
The payout is what reaches your bank account. The marketplace keeps its fees and the 18% GST on them, and it also holds back two small taxes in your name:
- GST TCS, 0.5% of the value before GST (since 10 July 2024): 0.5% of ₹846.61 = ₹4.23.
- Income-tax TDS, 0.1% of the gross amount (since 1 October 2024): 0.1% of ₹999 = ₹1.00.
So the payout is ₹999 − ₹234.85 fees − ₹42.27 GST on fees − ₹4.23 − ₹1.00 = ₹716.64. None of those three deductions is a cost to a GST-registered seller: the GST on fees is claimed as input tax credit, the TCS is credited to your GST cash ledger, and the TDS is claimed in your income-tax return. That is why they reduce the payout but not the profit. A seller who is not registered for GST cannot claim the GST on fees, so for them it is a real cost.
Meesho: returns decide the margin
With no commission and no fixed fee, a Meesho order's profit turns on shipping and returns. Take a ₹399 product with 5% GST, a ₹180 product cost, a ₹70 shipping fee and ₹10 packaging, with each return costing ₹90 (example figures again):
| Orders returned | Returns cost per order sold | Profit per order | Break-even price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | ₹0 | ₹120.00 | ₹273.00 |
| 20% | ₹18.00 | ₹102.00 | ₹291.90 |
| 35% | ₹31.50 | ₹88.50 | ₹306.08 |
Every return that comes back is paid for by the orders that did not. Use your real return rate from the Supplier Panel, not a hopeful one; the Meesho profit calculator hides the commission and fixed fee boxes so only the costs that apply are left.
If the numbers look wrong
- The profit looks too high. Check that the product cost is before GST and the selling price is with GST. Mixing them up moves the profit by the whole GST amount.
- The payout is less than you expected. The 18% GST on fees, the 0.5% TCS and the 0.1% TDS all leave before the money arrives. They come back to you later as credits.
- Your settlement differs from the calculation. Marketplaces add pick-and-pack, storage and other per-unit charges. Enter them under other fees, per unit.
- The fees you entered last month no longer match. Marketplaces revise their fees several times a year. Read them again from the fee page before relying on the result.
Questions people ask
How do I calculate profit on Amazon or Flipkart?
Take the GST out of the selling price, then subtract the product cost before GST, the marketplace fees, packaging, ad spend per unit and the average cost of returns. What remains is the profit per order. On a ₹999 order at 18% GST with the calculator's example costs, ₹846.61 stays with the seller and ₹199.56 of it is profit.
What are TCS and TDS on marketplace sales?
They are two amounts the marketplace holds back and pays to the government in your name. GST TCS is 0.5% of the value before GST, since 10 July 2024. Income-tax TDS is 0.1% of the gross amount, since 1 October 2024. On a ₹999 order they are ₹4.23 and ₹1.00, and you claim both back later.
Is GST on marketplace fees a cost for the seller?
Not for a GST-registered seller. The 18% GST on the marketplace's fees is deducted from the payout, but you claim it as input tax credit against the GST you owe on your sales. It lowers the money that arrives, not the profit. A seller without GST registration cannot claim it, so for them it is a real cost.
Does Meesho charge commission?
Meesho charges no commission on most categories, so its calculator page sets the commission and fixed fee to zero. Shipping, penalties and returns still apply, and returns usually decide the margin. With 20% of orders returned at ₹90 each, every order sold carries ₹18 of return cost. Check an order's payment breakdown in the Supplier Panel for your figures.
What is the break-even selling price?
It is the lowest price, GST included, at which an order still covers the product, fees, packaging, ads and returns, leaving zero profit. With the example figures for a ₹999 Amazon listing it is ₹712.87. Below that price every order loses money, however many you sell. A percentage fee rises with the price, and the calculation allows for it.
Sources
Checked 29 Sep 2026; GST rates checked 5 Oct 2026:
- GST on marketplace fees: 18%, the rate on these services.
- GST TCS: section 52 of the CGST Act, 0.5% of the net taxable value from 10 July 2024 (Notification 15/2024-Central Tax; it was 1% before).
- Income-tax TDS on e-commerce sales: 0.1% of the gross amount from 1 October 2024 (Finance (No. 2) Act 2024, section 194-O of the Income-tax Act 1961; section 393 of the Income-tax Act 2025).
- GST slabs on products since 22 September 2025: 0, 5, 18 and 40% (CBIC Notification 9/2025-Central Tax (Rate), as amended by 19/2025-Central Tax (Rate)).
- Fee names and where to find them: Amazon Seller Central Fee Preview, Flipkart Seller Hub Rate Card, Meesho Supplier Panel. This guide quotes no fee amounts; every fee figure above is an example input.
- Every profit, payout and break-even figure is calculated with the E-commerce Profit Calculator's own formula and rounded to the paisa.