Revenue is up, but profit is unclear
Community signal
Sales are growing, but after discounts, refunds, COGS, shipping, fees and ads, the real profit may be far smaller than it looks.
In real life: Strong revenue this month, yet the bank balance barely moves because cash is tied up in ads, shipping, refunds and stock.
Shopify / DTCShopeeTikTok ShopLazadaExcel / Manual
Data you need
- requiredOrders. Order-level export with quantities and amounts.
- requiredDiscounts and refunds. So revenue is net, not gross.
- requiredCOGS. Cost per product to get gross profit.
- optionalShipping, platform and payment fees. The cost layers most reports hide.
- optionalAd spend. To reach true profit after marketing.
Formula
True Profit
GMV - Discounts - Refunds - COGS - Shipping - Platform Fees - Payment Fees - AdsDeterministic: every layer is subtracted, nothing is estimated unless a cost is missing (then it is labeled estimated).
Key insight
- Some SKUs are revenue-positive but profit-negative.
- Total store revenue can hide a few products that drain the rest.
Action checklist
- 1Compute true profit by SKU · medium · 30 min
Not just total store revenue. Per-SKU is where the leak shows. - 2Find high-revenue, low-profit SKUs · easy · 10 min
Sort by true profit, not by sales. - 3Check which layer is the leak · easy · 15 min
Shipping, discounts or ads usually dominate. - 4Adjust price or pause spend on weak SKUs · medium · 1 day
Protect the products that actually carry margin.
Money impact · Protect margin
Reduces wasted spend and protects margin by surfacing products that win on revenue but lose after the full cost stack.
Recovered = Σ (loss on profit-negative SKUs you pause or reprice)Common mistakes
- Reading store-level revenue as if it were profit.
- Using gross profit (only COGS) and calling it the bottom line.
How Okiela helps
Per-SKU True Profitlive
Okiela computes true profit by SKU after you upload an order export and your cost assumptions.
Trust & sources
- Community signalRecurring pain across Shopify Community profit threads
Last reviewed 2026-06-22 · Confidence 4/5