Ecommerce & profit

Maximum Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator

Set a first-order acquisition budget after subtracting variable costs and the profit you want to preserve.

Use this to set an affordable acquisition ceiling from order economics. Use CAC to measure what you actually spent per new customer.

Your inputs

Use one currency and a consistent period throughout. Currency results use your input currency, not a preset symbol. Enter decimals with a dot or comma, without thousands separators.

First-order revenue (currency)

Net revenue from one new customer's first order, excluding pass-through sales tax.

Product cost (currency)

Landed cost of the goods in the first order.

Shipping and fulfillment (currency)

Per-order shipping, packing, and fulfillment paid by the business.

Transaction fees (currency)

Payment processing and marketplace fees for this order.

Other variable costs (currency)

Remaining order-dependent expenses, excluding acquisition spend and costs already entered.

Desired first-order profit (currency)

Amount to retain after acquisition and variable costs; include any intended overhead reserve here.

Your result

Result for the default inputs

Maximum CAC (input currency per new customer)

40.00

Calculations run in this browser. Inputs are not sent to a server or added to a share link.

What the result means

This is the acquisition amount left after protecting the supplied profit target. A negative result means the target is unattainable even with zero acquisition spend; it is not a usable negative budget.

The formula

First-order revenue - product cost - shipping - fees - other variable costs - desired profit

Results are displayed to at most two decimal places. Calculations use the unrounded inputs.

A worked example

Put the formula to work

First-order revenue (currency): 120
Product cost (currency): 36
Shipping and fulfillment (currency): 12
Transaction fees (currency): 6
Other variable costs (currency): 6
Desired first-order profit (currency): 20

Maximum CAC (input currency per new customer): 40.00

An order with 120 revenue and 60 variable costs can fund 40 of acquisition while preserving 20 of first-order profit.

How to use this calculator

Estimate the net first-order revenue for a new customer.
Itemize every variable delivery cost without double-counting.
Choose the cash profit or overhead reserve to protect.
Subtract costs and that reserve to obtain the acquisition ceiling.

Why this number matters

Setting an acquisition ceiling before a campaign launches prevents revenue growth from consuming the cash needed to fulfill orders and fund operations.

Input definitions

First-order revenue (currency): Net revenue from one new customer's first order, excluding pass-through sales tax.
Product cost (currency): Landed cost of the goods in the first order.
Shipping and fulfillment (currency): Per-order shipping, packing, and fulfillment paid by the business.
Transaction fees (currency): Payment processing and marketplace fees for this order.
Other variable costs (currency): Remaining order-dependent expenses, excluding acquisition spend and costs already entered.
Desired first-order profit (currency): Amount to retain after acquisition and variable costs; include any intended overhead reserve here.

Assumptions and limitations

First-order only: future repeat purchases are deliberately excluded.
Averages can conceal less profitable products, regions, and return-prone cohorts.
The result is not a bid recommendation and does not account for conversion lag.

Methodology

The default result and worked example use the same calculation functions as the interactive tool. The formula cannot verify the quality or scope of your source data.

Read our calculation methodology

Last updated September 7, 2026.