How Do You Calculate Marketplace Profit? Commission, Shipping, VAT and Withholding Tax Included

Here is the short answer to how you calculate marketplace profit: first you separate out the VAT (KDV) included in the sales price, then from the remaining net-of-VAT amount you deduct commission, shipping, the service fee, product cost and expected return cost. VAT and the e-commerce withholding tax (stopaj), however, do not enter the profit calculation as expenses: one is a tax you pass on to the state, the other is a prepaid tax you will offset during the year. In this guide, we show every item in a single order example, with tables.

How to calculate marketplace profit: the basic formula

For a VAT-registered seller, the correct formula is built on net-of-VAT amounts:

In this formula, expenses are also entered net of VAT. The difference between the VAT you collect from the customer on sales (output VAT, hesaplanan KDV) and the VAT you pay on purchases and marketplace invoices (deductible VAT, indirilecek KDV) is paid with the VAT return or carried forward to the next month. This difference determines your tax liability, not your profit.

The most common mistake is subtracting VAT-inclusive expenses from the VAT-inclusive sales price and treating what's left as profit. In the example below, you will see in numbers why this method overstates profit.

Assumptions used in the example

To make the calculation concrete, let's take a product subject to 20% VAT sold on Trendyol or Hepsiburada. The commission rate, shipping fee, service fee and return assumptions below are examples; actual rates and amounts vary by marketplace, category, campaign and your contract. In your own calculation, use the current values in your seller panel.

Costs item by item

1. From the VAT-inclusive price to the net-of-VAT amount

The 600.00 TL the customer pays includes VAT. To find the net-of-VAT amount, you divide the price by (1 + VAT rate): 600.00 ÷ 1.20 = 500.00 TL. The 100.00 TL difference is output VAT and is not your income. For the formulas in detail and for other rates, see our VAT calculation article.

2. Commission (example rate)

In the example, we assumed a commission rate of 15% and calculated it on the sales price: 600.00 × 0.15 = 90.00 TL. The amount the commission is calculated on (the price before or after discounts, including or excluding taxes) is stated in the platform contract and in the marketplace payout (hakediş) details. Be sure to check this base in your own calculation; the same rate gives a different result on a different base.

3. VAT on the commission invoice

Marketplaces issue the seller invoices with 20% VAT for commission, service/platform fees, contracted shipping, and advertising and campaign participation fees. In the example, the invoice for the 90.00 TL commission comes to 90.00 + 18.00 = 108.00 TL.

This 18.00 TL is deductible VAT: it is recorded in account 191 Deductible VAT and offset against the VAT arising from the sale. That's why it is not entered as a cost in the profit calculation. The fee itself is usually tracked in account 760 Marketing, Sales and Distribution Expenses; we show the complete entry in our marketplace commission invoice accounting entry article.

4. Shipping

If you use the marketplace's contracted carrier, the shipping fee also arrives on the marketplace's invoice: in the example, 60.00 TL + 12.00 TL VAT. Carriers compare a package's volumetric weight (desi) with its actual weight and charge for whichever is greater; entering the wrong desi on the product listing leads to unexpected shipping differences. For the calculation method, see our what is desi article.

If you charge the customer a separate shipping fee, that amount is part of the sales price and is included in the VAT base (Turkish VAT Law, KDVK Article 24/b). In the profit calculation, record this collection as sales and the shipping fee you pay as an expense.

5. Service fee and other platform expenses

Some marketplaces deduct a separate per-order amount called a service, platform or transaction fee. In the example, this fee is 10.00 TL + 2.00 TL VAT. Advertising and campaign participation fees are likewise recorded as expenses at their net-of-VAT amounts. To allocate them per order, you can divide the monthly total by that month's number of orders.

6. E-commerce withholding tax (1%)

Since January 1, 2025, marketplaces have withheld 1% income or corporate tax from the payments they make to sellers. The base for the withholding is the net-of-VAT product sales price; the commission, shipping and service fees the marketplace deducts are not subtracted from the base. In the example: 500.00 × 0.01 = 5.00 TL.

This amount is not an expense. It is a prepaid tax offset against the tax calculated on the provisional and annual returns, and in the accounts it is tracked in account 193 Prepaid Taxes and Funds. That's why it goes in the cash (payout) table, not the profit table. In some cases no withholding applies, such as for simplified-method taxpayers, tradesmen under the tradesman exemption, and sales whose price is collected outside the marketplace; details are in our e-commerce withholding tax guide.

7. Return cost

Returns are the item that erodes profit the most and is most often forgotten in the calculation. In a distance sale, the consumer can withdraw within 14 days of receiving the goods without giving a reason. Since January 1, 2026, the consumer cannot be held responsible for the cost of a withdrawal return sent via the carrier designated by the seller; in other words, the return shipping cost stays with you in most cases. For the full rules, see our right of withdrawal in distance sales article.

Calculate the return cost per order as an expected value: return rate × loss per return. In the example: 120.00 × 0.05 = 6.00 TL. Whether the commission is refunded on a returned order depends on the platform's rules. If the product comes back unsellable, add the product cost to the loss per return as well.

8. Product cost

Product cost is the net-of-VAT amount on your purchase invoice: 250.00 TL in the example. The 50.00 TL VAT you paid on the purchase is also deductible VAT. For products you manufacture yourself, find the cost by allocating raw materials, packaging and labor per unit.

Profit table for a single example

When we bring all items together at their net-of-VAT amounts, the table looks like this:

Two items are deliberately missing from this table: the 100.00 TL output VAT and the 5.00 TL withholding tax. The 84.00 TL figure is profit before income or corporate tax.

Output and deductible VAT: why doesn't VAT affect profit?

VAT is a tax that passes through the seller. The VAT you show on sales is output VAT; the VAT you pay on purchases and on the invoices the marketplace issues to you is deductible VAT. On the return, you pay the difference between the two.

Now let's calculate the same example with VAT-inclusive figures, that is, using the common incorrect method: 600.00 − 108.00 − 72.00 − 12.00 − 300.00 − 6.00 = 102.00 TL. This result is 18.00 TL higher than the actual profit, and the difference is exactly the net VAT you will pay. If you calculate with VAT-inclusive amounts, remember to deduct net VAT from the result.

In months when deductible VAT exceeds output VAT, the difference passes to the next period as VAT carried forward (devreden KDV). This affects your cash flow but does not change the profit calculation.

Profit and payout are not the same thing

The amount the marketplace deposits into your bank account (the payout) is not your profit. The payout is what remains after the marketplace deducts its own invoices and the withholding tax from the amount collected from the customer. In the example below, the commission, shipping and service fees are assumed to be offset against the payout:

To get from the payout to profit, you make these adjustments: from 403.00 TL, deduct the 300.00 TL you paid for the product purchase, the 18.00 TL net VAT payable and the 6.00 TL expected return cost, then add back the 5.00 TL withholding tax you will offset on your return. The result is again 84.00 TL.

Checking whether the payout arrives on time and in full is a separate task. Under Law No. 6563, the marketplace must pay the sales price to the seller within 5 business days from the date the amount comes into its possession and the order reaches the buyer. We explain how to check this in our marketplace payout reconciliation guide.

Working backward when setting prices

To find the sales price for your target profit, separate percentage-based deductions from fixed amounts. In the example, the fixed amounts are shipping, the service fee, product cost and return cost: 60.00 + 10.00 + 250.00 + 6.00 = 326.00 TL. After taxes are separated out, 1 ÷ 1.20 = 0.8333 lira remains from each lira of the sales price; since the commission is 0.15 of the sales price, each lira of the price leaves you 0.8333 − 0.15 = 0.6833 lira.

Because we treated the return cost as a fixed amount, the result is approximate. If the commission rate or the shipping rate scale changes during campaign periods, repeat the calculation with the values for that period.

Common mistakes

• Calculating profit from the VAT-inclusive price: If net VAT is not deducted, profit looks higher than it really is, as in the example.
• Treating the VAT on the commission invoice as a cost: This VAT is deductible VAT; if it is added to costs, profit looks lower than it really is.
• Recording the withholding tax as an expense: The 1% deduction is a prepaid tax to be offset; even in years when you make a loss, there is a way to get it refunded.
• Ignoring discounts: A discount borne by the seller and shown on the invoice is not part of the VAT base (KDVK Article 25/a); base your profit calculation on the discounted net-of-VAT amount. For coupons funded by the marketplace, on Trendyol the seller also issues a separate invoice to Trendyol.
• Not allocating advertising and return costs: If the monthly ad budget and the return rate are not allocated per product, even your best-selling product may be losing money.
• Applying a single rate to all channels: Each marketplace has a different structure of commission, shipping and service fees; calculate profitability separately for each channel.

The rates and amounts in the example are only meant to illustrate the method. Since your tax calculation may vary depending on your company type and your other income, confirm your calculation setup with your certified public accountant (mali müşavir).