Ecommerce Fixed vs. Variable Costs in 2025: Benchmarks, Real Numbers, and Cost-Reduction Tactics

Rising fulfillment surcharges, pricier ads, and higher return rates have tightened ecommerce margins in 2025. FedEx confirms an average 5.9 percent rate increase for 2025 along with additional surcharge updates that compound total costs, as the FedEx rate changes page and third-party analyses describe. UPS matched that 5.9 percent increase and pushed many surcharges above the headline average, according to Shipware’s 2025 UPS GRI breakdown. At the same time, retailers expect a 16.9 percent return rate for 2024 sales rolling into 2025, based on the NRF and Happy Returns report. In this environment, knowing what is fixed, what is variable, and where benchmarks sit is the fastest path to a sane price and break-even plan.

Fixed vs. variable costs for ecommerce, with 2025 reference points

Fixed costs are the bills you pay regardless of order volume. Typical examples include platform subscriptions, software, rent or storage minimums, salaries, and baseline insurance. Shopify’s pricing page lists transparent monthly tiers and built-in card rate schedules, with Basic starting at a yearly equivalent of 29 dollars per month when billed annually and online card rates starting at 2.9 percent plus 30 cents, as detailed on Shopify pricing.

Variable costs rise with each order. For online payments, Stripe’s pricing shows a widely used pack-and-ship benchmark of 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per transaction. If you run Shopify Payments, the Shopify credit card fee explainer outlines plan-dependent online rates that typically range from 2.5 to 2.9 percent plus 30 cents. Shipping and packaging scale per order too, and carriers’ 2025 surcharges mean more costs now sit in the variable bucket. In practical planning, many founders set a starting envelope for major variable categories, informed by benchmarks like Onramp Funds’ cost structure guide that cites payment processing at 1.5 to 3.5 percent, shipping and fulfillment often representing 20 to 25 percent of total expenses, and marketing at 20 to 30 percent of revenue.

Your product model also affects margin expectations. A synthesis of reported ranges from multiple sources suggests gross margin can vary meaningfully by model. The Store Growers compilation of industry benchmarks reports average gross margins near 32 percent for dropshipping and roughly 45 to 53 percent for hybrid, private label, and manufacturing models, based on eCommerceFuel’s survey summarized by Store Growers.

2025 benchmarks to sanity check your inputs

• Advertising cost and efficiency. Facebook traffic campaign CPCs average 0.70 dollars across industries, and Facebook lead campaign CPLs average 27.66 dollars, according to the latest WordStream 2025 Facebook benchmarks. CAC varies by category, and the 2025 edition from First Page Sage places ecommerce CACs in a broad 50 to 90 dollar band by vertical, such as 66 dollars for fashion and 78 dollars for automotive parts in its CAC by ecommerce industry report. Many teams still target a CAC to LTV ratio near 3 to 1 as that report notes.
• Payment processing. Stripe’s widely used online rate of 2.9 percent plus 30 cents and Shopify Payments’ plan-based rate tiers remain realistic planning anchors, as outlined on Stripe pricing and in Shopify’s 2025 fee overview.
• Shipping and surcharges. FedEx and UPS increased 2025 list rates by an average 5.9 percent, while surcharges for additional handling and oversize grew faster than base rates, according to Pitney Bowes’ 2025 GRI explainer and Shipware’s UPS analysis. Expect zone changes and delivery area surcharges to quietly shift landed costs.
• Returns. Retailers estimate returns at 16.9 percent of 2024 sales, with returns experience a top initiative for 2025, per the NRF and Happy Returns report. Model an expected return rate so you account for reverse logistics and refurb costs.
• Fulfillment approach. Outsourcing is now mainstream. Roughly 37 to 60 percent of brands use a 3PL for some or all fulfillment, based on Red Stag Fulfillment’s 2025 summary of surveys. Partial outsourcing converts some fixed warehouse overhead into per order variable fees.

Real numbers: a 2 minute break-even walk through

Assume you sell a 40 dollar item. COGS is 15 dollars. You ship for an average of 6 dollars. You process payments at 2.9 percent plus 0.30 dollars. Marketing averages 5 dollars per order. Variable costs per unit are:

• COGS 15.00
• Shipping 6.00
• Payment fee 1.46 plus 0.30 equals 1.76
• Marketing 5.00

Total variable cost is 27.76 dollars, so contribution margin per unit is 12.24 dollars. If your monthly fixed costs are 1,500 dollars, break-even units are 1,500 divided by 12.24, which is about 123 units. Change price to 42 dollars or cut shipping by 1 dollar and your break-even unit count moves immediately.

You can run this exact scenario and tweak it live in the free Break Even and Profit Analysis tool at FullyCounted. The on-page calculator is designed for ecommerce founders to input product price, cost per unit, and monthly fixed expenses, then see break-even units and projected profit update in real time. Save analyses and export reports to plan your launch or iterate on pricing without spreadsheets.

Cost reduction tactics that work in 2025 conditions

• Tighten shipping inputs. Repack to minimize dimensional weight and avoid triggering additional handling thresholds that rose sharply this year, as highlighted in Pitney Bowes’ surcharge changes recap. Compare carriers by zone weekly, and layer regional carriers into your mix in dense areas. Shipware notes that many common surcharges outpace the 5.9 percent headline increase in its UPS GRI analysis, which makes packaging optimization and address validation easy wins.
• Reduce paid CAC reliance. The WordStream benchmarks show Facebook traffic CPCs remain relatively low compared to search. Use that arbitrage to drive top-of-funnel traffic while improving conversion with landing page tests, then nurture through email. For bottom funnel, follow First Page Sage’s recommendation to balance paid with organic SEO so the blended CAC trend line falls over time, as their ecommerce CAC study suggests.
• Convert fixed to variable where it helps. If you are under 1,000 orders per month, in-house may be cheaper. Once you approach 1,000 to 3,000 orders monthly, 3PL per order pricing can offset rent, equipment, and labor scheduling risk, consistent with the adoption patterns in Red Stag Fulfillment’s 2025 overview.
• Attack payment leakage. Shopify outlines how plan tiers influence card rates, and details common hidden fees from other processors, in its 2025 processing fee guide. If you already run Shopify, ensure you are on the plan that nets the lowest effective rate for your volume. If you are selecting a platform, the all-in stack and included Shopify Payments rates on Shopify pricing can simplify decisions.
• Manage returns before they happen. Since returns approach 17 percent of sales, tackle sizing accuracy, product imagery, and fit guides up front. The NRF report notes consumers value box free returns and fast refunds, but you can nudge behavior with store credit incentives that protect cash flow.

A quick plan to put this into motion

• Gather your price, COGS, shipping, processing rate, and per order marketing spend.
• Add monthly fixed costs for platform, software, and overhead.
• Calculate contribution margin per unit and break-even units. Try it in seconds at FullyCounted.
• Set KPI guardrails from credible ranges. For example, sanity check CAC with the First Page Sage ecommerce CAC table and social CPCs or CPLs with WordStream’s 2025 benchmarks.
• Change one lever at a time. Test a 1 dollar price bump, a lighter mailer, or a different ad objective, and watch break-even move.

If you are ready to launch an online store with transparent pricing, fast setup, and native payments, consider starting on Shopify. You will get clear platform costs and built-in card rate tiers that are easy to model alongside your shipping and marketing.