Fixed Amount Discount Break-Even Calculator: Know Your Dollar-Off Numbers

Here's a question that will change how you think about fixed amount discounts forever:

If you offer a $15 fixed discount on a product with $40 profit, how many more units do you need to sell just to make the same profit?

Most merchants guess wrong. Way wrong.

The answer depends on your profit per unit. And that's exactly what this calculator shows you.

Enter your numbers below. See the truth. Then decide if that fixed amount discount is really worth it.

How Fixed Amount Discount Math Works

The break-even formula for fixed amount discounts is straightforward but powerful:

Let's walk through a real example:

• Product Price: $100
• Product Cost: $60
• Original Profit: $40
• Fixed Amount Discount: $15 off

Calculation: $15 / ($40 - $15) = $15 / $25 = 0.60 = 60% more sales needed

With your $15 fixed amount discount, your profit per unit drops from $40 to $25. To maintain the same total profit, you need to sell 60% more units. If you normally sell 100 units, you now need 160 units just to break even.

Why Fixed Amount Discounts Hit Harder on Cheaper Products

Here's what makes fixed amount discounts tricky: the same dollar discount has a dramatically different impact depending on your product price.

Consider a $10 fixed discount on two different products:

The same $10 requires 6x more effort on the cheaper product. This is why many stores use percentage discounts for lower-priced items and reserve fixed amount discounts for higher-ticket products.

Fixed Amount Discount Break-Even Reference Table

Use this table to quickly estimate break-even points for common fixed amount discounts. Find your approximate profit per unit, then see the required sales increase.

∞ = Impossible. When your fixed amount discount equals or exceeds your profit, no amount of volume can make the promotion profitable. You're either making $0 or losing money on every sale.

The "Dedicated Buyer" Problem with Fixed Amount Discounts

Here's a painful truth about fixed amount discounts: some of your visitors were already going to buy at full price.

When you show a "$15 OFF" popup to everyone who visits your store, you're handing that $15 to people who didn't need it to decide. These "dedicated buyers" would have purchased anyway. You just gave away $15 in profit for a sale that was already happening.

Let's put real numbers on this. Say you sell 100 units per month at $100 with $40 profit each:

The math gets worse when you consider that dedicated buyers are often your best customers—high-intent visitors who trust your brand. Every fixed dollar discount they use is pure margin loss with no incremental revenue to show for it.

A Smarter Approach: Intent-Based Fixed Amount Discounts

What if you could show your fixed amount discounts only to visitors who actually need them to convert?

Go back to our example: $100 product, $40 profit, $15 fixed discount. The calculator says you need +60% more sales. But that assumes every visitor sees the discount. If you only show it to walk-away visitors—the ones about to leave without buying—the equation changes entirely:

Intent-based discounting identifies walk-away visitors through behavioral signals:

• Exit intent: Mouse moving toward the close button
• Long idle time: Stuck on a page, not engaging
• Cart abandonment: Items added but checkout not started
• Multiple page views without action: Browsing but not buying

By reserving your fixed dollar discounts for these walk-away visitors, you protect full-price revenue from dedicated buyers while still rescuing sales that would otherwise be lost.

Growth Suite does this automatically. It analyzes visitor behavior in real-time, showing personalized fixed amount discount offers only to visitors who are likely to leave without purchasing. Your "$15 off" offer goes to visitors who need it—not to those who were already reaching for their wallet.

When to Choose Fixed Amount vs. Percentage Discounts

Fixed amount discounts work best in specific situations:

• Higher-priced products: "$50 off" on a $500 item sounds substantial (10%) but keeps break-even reasonable
• Shipping thresholds: "$10 off orders over $75" encourages cart building
• New customer acquisition: A fixed dollar amount is easier to understand and budget
• Price anchoring: Customers see the exact savings, which can feel more concrete

For a deep dive into choosing between discount types, see our guide on Percentage vs. Fixed Amount Discounts.

Every fixed amount discount has two costs: the obvious one (lower profit per sale) and the hidden one (full-price buyers who didn't need the offer). A $15 discount doesn't cost you $15. On 100 monthly sales, it can cost you $600-$1,500 depending on how many of those buyers would have converted anyway. Scroll back up, run your own numbers, and ask the one question this calculator can't answer for you: does this visitor actually need a discount to buy?