Rising fees and fulfillment costs have eroded ecommerce profitability. Threecolts is launching three solutions to turn the industry around.
Feb 17
Revenue looks great—until the returns, ads, and fees roll in. These tools reveal what your margins are really made of.
You think your Amazon business is profitable. The sales are rolling in, orders are shipping out, and your revenue numbers look impressive. But when you finally sit down to tally up your actual earnings, you’re left wondering where all the money went.
This profit blindness is the silent killer of Amazon businesses. Without proper tracking tools, you’re essentially flying blind—making critical decisions based on incomplete information while fees, returns, and ad costs quietly eat away at your margins.
Let’s fix that. The right profit tracking tool reveals exactly where your money is going and, more importantly, how to keep more of it in your pocket.
Amazon sellers live in a complex financial ecosystem. You’re juggling ever-changing fulfillment fees, referral percentages, storage costs, and promotional expenses. All of which directly impact your bottom line.
The true cost of selling on Amazon extends far beyond the obvious. Those seemingly small monthly storage fees can balloon unexpectedly during Q4. That impressive sales spike might look great until you realize your return rate doubled simultaneously. Your best-selling product might actually be your least profitable once advertising costs enter the equation.
Seller Central’s basic reporting simply doesn’t cut it. The native analytics focus primarily on revenue metrics and provide limited visibility into true profitability at the product level. You can’t easily see which ASINs are actually making you money versus which ones are secretly draining your resources. This data gap forces you to make crucial inventory and marketing decisions based on incomplete information.
Truly understanding your Amazon business requires tracking specific financial indicators that directly impact your profitability and growth potential.
Your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) forms the foundation of accurate profit calculations. This includes not just manufacturing costs but also shipping to Amazon warehouses, customs duties, and product packaging. Without precise COGS tracking, every profit calculation downstream becomes unreliable.
Fee transparency is equally critical. Amazon charges a complex web of fulfillment fees (picking, packing, shipping), referral fees (category-specific commissions), storage fees (higher during Q4), and various return/removal charges. These can collectively consume 30-40% of your selling price.
Return rates silently erode profitability even for top-selling items. Beyond the refunded sale, you’re facing potential return processing fees, unsellable inventory costs, and the administrative burden of managing customer issues. A 10% return rate can devastate your margins, especially in categories like apparel or electronics.
Here’s a breakdown of essential profit metrics and how they impact your strategic decisions:
Metric | What it tracks | Impact on business decisions |
COGS | Cost to produce and ship each unit | Determines product-level margins and pricing |
Net Profit Margin | Profit after all expenses per sale | Used to assess product viability |
ROI (Return on Investment) | Profit divided by initial investment | Helps prioritize ad spend and inventory investment |
Amazon Fees | Fulfillment, referral, storage, returns | Identifies fee-heavy SKUs that may need pricing or sourcing changes |
Advertising Costs (PPC) | Spend on Amazon ads | Supports ad optimization, evaluates TACoS (total advertising cost of sales) |
Return Rate | % of products returned by customers | Informs listing quality, packaging, and product improvement |
Storage Time and Fees | How long inventory sits in FBA warehouses | Drives decisions on liquidation or restocking |
Breakeven Sales Price | The price needed to cover all costs | Informs pricing floor during competitive or promo periods |
Gross Margin per SKU | Revenue minus COGS and Amazon fees | Reveals the best/worst performing products |
Miscellaneous Expenses | Packaging, warehousing, labor, and tools | Affects bottom line and true cost calculations |
Let’s cut through the noise and look at the tools that actually deliver on their promises. We’ve listed down the best profit trackers that Amazon sellers swear by, and here’s what you need to know about each one.
Picture having your inventory management, prep and ship processes, and profit tracking all living under one roof. That’s InventoryLab Accounting in a nutshell.
This tool gets granular with your profits, breaking them down by product, supplier, or sales channel. You can create FBA shipments while keeping tabs on your financial performance without jumping between platforms.
The accounting side handles all the boring-but-essential stuff automatically. Expenses, reimbursements, refunds, shipping costs—you name it. Goodbye spreadsheets, hello accurate snapshots of where your money’s going.
Got a retail arbitrage or private label business? InventoryLab works for both. The Scoutify app integration even lets you check if a product will be profitable before you even buy it. This saves you from costly inventory mistakes.
Part of Seller 365, along with 9 other apps. Costs $69/month for the entire bundle and comes with up to 14 days of free test drive.
Ever wished you could see all your Amazon and Walmart marketplace numbers in one place? FeedbackWhiz Profits makes that happen with minimal fuss.
The dashboard breaks down exactly what you’re making (or losing) in real time. You’ll see your net profit, costs, Amazon’s or Walmart’s cut, promotional expenses, and refunds—all without needing an accounting degree.
Want to know how you did yesterday? The system spits out P&L statements and lets you create custom reports for specific products or time periods. The visual profit trends immediately show which products are stars and which are duds.
The tool shines with its clear, no-nonsense dashboards that work for both big-picture reviews and nitty-gritty product analysis. It’ll even ping you when profit margins dip below your thresholds or when fees suddenly spike.
Since it’s part of the broader Seller 365 toolkit, you can manage reviews, automate emails, and more all from the same account.
Also part of Seller 365, along with 9 other apps. Costs $69/month for the entire bundle and comes with up to 14 days of free test drive.
Sellerboard zeroes in on the money side of Amazon selling. The dashboard shows product-level profits alongside ad spend, returns, and other performance metrics.
You can also add custom costs specific to your business, and it works just as well for private label sellers as it does for wholesale or arbitrage businesses.
SellerApp’s profit tracking dashboard connects sales, advertising, and inventory in one view. Their sales forecasting and seasonal trend analysis help you plan restocks as well.
Data visualization shows you your KPIs and reports, which you can filter as needed. The system also shows profit metrics that let you gauge product demand over time.
Helium 10’s Profits tool gives users comprehensive profit tracking alongside their other research-focused features. The system keeps tabs on revenue, orders, refunds, ROI, and profit margins across any date range you choose.
On the inventory side, it’ll tell you when to restock and help you track supplier orders so you never run out of hot products. You also get insights on trends across categories or down to individual ASINs.
Finding the perfect profit tracker isn’t about getting the fanciest tool. It’s about matching the solution to your specific needs.
A profit-first approach changes everything about how you run your Amazon business. Stop celebrating revenue milestones that mask thin margins, and start making decisions based on actual profitability.
Your weekly routine should include checking key metrics: profit margins at both account and product levels, ad spend efficiency, inventory turnover rates, and return patterns. These numbers tell the real story of your business’ health.
Amazon success comes down to knowing exactly what you earn on each transaction. The right tracking tool reveals not just where your money goes, but where opportunities for optimization hide in plain sight.
Ready for complete visibility into your Amazon finances? Try Seller 365’s profit tools and more, free for up to 14 days.