If I sell one product at a loss to attract customers, how do I know whether add-on sales cover it?

Example: an electric incense burner and bakhoor

You sell an electric incense burner costing 60 for 49 to pull in winter shoppers, hoping they add a box of bakhoor that costs 12 and sells for 29. Run both in the Profit margin calculator:

How many buyers need to add it?

Each burner sold loses 11. Each bakhoor box earns 17. If every buyer takes a box, you make 6 per order. Not every buyer will. The break-even point is 11 ÷ 17, so about 65% of burner buyers must add a box.

• If only half the buyers add it: the average add-on profit per buyer is 8.5, and the offer loses 2.5 per burner.
• If 80% add it: the average add-on profit is 13.6, and the offer makes 2.6 per burner.

The calculator cannot know the real share; your orders can. Run the offer briefly, then count the orders that contained the burner and how many of them also contained bakhoor.

What tips the sum for or against you

• Repeat purchases: a burner owner needs bakhoor later. If they come back for a second box next month, that is profit the first order never showed, as long as your data confirms it.
• Order costs: shipping, packaging and payment fees land on the burner order too. Add their average to its cost to see the true loss.
• Deal hunters: some shoppers buy only the loss leader. If there are many, the share drops and the offer loses.
• A capped quantity: limit the offer to a fixed number of units so you know the maximum loss in advance, 11 times the units.

A lower-risk alternative

Instead of selling the burner alone at a loss, offer it as a bundle with the bakhoor at an attractive price. Then everyone who takes the offer takes the add-on. The bundle costs 72, so any price above that is profit. Work out the bundle's discount against the two separate prices with the Discount calculator, and if the promotion carries fixed costs such as a photo shoot or a campaign, find the number of orders that covers them with the Break-even calculator.