Daan van der Lugt · 2 min
Selling a product on bol is profitable if something is still left after cost of goods, commission, shipping or Logistics via bol (LVB) costs, returns and advertising. That differs per product, so calculate per product, not for your total bol revenue. Many sellers only look at revenue and only see the difference in their accounts.
Why revenue on bol is misleading
For many Dutch online stores, bol is the biggest sales channel next to their own shop. Revenue is easy to see in the seller account. What is left of that revenue is harder: the costs sit in different places and arrive at different moments.
As a result, a product can sell a lot on bol and still earn little, while the same product does well in your own shop. Or the other way round.
What bol takes from your order
On every sale, bol keeps a commission. It depends on the category and the price of the product. If you sell through Logistics via bol (LVB), storage and shipping costs come on top. If you ship yourself, you pay your own carrier.
Then there are returns, which run high in some categories, and possibly advertising through bol. All these costs are on your bol statement, but not grouped per order.
TermLogistics via bol (LVB)How to calculate it
Calculate per product, not for your total bol revenue. Start with the selling price excluding VAT. Subtract cost of goods: that gives you profit after cost of goods. Then subtract commission, shipping or LVB costs and the average cost of returns: that gives you profit after order costs. Finally, subtract the ad spend that belongs to that product: that gives you profit after marketing.
Do the same for the same product in your own shop. Then you see per product which channel leaves you the most.
TermProfit after order costsprofit after order costs = revenue − cost of goods − shipping − payment fees − commission − returns and refundsWhere it often goes wrong
Returns are forgotten, because they come weeks later. Commission is estimated instead of taken per order from the statement. And ads through bol and through Google are not linked to the same products.
The result is that the average is right, but you do not see which products cost you money on bol.
What you do with it
Once you know per product what bol earns you, you can choose: adjust prices, take a product off bol, sell through LVB or not, or advertise less on products that leave nothing after all costs. Those are decisions you cannot make on revenue.