Transaction tax starts at 0 — many markets charge none. Enter yours if it applies.
Selling at your buy price is a loss
You pay a fee going in, another going out, and in some markets a transaction tax on top. Sell at exactly what you paid and all of that comes out of your pocket. The true break-even sits a little above your entry price, and this works out where.
The shorter the trade, the heavier the cost
The cost of a single round trip looks trivial. Do it fifty times and it is charged fifty times, out of gains that are only a few percent each. Frequent trading is the setting in which fees quietly eat the entire edge.
For a business it is fixed costs ÷ contribution
Selling price minus variable cost is the contribution margin — what each unit sold puts towards the fixed costs. Divide the fixed costs by it and you get the volume at which you stop losing money. When the margin is thin, no amount of volume fixes it, and the answer lies in the price or the cost instead.
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Frequently asked questions
Q. Why is the break-even price above what I paid?
Because the fees are charged on both sides. You already paid the buying fee, and the selling fee plus any transaction tax comes off the proceeds — so the sale has to cover both before you are level.
Q. What should I put in the transaction tax field?
Whatever your market charges on a sale, as a percentage. Many markets charge nothing, in which case leave it at zero.
Q. Why does a small contribution margin make the volume explode?
Because it is the denominator. Halve the margin and the units needed double. That is why raising the price or cutting the variable cost usually beats trying to sell more.