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Acquisition Contribution Payback Table

Compare retained orders required to recover a hypothetical $60 acquisition cost at several contribution levels before acquisition expense.

By PriceAndProfit Editorial Updated

Each row measures contribution after product, fulfillment, payment and expected return costs, but before the $60 acquisition expense. Deducting acquisition again inside the order contribution would count the same cost twice. The table counts retained orders, so a fully refunded order is not automatically a qualifying order.

Exact order threshold = $60 ÷ positive pre-acquisition contribution per retained order
Hypothetical worked values; no market or statutory rates
Contribution per retained orderExact order thresholdWhole orders required
$30 2 2
$20 3 3
$15 4 4
$8 7.5 8
$0 Undefined No positive contribution recovery
−$5 Not a payback ratio Each retained order adds a loss

How to read and reuse this example

Use observed cohort contribution when available. If the first order differs from repeat orders, calculate the first order separately and apply a repeat-order threshold only to the unrecovered remainder. A whole-order count is not a month count: eight orders may arrive quickly, slowly or never. Report the observation horizon and distinguish acquired customers from total orders.

Boundaries and exceptions

Positive contribution does not cover fixed company overhead until enough total dollars have accumulated. At zero or negative contribution there is no useful positive acquisition-payback quotient. Do not turn the negative division result into a negative waiting time. The example contains no claim about lifetime value, retention or typical acquisition prices.

Method reference: OpenStax: Break-Even Points in Units and Dollars. Checked October 22, 2026. Contribution and cost-volume-profit relationships; examples are independently constructed.

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