When selling products overseas on Shopee, are you
judging your profits based solely on the selling price?
Unlike domestic sales in Japan, overseas sales
can involve multiple currencies and costs.
For example, there are cases where you sell products in local currency, purchase them in Japanese Yen, and
receive sales proceeds in Japanese Yen.
In this scenario, you cannot calculate the correct profitability by simply
subtracting the Japanese Yen purchase cost from the sales amount in local currency.
What is important is to check the balance in the sales currency and the balance after conversion to Japanese Yen separately
.
This time, I will organize the key points to keep in mind for profit calculation in Shopee sales.
1. First, organize sales and expenses in the sales currency
The first thing to check is the destination country and its currency.
On Shopee, the applicable fees may vary depending on the sales market, participating campaigns, and shipping conditions.
Therefore, avoid calculating products from different countries uniformly using the same commission rates or shipping conditions.
The items you want to check in the sales currency are as follows:
-
Product selling price
-
Discounts and coupon costs
-
Sales-related fees
-
Shipping costs charged in the sales currency
-
Other deductions and adjustment amounts
What you should be careful about here is that the amount displayed on the screen as sales
is not necessarily the amount you will receive.
You need to check the actual deductions and settlement details against the official guidance for the target market
and your own store’s statement.
2. Convert from local currency to Japanese Yen
Next, let’s consider a hypothetical example for explanation.
This does not represent actual Shopee fees or exchange rates.
[Hypothetical Calculation Example]
-
Sales Amount: 100 currency units
-
Fees deducted on the sales side: 20 currency units
-
Amount after deduction: 80 currency units
100 – 20 = 80 currency units
Here, for the sake of explanation, we assume 1 currency unit = 4 yen.
80 × 4 yen = 320 yen
The amount converted to yen is 320 yen.
Furthermore, let us assume that the total costs incurred on the Japanese side, such as procurement and logistics, were 200 yen.
320 yen – 200 yen = 120 yen
Under these conditions, the remaining amount after deducting the listed expenses is 120 yen.
However, this is a hypothetical comparative calculation. If there are taxes, unrecorded expenses, fixed costs, or actual remittance/conversion fees, the results will change.
3. Keep a record of the exchange rate check date and application conditions
In overseas sales, the amount converted into Japanese yen changes depending on the exchange rate.
However, the reference exchange rate checked on the internet is not necessarily the same as the conversion conditions used for actual settlement or remittance.
Therefore, record the following information.
-
Sales currency
-
Rate used for the estimate
-
Date the rate was checked
-
Actually applied conversion conditions
-
Costs associated with settlement and remittance
-
Actual amount received in Japanese Yen
If you save your pre-purchase estimates and post-sale results separately, you can identify at which stage any discrepancies occurred.
4. Distinguish between buyer-paid and seller-paid shipping costs
In Shopee profit calculations, you must also be careful about how shipping costs are handled.
The shipping fee paid by the buyer and the actual shipping cost borne by the seller are not necessarily
the same.
For example, even if a shipping fee is displayed on the order screen, other logistics costs or
deductions may occur on the seller’s side.
Therefore, check the following information separately:
-
Shipping fees paid by the buyer
-
Shipping costs borne by the seller
-
Shipping costs incurred within Japan
-
Costs related to international shipping
-
Packaging material costs
-
Subsidies, adjustments, and deductions related to shipping
In particular, be careful not to deduct costs that have already been subtracted from the settlement amount
again after converting to Yen.
Not only missing cost entries but also double-counting can cause
errors in profit calculations.
5. Compare estimates with actual deposit results after sales
Calculating profit before purchasing products is important.
However, if you do not verify whether that calculation matches the actual sales results,
you cannot use it for future purchasing decisions.
After a sale, compare the following information.
Pre-purchase estimation
Expected selling price, expected fees, estimated shipping costs, reference exchange rate, and
expected remaining balance in Japanese Yen.
Post-sale actuals
Actual selling price, finalized costs, settlement amount, applied conversion terms, and
amount received in Japanese Yen.
If there is a discrepancy, break it down by items such as exchange rates, fees, shipping costs, and sales terms to
identify the cause.
Also, for items where the payment has not yet been finalized, do not treat them as confirmed based on assumptions; leave them as “unconfirmed.”
Shopee profit calculation starts with
organizing currencies and expenses.
What is important in cross-border sales is not simply converting sales into Japanese Yen.
It is about being able to confirm in which currency sales occurred, in which currency expenses were charged, and finally,
how much was received in Japanese Yen.
First, choose one product and try lining up the sales currency details with your Japanese Yen purchase and payment records
side by side.
More detailed estimation methods and how to organize expenses are explained in the original article on the Product Sales AI Lab
website.
Related Articles
You can also use a free checklist when organizing your daily check items.
Product Sales & EC Operation Checklist (No Registration Required)
*The amounts, currency units, and conversion rates in this article are assumptions for explanation purposes and do not represent actual Shopee fees or exchange rates. They also differ from
taxable profit and final cash on hand. Please check the latest official terms and your store’s settlement statements.
*The images used are AI-generated illustrations.
