Price Comparison Website Break-Even: Month 28 Profit Threshold

Fixed costs $28.0K Monthly overhead

Contribution margin 81.5% After direct costs

Break-even revenue $34.4K Revenue target

Break-even timing Month 28 First profit month

Break-even calculator

Compare monthly revenue against variable expenses and fixed costs to see when the site breaks even.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue is the pool that covers variable costs and fixed overhead. $ Low sales High sales Variable expenses These direct costs rise with traffic, fees, and support load. $ Low spend High spend

Money available to cover fixed costs $585,289 $705,167 revenue - $119,878 variable expenses

Margin ratio

83%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead break-even has to cover. $ Lean overhead Heavy overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed, variable, semi-variable, or semi-fixed for this online deal comparison business?

Cost classification

Break-even quality depends on putting each expense in the right bucket. With break-even in Month 28, misclassifying fixed overhead or revenue-linked fees can make the model look safer than it is.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Office Rent	Fixed	Include $12,000 per month in overhead from Month 1.	Treating rent as if it rises with traffic.
Cybersecurity Insurance	Fixed	Include $2,500 per month from Month 1 through Month 60.	Omitting platform risk coverage from break-even overhead.
Software Subscriptions	Fixed	Include $4,000 per month as recurring operating overhead.	Spreading subscriptions by order without a usage driver.
Legal and Accounting Retainer	Fixed	Include $5,000 per month in the fixed overhead base.	Treating compliance and finance support as optional.
Payroll for Leadership, Engineering, Marketing, Seller Relations, and Support	Semi-fixed	Step payroll up by the FTE plan, from 9.0 FTEs in the first year to 35.0 FTEs in Year 5.	Assuming headcount scales smoothly with revenue.
Buyer and Seller Marketing Budgets	Semi-variable	Tie spend to CAC and acquisition volume; first-year budgets total $650,000.	Treating paid acquisition as free growth.
Payment Gateway Processing	Variable	Apply 3.5% of revenue in the first year, falling to 2.5% by Year 5.	Using gross revenue as profit before processing fees.
Cloud Infrastructure and Hosting	Variable	Apply 6.0% of revenue in the first year, falling to 4.0% by Year 5.	Ignoring hosting growth as usage increases.

How does break-even change across lean, base, and scaled plans for a price comparison website?

Scenario table

Lean and base plans stay below break-even because fixed payroll and overhead outrun gross profit. The scaled case turns positive, but only after Month 28 proof that traffic, seller mix, and revenue hold.

Planning assumption only; actual break-even will move with traffic mix, commission rates, and fixed hiring.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean launch	$61.8k	$11.4k	$178.9k	81.6%	-$128.5k	Still far from break-even; fixed load is too heavy.
Base ramp	$227.8k	$40.3k	$291.5k	82.3%	-$104.0k	Closer, but still below break-even; spend growth needs discipline.
Scaled case	$705.2k	$119.9k	$475.7k	83.0%	$109.6k	Above break-even, with a cushion after Month 28.

What breaks the break-even plan if traffic softens, fees rise, or overhead jumps?

Stress test

At Year 3 scale, the plan clears break-even, but the cushion is not wide. A 10% revenue miss, a 10% overhead hike, or a 5-point margin hit can shrink that buffer fast, and the combined case turns it into a monthly gap.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$573,000	$132,200 cushion	Still above break-even, but the buffer is modest.
Revenue shortfall	Monthly revenue falls 10% to about $634,700.	$573,000	$61,700 cushion	A small traffic miss cuts the cushion by more than half.
Fixed-cost pressure	Overhead rises 10%, lifting fixed load to about $523,300 a month.	$630,000	$75,200 cushion	Headcount and overhead can push break-even up fast.
Margin pressure	Variable costs rise 5 points, cutting contribution margin to 78.0%.	$610,000	$95,200 cushion	Weaker monetization leaves less room for paid traffic spikes.
Combined pressure	Revenue drops 15%, margin falls 5 points, and overhead rises 10%.	$671,000	$71,500 gap	This flips the model below cover and creates a monthly operating gap.

What should you verify before committing to the first big platform build for a price comparison site?

Founder checklist

Treat Month 28 as the earliest breakeven point, not a launch green light. Before you commit to rent, hires, or paid media, prove retailer coverage, buyer CAC, feed freshness, and the cash plan can absorb the $2.691M trough.

1Retail Coverage300 sellers

Check that the Year 1 seller budget can still net about 300 retailers at a $500 CAC across the 60/30/10 mix, or the site will not have enough inventory to justify buyer traffic.

2Buyer Demand33.3K buyers

Verify the Year 1 buyer budget can buy about 33,333 users at a $15 CAC, and keep price-feed freshness high enough that paid clicks turn into useful comparison traffic.

3Fixed Load$111.8K/mo

Know the monthly floor before you sign the office lease: rent is $12K, and total fixed payroll plus overhead is about $111.8K per month, which the business must outrun.

4Margin Proof15.6% EBITDA

Do not scale editors, engineers, or paid channels until Year 3 shows profit, with $1.315M EBITDA on $8.462M revenue, or about 15.6% margin.

5Staffing Ramp2 seller FTE

Keep seller relations hiring tied to real onboarding volume, because Year 1 assumes 2.0 seller-relations FTE and 3.0 software engineers, so extra capacity should wait for actual traffic.

6Cash Cushion-$2.691M

Plan cash around the Month 27 low and the $635K one-time launch spend, since the model does not breakeven until Month 28 and the reserve has to cover both.