Search for eSIM reseller margins and you will be told 30% to 50%. That number is not a lie, but it is the number before anything is taken out of it. What lands in your account is meaningfully less, and the gap is where most new resellers get their first unpleasant surprise.
This is the arithmetic in full: what the discount tiers really mean, the three costs that come out of every sale, why a $3 eSIM can be barely worth selling while a $30 one pays properly, and how to raise your margin without touching your prices.
The margin everyone quotes, and the one you keep
Wholesale eSIM pricing works as a discount off a public retail price. If a plan retails at $10 and your tier is 30%, you pay $7. The $3 difference is your gross margin, and that is the figure every platform advertises.
Three things come out of it before it is yours.
| Line | On a $10 sale at 30% off |
|---|---|
| Retail price your customer pays | $10.00 |
| Wholesale cost | $7.00 |
| Gross margin (the advertised number) | $3.00, or 30% |
| Card processing, roughly 2.9% + $0.30 | minus $0.59 |
| Refunds and replacements, say 3% of sales | minus $0.30 |
| What you actually keep | about $2.11, or 21% |
A 30% tier is a 21% business. Not because anyone lied to you, but because the advertised figure is calculated before payment processing and before the small share of sales that go wrong. Plan on roughly two thirds of the headline number surviving.
Why plan size matters more than your discount tier
This is the single most useful thing in this article, and almost nobody selling you a reseller account will mention it.
Payment processing is charged as a percentage plus a fixed fee. That fixed fee is what destroys small orders. The same $0.30 is 10% of a $3 sale and 1% of a $30 sale.
| Retail price | Gross at 30% | Card fee | Fee as % of sale | Net margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3 | $0.90 | $0.39 | 12.9% | $0.51 (17%) |
| $5 | $1.50 | $0.45 | 8.9% | $1.05 (21%) |
| $10 | $3.00 | $0.59 | 5.9% | $2.41 (24%) |
| $20 | $6.00 | $0.88 | 4.4% | $5.12 (26%) |
| $30 | $9.00 | $1.17 | 3.9% | $7.83 (26%) |
Moving a customer from a $3 plan to a $10 plan multiplies your profit by 4.7 times, not 3.3 times as the prices alone suggest. Moving them to $30 multiplies it by 15 times.
The trap of cheap plansResellers often lead with a $1 or $3 day pass because it looks attractive and converts easily. Those sales generate the same support burden as a $30 sale, take the same time to answer, and carry the same risk of a refund, for a fraction of the profit. A business built on day passes is a busy business, not a profitable one.
How discount tiers actually work
Most suppliers run volume tiers. The differences between them are smaller than they look.
| Tier | Typical discount | On a $10 plan | Extra profit vs entry tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | 10% to 12% | You pay $8.80 | — |
| Middle | 15% to 20% | You pay $8.00 | about $0.80 per sale |
| Volume | 20% to 30% | You pay $7.00 | about $1.80 per sale |
Climbing a tier is worth having, but notice the scale. Moving from entry to volume on a $10 plan is worth about $1.80 a sale. Moving a customer from a $5 plan to a $20 plan is worth about $4.07 a sale at the same tier.
What you sell moves your profit more than what you pay for it. Chase the basket size before you chase the tier.
The margin killer nobody puts on the pricing page
Many white label and platform arrangements take a percentage of your sales on top of the wholesale price, commonly between 15% and 35%, for as long as you use them.
Run that through the same $10 sale.
| Line | Flat wholesale | Wholesale + 20% revenue share |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | $10.00 | $10.00 |
| Wholesale cost | $7.00 | $7.00 |
| Platform commission | — | minus $2.00 |
| Card processing | minus $0.59 | minus $0.59 |
| You keep | $2.41 | $0.41 |
A 20% revenue share does not reduce your margin by 20%. On this sale it reduces it by 83%, because it is taken from the retail price while your costs stay the same.
Ask one question before signing anythingDo you take a percentage of my sales? A one off build fee is a cost you pay once and then forget. A revenue share is a partner who takes more from you every month you succeed.
A build fee you pay once, not a cut of every sale
If you want your own branded storefront and apps, look for a one off cost rather than a commission. Ours is a flat build fee with no percentage taken from anything you sell, ever.
See the white label platformWhat refunds and replacements really cost
Budget for this from the start, because it is the line new resellers forget entirely.
A share of eSIMs never install successfully. Customers delete profiles by accident. Some buy the wrong country. Whether you can recover the cost depends entirely on your supplier's policy, and the policies differ sharply.
- Never downloaded. Usually recoverable. The profile was never issued to a device, so most suppliers will cancel it. Always ask before you assume.
- Downloaded but never used. Sometimes recoverable, often not. The network considers it delivered.
- Deleted from the phone by mistake. This is the common one, and the answer varies. Some suppliers allow the same QR to be reinstalled on the same device. Others treat it as gone, and you buy a replacement.
- Partly used, then the customer changed phone. The hardest case. The remaining data is usually stranded with no route to recover it.
Assume 2% to 4% of sales will need a refund or a replacement until your own numbers tell you otherwise. On thin margins that is the difference between a good month and a flat one.
Regional plans: more margin, less competition
A single country plan is the most competitive product you can sell. Everyone lists it, and buyers compare on price alone.
A regional plan covering a whole trip is a different sale. It carries a higher price, therefore more absolute margin, and the customer usually does not know the option exists until you mention it.
Somebody visiting three countries will otherwise buy three eSIMs, install three profiles and juggle them. One regional plan is easier for them and worth several times the profit to you.
Change the question you askNot "which country do you need a SIM for" but "where are you going". The second question routinely turns a $5 sale into a $25 one and leaves the customer better off.
Five ways to raise margin without raising prices
- Sell larger plans. Lead with 10GB and 20GB rather than 1GB. The fixed payment fee stops punishing you and the support burden is identical.
- Sell regional over single country. Higher basket, less price comparison, genuinely better for a multi country trip.
- Bundle the trip, not the country. Ask about the itinerary and sell the plan that covers all of it.
- Reduce refunds with better instructions. Most failed installs are user error. A clear guide sent with every QR code costs nothing and protects margin directly.
- Avoid revenue share arrangements. A flat wholesale price keeps its value as you grow. A percentage takes more from you every month.
A realistic monthly picture
Putting it together for a reseller on a 30% tier with an average order of $12, which is a healthy average rather than an optimistic one.
| Sales per month | Revenue | Gross | After fees and refunds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | $600 | $180 | about $141 |
| 150 | $1,800 | $540 | about $423 |
| 300 | $3,600 | $1,080 | about $846 |
| 600 | $7,200 | $2,160 | about $1,692 |
| 1,000 | $12,000 | $3,600 | about $2,820 |
Those figures are before whatever you spend reaching customers. If you are buying traffic, subtract that too. If you are selling to an audience you already have, this is close to what you keep.
See real wholesale prices before you commit
Our reseller programme is free to join, with a sandbox and the full catalogue, so you can check your actual margin on actual plans rather than working from a range in an article.
See the reseller programmeQuick answers
What is a realistic eSIM reseller margin?
Roughly 20% to 35% after payment processing and refunds, from an advertised wholesale discount of 30% to 50%. Expect about two thirds of the headline discount to survive once real costs come out.
How much profit is there on one eSIM sale?
Typically $0.50 to $8 depending on the plan size. A $3 day pass returns roughly $0.51 after costs, while a $30 regional plan returns roughly $7.83 at the same discount tier.
Why do small eSIM plans have worse margins?
Card processing includes a fixed fee of around $0.30 per transaction regardless of amount. That fee is 10% of a $3 sale and 1% of a $30 sale, so small plans lose a much larger share of their value to processing.
Does a bigger discount tier make much difference?
Less than you would expect. Moving from a 12% tier to a 30% tier is worth about $1.80 on a $10 plan. Moving the customer from a $5 plan to a $20 plan is worth about $4.07 at the same tier. Basket size moves profit faster than tier.
What does a revenue share cost me?
Far more than the percentage suggests. A 20% revenue share on a $10 sale takes $2 from a $2.41 net margin, an 83% reduction, because it is calculated on the retail price while your costs stay the same.
Should I budget for refunds?
Yes. Assume 2% to 4% of sales will need a refund or a replacement eSIM. Whether you recover the wholesale cost depends on your supplier and on whether the profile was ever downloaded to a device.
Are regional eSIM plans more profitable than single country plans?
Usually yes, on both counts. They carry a higher price so more absolute margin, and they face less direct price comparison because fewer sellers present them as an option.
Sources
Margin ranges and platform commission structures cross checked in September 2026 against published reseller programme terms and white label platform pricing. Payment calculations use standard card processing of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. Refund assumptions are stated as ranges because they vary by supplier policy and by destination.
