The answer
For a single full sale, the sell price needed to reach a target net profit is (total investment cost + target profit) ÷ (quantity × (1 − sell fee rate)). Total investment cost is the purchase value plus the buy fee. Enter fee rates as decimals: 0.1% is 0.001. The answer is a scenario, not a market quote.
Work through one example
Suppose you buy 0.02 BTC at $50,000 per coin, with a 0.1% buy fee. You want $200 of net profit after a 0.1% sell fee. These are hypothetical numbers, not live prices.
Purchase value is 0.02 × $50,000 = $1,000. The buy fee is $1, so total investment cost is $1,001. Add the desired $200 profit: the sale must return $1,201 after the sell fee.
The sale keeps 99.9% of its gross value. Divide $1,201 by 0.02 × 0.999. The unrounded target is approximately $60,110.11011011 per BTC. At that exact price, proceeds after the sell fee are $1,201 and net profit is $200.
If your price increment is one cent, rounding down to $60,110.11 falls slightly short before rounding the final profit. Rounding up to $60,110.12 gives approximately $200.0001976 before display rounding. Exchanges may impose other price increments or fee rounding rules.
Why the equation works
Let quantity be Q, buy price B, buy fee rate b, sell fee rate s and desired net profit P. Cost = Q × B × (1 + b). Net sale proceeds = Q × sell price × (1 − s). Set proceeds minus cost equal to P, add cost to both sides, then divide by Q × (1 − s).
That gives sell price = [Q × B × (1 + b) + P] ÷ [Q × (1 − s)]. If P is zero, Q cancels and the formula becomes B × (1 + b) ÷ (1 − s): the break-even price used by our calculator.
Check it in the calculator
Open the crypto profit calculator. Enter the same buy price, quantity and separate buy and sell fee percentages. Enter your calculated target as the sell price. The displayed net profit should match your target, subject to the rounding described above.
Use the same quote currency for prices and the target. This model treats the buy fee as an extra cost in that currency, and the sell fee as a percentage deducted from sale proceeds. Quantity is the amount actually sold.
Limits of the result
The formula assumes positive quantity and a sell fee below 100%. It covers one spot purchase and one full sale. It excludes taxes, network fees, spread, slippage, partial fills, borrowing and funding. A fee charged in the coin itself can change the amount available to sell. Check the actual trade record and your exchange’s fee rules.
This page is for education and is not financial or tax advice.
Sources and calculation scope
The formula above is derived from the purchase-cost and net-proceeds equations documented in our calculator. For comparison, CoinLedger describes proceeds minus cost basis, while Bitcoin Foundation notes that fees can be paid in the quote currency or the asset. The example prices and fees on this page are hypothetical inputs.