Period in review · October 01 – October 18, 2026 · 2,821 orders
Shopify payouts dated Oct 1–18, 2026What this report covers
Everything on this tab comes from the Shopify payouts received between October 01 and October 18, 2026 — $166,333 deposited net of fees, refunds and adjustments across 2,821 orders.
We take every order inside those payouts, then pull that exact list of order numbers through the Shopify sales report for revenue, discounts and cost of goods, and through the 3PL bills for fulfillment charges.
This is an 18-day window. 2,568 of the 2,821 orders were placed in October and 252 in late September, so the September tail is down to 9%.
Printing cost is nil for October 01–18 on the accrual basis, so that line reads $0 rather than a gap.
Revenue: $229,406 settled through Shopify payouts Oct 1–18, an $89,214 weekly run-rate and 11% short of the $100K/wk goal. September ran at $77,080/wk, so the payout basis is up 16% on the month.
Margin: product margin is 39.9%, ahead of September's 38.9%, on discounting down to 20.4% from 22.8%. Contribution margin is $20,299 · 8.8%, held back by ad spend sitting at 31.0% of a payout base that still lags the trading it paid for.
Product cost is the line to watch. At 25.6% of gross it is up from 21.9% in September. The Oct 9 promo day carries much of that, but it is worth checking the rest of the month is not drifting.
87% of orders carry a real 3PL charge. The last 363 would take contribution margin to 7.3%.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
18-day payout window · Shopify remitted $166,333 net of fees, refunds and adjustments
39.9% is ahead of September's 38.9%. Printing is nil and 87% of orders carry a real 3PL charge.
Ad spend of $71,153 is 31.0% of gross on this basis against 24.3% on the order basis — the payout list still lags the trading it funded. Billing the last 363 orders puts contribution margin at $16,807 · 7.3%.
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 90.1% | $206,615 |
| Shipping income | 8.0% | $18,308 |
| Package protection | 2.0% | $4,483 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $229,406 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 20.4% | −$46,876 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 25.6% | −$58,777 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 0.0% | $0 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) GAP see note below | — | — |
| 3PL cost PARTIAL see note below | 10.3% | −$23,648 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY ONLY | 2.4% | −$5,516 |
| Returns & refunds | 1.4% | −$3,137 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 39.9% | $91,452 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 31.0% | −$71,153 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 8.8% | $20,299 |
ShipBob holds no shipment for any of the 2,821 payout orders. Its export still stops at Store Order ID 766,322 and its last ship date is October 7 — eight weeks with nothing for current trading. Fulfillment cost comes entirely from the 3PL cost line, billed by 5L – North Carolina.
The bills run to Oct 17 and cover 2,458 of the 2,821 orders at a $9.62 average. The last 363 would add about $3,492, taking contribution margin to 7.3%.
This needs settling with Jared. Eight weeks of empty ShipBob data against a fully active 5L account. The ShipBob line adds nothing from September onward and should come off the report.
Versus September: run-rate $89,214/wk against $77,080/wk, product margin 39.9% against 38.9%, discounting 20.4% against 22.8%. Contribution margin reads lower (8.8% against 13.4%) because the payout base still lags mid-month; September is a settled full month and this is not.
Versus the order basis: 2,821 orders and $229,406 of gross here, against 3,643 and $293,068 there. The gap is narrowing as the month settles — it was 2,287 against 1,191 at the 11-day cut.
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Basis. The Shopify Payouts export for Oct 1–18, 2026 is the source of truth. 2,820 of the 2,821 order numbers matched the Shopify sales report; one older order falls outside the sales windows on hand.
Fulfillment. ShipBob returned no shipment for any of the 2,821 payout orders. Its export still stops at Store Order ID 766,322 and its last ship date is Oct 7 — eight weeks with nothing new for current trading. Fulfillment cost is carried entirely on the 3PL cost line, billed by 5L – North Carolina. The export's cost column has also been renamed from Fulfillment Cost to Total Cost in this pull; it makes no difference here because no order matches.
3PL cost. Billed charges matched by order number to this tab's order list. The bills run Aug 26 – Oct 17, so 2,458 of the 2,821 orders (87%) carry a billed charge, worth $23,648 at an average of $9.62 per order. The remaining 363 would add roughly $3,492, taking contribution margin to about $16,807 · 7.3%. Unallocated charges of $11,078 — adhoc ($5,301), receiving ($1,730), carrier adjustments ($1,565), kitting ($1,338), box fees ($609) and storage ($536) — carry no order number and are excluded.
Printing cost. Nil for October 01–18 on the accrual basis. September came in at 0.9% of gross and October is now at zero across three consecutive pulls, so this is worth confirming against the QBO accrual before month-end.
Order timing. 2,568 of the 2,821 orders were placed in October and 252 in late September — a 9% tail, against 88% on the first 4-day cut.
Fees and refunds. Merchant fees use the payout date and are Shopify processing fees only, $5,516 — the full fee column of the payout export, which includes fees charged on chargebacks and shop-cash credits as well as on sales. Returns are the payout-export refund rows ($3,137). The export also carries −$15,052 of adjustments, a −$444 chargeback and −$435 of marketplace sales tax that are not in any line above.
Gaps. Packaging materials are unavailable and excluded. Bundle SKU costs are only partially loaded in Shopify, so product cost is understated by an unquantified amount.
Lifetimely. AOV, CAC, ROAS, MER and ad spend are manual entries for 10/01–10/18/2026 across all orders, not the payout list. CAC has risen back to $34.78 from $27.81 at the 11-day cut, and is now up 16% year on year rather than down 5%. MER of 3.09 is still well ahead of last year's 2.58.
Month in review · September 01 – September 30, 2026 · 3,767 orders
Shopify payouts dated Sep 1–30, 2026What this report covers
Everything on this tab comes from the Shopify payouts He Would Love First actually received in September 2026 — $226,873 deposited net of fees, refunds and adjustments across 3,767 orders.
We take every order inside those payouts, then pull that exact list of order numbers through the Shopify sales report for revenue, discounts and cost of goods, and through the 3PL bills for fulfillment charges. Nothing outside the payout list is counted.
This is the full month. With 3PL billing 98% complete and every payout order matched, September is now a closed read rather than a partial one.
Why some orders look out of period. 336 of the 3,767 orders were placed Aug 27–31 and settled into early-September payouts; 3,431 were placed in September. Orders placed in late September settle into October and appear on that tab instead.
Revenue: $330,344 settled through Shopify payouts in September, a $77,080 weekly run-rate and 23% short of the $100K/wk goal. August ran at $113,144/wk, so the month is down about a third on the payout basis.
Margin: product margin is 38.9%, close to August's 40.2%. Discounting eased to 22.8% of gross from 23.8%, and product cost came down to 21.9% from 22.9%. Contribution margin is $44,111 · 13.4%, against August's 19.5%.
This is a closed read. 98% of orders carry a real 3PL charge; the last 62 would take contribution margin to 13.2%. Very little remains to land.
Acquisition stayed expensive. CAC of $33.09 is up 57% on last September's $21.06, on orders down 47%. AOV rose 27% to $70.25, which covered some but not all of it. Ad spend of $84,445 is 25.6% of gross.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
Full-month payout window · Shopify remitted $226,873 net of fees, refunds and adjustments
98% of these orders now carry a real 3PL charge, so this is a near-complete month.
Ad spend of $84,445 is 25.6% of gross. Billing the last 62 orders at the $9.32 average puts contribution margin at $43,533 · 13.2%.
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 91.4% | $301,892 |
| Shipping income | 6.8% | $22,399 |
| Package protection | 1.8% | $6,053 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $330,344 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 22.8% | −$75,160 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 21.9% | −$72,426 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 0.9% | −$2,960 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) GAP see note below | — | — |
| 3PL cost PARTIAL see note below | 10.4% | −$34,513 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY ONLY | 2.3% | −$7,564 |
| Returns & refunds | 2.8% | −$9,165 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 38.9% | $128,556 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 25.6% | −$84,445 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 13.4% | $44,111 |
ShipBob holds no shipment for any of the 3,767 payout orders, and its export still stops at Store Order ID 766,322 — unchanged for six weeks. Every dollar of fulfillment cost here comes from the 3PL cost line, billed by 5L – North Carolina.
The bills run to Oct 3 and cover 3,705 of the 3,767 orders at a $9.32 average. The last 62 would add about $578, taking contribution margin to 13.2%. September is effectively closed on this line.
Worth settling with Jared now that the month is closed: six weeks of empty ShipBob data alongside a fully active 5L account. If the migration is confirmed, the ShipBob line should come off September onward.
Versus August: gross sales $330,344 against $501,068, a weekly run-rate of $77,080 against $113,144. Product margin held up well — 38.9% against 40.2% — but contribution margin fell to 13.4% from 19.5%, because 3PL cost at 10.4% of gross is now fully visible where August's fulfillment was half-recorded.
Versus the sales tab: 3,767 orders and $330,344 here, against 4,036 and $340,393 on the order basis. The two are close now that a full month has settled — a 7% order gap, against 28% on the first 6-day cut.
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Basis. The Shopify Payouts export for September 2026 is the source of truth. All 3,767 order numbers matched the Shopify sales report, with none unmatched. Ad spend and printing cost are the only lines not on this basis.
Fulfillment. ShipBob returned no shipment for any of the 3,767 payout orders. Its export still stops at Store Order ID 766,322. Fulfillment cost is carried entirely on the 3PL cost line, billed by 5L – North Carolina.
3PL cost. Billed 3PL charges matched by order number to this tab's order list. The bills run Aug 26 – Oct 3, so 3,705 of the 3,767 orders (98%) carry a billed charge, worth $34,513 at an average of $9.32 per order. The last 62 orders would add roughly $578, taking contribution margin to about $43,533 · 13.2%. Unallocated charges of $8,075 — adhoc ($4,115), receiving ($1,385), kitting ($1,338), carrier adjustments ($1,013) and storage ($225) — carry no order number and are excluded from this line.
Printing cost. $2,960 for September on an accrual basis from QBO, 0.9% of gross. That is far below June (1.9%), August (4.6%) and July (7.8%) as a share of revenue, so it is worth confirming no September printing invoices are still unaccrued.
Order timing. 336 of the 3,767 orders were placed Aug 27–31 and 3,431 in September. Orders placed in the last days of September settle into October payouts and appear on the October tab.
Fees and refunds. Merchant fees use the payout date and are Shopify processing fees only, $7,564 — the full fee column of the payout export, which includes fees charged on chargebacks and shop-cash credits as well as on sales. Returns are the payout-export refund rows ($9,165). The export also carries −$21,904 of adjustments, a −$564 chargeback and −$302 of marketplace sales tax that are not in any line above; they reduce cash deposited but are not order-level costs.
Gaps. Packaging materials are unavailable and excluded. Bundle SKU costs are only partially loaded in Shopify, so product cost is understated by an unquantified amount.
Lifetimely. AOV, CAC, ROAS, MER and ad spend are manual entries for September 2026 across all orders, not the payout list. CAC of $33.09 is up 57% year on year against $21.06, on orders down 47%. Lifetimely's own contribution margin is $79,516, which carries neither printing nor 3PL cost.
Month in review · August 01 – August 31, 2026 · 5,574 orders
Shopify payouts dated Aug 1–31, 2026Revenue: $501,068 settled through Shopify payouts in August, a $113,144 weekly run-rate and 13.1% clear of the $100K/wk goal. Margin: discounting normalised to 23.8% of gross from 30.1% in July, lifting product margin to 37.5%. Contribution margin lands at 16.8% — 6.2 pts under the 23% goal once printing cost ($23,071) and billed 3PL cost ($13,472) are carried.
The caveat: ShipBob holds no shipment dated after Aug 25 — the export was filtered through Sep 2 and returned nothing beyond that date. So 1,931 of the 5,574 payout orders have no fulfillment cost attached. Filling that gap at the observed $6.78 average adds roughly $13,100 and pulls contribution margin to 14.2%. Worth checking why fulfillment records stop on Aug 25 — daily volume runs 200–280 shipments and then goes to zero for the rest of the month, including working days.
Acquisition: CAC is $30.81 against $17.32 in the same month last year, and orders are down 39.1% year on year. AOV at $71.54 (up 41.0%) is carrying the revenue line, not volume.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
31-day payout window · Shopify remitted $380,307 net of fees and refunds
Best month since June. Discounting fell to 23.8% of gross from 30.1% in July as the Jul 29–31 promo washed through.
ShipBob records no shipment after Aug 25, so 1,931 orders (34.6%) carry no fulfillment cost. Adding them back at the $6.78 average puts contribution margin at $71,320 · 14.2%.
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 92.0% | $461,116 |
| Shipping income | 6.2% | $30,933 |
| Package protection | 1.8% | $9,019 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $501,068 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 23.8% | −$119,399 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 22.9% | −$114,630 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 4.6% | −$23,071 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) UNDERSTATED see note below | 4.9% | −$24,710 |
| 3PL cost PARTIAL see note below | 2.7% | −$13,472 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY ONLY | 2.2% | −$11,241 |
| Returns & refunds | 1.3% | −$6,421 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 37.5% | $188,124 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 20.7% | −$103,706 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 16.8% | $84,418 |
ShipBob has no shipment dated after Aug 25, 2026. The export was filtered on ship date through Sep 2 and returned 5,320 shipments, none later than Aug 25 — so this is a gap in ShipBob's own records, not in the export. Of the 5,574 payout orders, 3,643 (65.4%) have a ShipBob shipment and 1,931 (34.6%) do not, almost all placed Aug 21–29.
At the observed average of $6.78 per fulfilled order, the missing cost is roughly $13,100. That would take fulfillment to $37,808 (7.5% of gross), product margin to $175,026 (34.9%) and contribution margin to $71,320 (14.2%). These orders were paid for by customers and will be fulfilled, so the cost belongs in August — the adjusted figures are the better read.
Operational flag. ShipBob shipped 200–280 orders a day through Aug 25 and then recorded nothing for the remaining working days of the month. That points to the Shopify-to-ShipBob order sync breaking, or fulfillment being paused, rather than a normal backlog. Worth raising with Jared before month-end close.
Jul 29–31 promo — 920 orders, $107,069 gross, 40.9% discount, 30.1% product margin. It is 21.4% of August's gross, down from 62% at the 9-day cut, and is now fully washed through.
August-placed orders — 4,654 orders, $393,999 gross, 19.2% discount, 48.9% product margin. With ad spend prorated to those orders ($96,704), contribution margin is $95,765 · 24.3% before printing and 3PL cost, against a headline of 24.1% on the same basis. Printing cost comes as a monthly total and the 3PL bills cover only part of the month, so neither is split across these two cohorts. Over a full month the payout basis and the order basis converge, so unlike the mid-month cuts there is no material distortion to correct for here.
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Month in review · July 01 – July 31, 2026 · 5,122 orders
Shopify payouts dated Jul 1–31, 2026Gross sales rose to $441,267 across 5,122 payout-matched orders — an $45.6K improvement on June — but contribution margin fell from 24.0% to 12.6%, 10.4 pts short of the 23% goal. Printing cost of $34,217 — 7.8% of gross, by far the heaviest of the four periods — is the single biggest reason. Discounting was the pressure point at 23.0% of gross, overtaking ad spend as the single largest cost line. On a like-for-like basis (grossing revenue up to the full 5,671-order Lifetimely set) CM reads ≈14.8%. Cash closed the month at $69,573, $30,427 below the floor.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
before marketing · 44.2% in June
after COGS, fulfillment, fees, returns & ad spend
≈14.8% on a like-for-like all-orders basis
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 91.4% | $403,220 |
| Shipping income | 6.8% | $29,818 |
| Package protection | 1.9% | $8,229 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $441,267 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 23.0% | −$101,390 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 21.9% | −$96,477 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 7.8% | −$34,217 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) UNDERSTATED see note below | 7.8% | −$34,633 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY ONLY | 2.3% | −$10,084 |
| Returns | 1.8% | −$8,154 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 35.4% | $156,311 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 22.9% | −$100,859 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 12.6% | $55,452 |
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Month in review · June 01 – June 30, 2026 · 4,787 orders
Shopify payouts dated Jun 1–30, 2026Contribution margin came in at 24.0% — 1.0 pt above the 23% goal — on $395,656 of gross sales across 4,787 orders. Printing cost is light this month at $7,508, 1.9% of gross. The soft spot was liquidity: the month ended at $13,060, well below the $100K cash floor, which the later month tabs pick up from here. Full-month order set, so the ad-spend basis mismatch that distorts short weekly windows largely washes out.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
before marketing
after COGS, fulfillment, fees, returns & ad spend
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 90.5% | $358,225 |
| Shipping income | 7.6% | $30,000 |
| Package protection | 1.9% | $7,432 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $395,656 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 22.7% | −$89,705 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 19.2% | −$76,143 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 1.9% | −$7,508 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) | 7.9% | −$31,102 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY ONLY | 2.3% | −$9,062 |
| Returns | 1.8% | −$7,159 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 44.2% | $174,978 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 20.2% | −$80,106 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 24.0% | $94,872 |
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Period in review · October 01 – October 18, 2026 · 3,643 orders
Total Sales by Order · Oct 1–18, 2026 · all ordersWhat this report covers
Everything on this tab comes from the Total Sales by Order report for October 01 – October 18, 2026 — every order placed in those 18 days, fulfilled or not. That is 3,643 orders.
We take that exact list of order numbers and pull it through the 3PL bills for fulfillment cost. Merchant fees come from the Shopify and Faire payout exports for the same period.
Trading has stepped up in the second half. The last seven days averaged 196 orders a day against 130 in the first week, and Oct 18 alone took 328. That is what lifts the run-rate above goal, alongside the Oct 9 promo day.
Printing cost is nil for October 01–18 on the accrual basis. Only 71% of these orders have been billed by the 3PL, so fulfillment cost is still incomplete.
Revenue: $293,068 of gross sales across 3,643 orders, a $113,971 weekly run-rate — 14% above the $100K/wk goal and well ahead of September's $79,425/wk.
And this time it is not one day. Days 12–18 averaged 196 orders against 130 in the first week, with Oct 18 at 328. The Oct 9 promo day is now 30% of the window rather than 48%, so the goal beat is broader than it was last week.
Margin: product margin is 40.5% and contribution margin $47,683 · 16.3%, 6.7 points under the 23.0% goal. Product cost at 25.0% of gross is the main drag, against September's 22.5%.
Still incomplete. Only 71% of these orders have been billed by the 3PL. Billing the rest takes contribution margin to $37,466 · 12.8%.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
18-day order window · 14% above the weekly goal, and the back half is accelerating — see the note below
40.5% on discounting of 22.7%. Product cost at 25.0% of gross is high against September's 22.5%, mostly from the Oct 9 promo day.
Below the 23.0% goal. Only 71% of these orders have been billed by the 3PL; billing the other 1,061 takes it to $37,466 · 12.8%.
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 91.1% | $266,948 |
| Shipping income | 7.1% | $20,839 |
| Package protection | 1.8% | $5,281 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $293,068 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 22.7% | −$66,662 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 25.0% | −$73,300 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 0.0% | $0 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) GAP see note below | — | — |
| 3PL cost PARTIAL see note below | 8.5% | −$24,853 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY + FAIRE | 2.2% | −$6,458 |
| Returns & refunds | 1.0% | −$2,959 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 40.5% | $118,836 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 24.3% | −$71,153 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 16.3% | $47,683 |
3PL cost: 2,582 of the 3,643 orders have been billed, worth $24,853 at a $9.63 average. The bills run to Oct 17, so the recent surge is largely unbilled. The other 1,061 orders would add roughly $10,217, taking product margin to $108,619 · 37.1% and contribution margin to $37,466 · 12.8%.
ShipBob: no shipment for any of these orders, and its last ship date is Oct 7. Fulfillment is carried entirely by the 3PL line.
Read 16.3% as the ceiling and roughly 12.8% as the landing point once billing catches up.
CAC has given back last week's improvement. It reads $34.78 against $27.81 at the 11-day cut, and is now up 16% year on year rather than down 5%. Marketing costs are up 18% while orders are up 29%, so the extra spend is buying volume but at a worse rate than a week ago. MER of 3.09 is still comfortably ahead of last year's 2.58.
Lifetimely counts 3,512 orders and $219,589 of net sales against the 3,643 here, and puts contribution margin at $70,260, which excludes 3PL cost. Add that line back and this tab reads $72,536 — $2,276 above Lifetimely.
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Basis. The Total Sales by Order report for Oct 1–18, 2026 is the source of truth — all 3,643 orders placed in the window, at every fulfillment status. Faire and Stripe orders are included; Amazon is not.
Trading accelerated in the second half. Days 12–18 averaged 196 orders against 130 in the first week, with Oct 18 taking 328 and Oct 16 taking 255. Together with the Oct 9 promo day that is what carries the run-rate above the $100K/wk goal.
October 09 still distorts the cost ratios. That day took 1,087 orders — 30% of the window, down from 48% a week ago — at an AOV of $41 and product cost of 45% of gross against 23% on a normal day. It is the main reason product cost reads 25.0% here against September's 22.5%.
Fulfillment. None of the 3,643 orders have a ShipBob shipment; its export's last ship date is Oct 7. Fulfillment cost sits entirely on the 3PL cost line, billed by 5L – North Carolina.
3PL cost. 2,582 of the 3,643 orders (71%) carry a billed charge, worth $24,853 at an average of $9.63. The bills run to Oct 17, so the most recent orders are unbilled. The remaining 1,061 would add roughly $10,217, taking product margin to $108,619 · 37.1% and contribution margin to $37,466 · 12.8%.
Printing cost. Nil for October 01–18 on the accrual basis — worth confirming against the QBO accrual before month-end, given September was also only 0.9% of gross.
Status mix. 2,430 of the 3,643 orders were fulfilled at the time of the pull, 347 partial and 866 unfulfilled. The unfulfilled count is higher than last week because the recent surge has not shipped yet.
Fees and refunds. Merchant fees are $5,516 of Shopify processing fees plus $942 of Faire fees (Faire order total of $5,925 less the $4,983 paid out across 16 payouts), $6,458 in total. Returns are the sales report's own returns column ($2,959).
Gaps. Packaging materials are unavailable and excluded. Bundle SKU costs are only partially loaded in Shopify, so product cost is understated by an unquantified amount.
Lifetimely. Manual entries for 10/01–10/18/2026. Lifetimely counts 3,512 orders and $219,589 of net sales against the 3,643 here, and puts contribution margin at $70,260, which excludes 3PL cost. Add that line back and this tab reads $72,536, $2,276 above Lifetimely.
Month in review · September 01 – September 30, 2026 · 4,036 orders
Total Sales by Order · Sep 1–30, 2026 · all ordersWhat this report covers
Everything on this tab comes from the Total Sales by Order report for September 2026 — every order placed in the month, fulfilled or not. That is 4,036 orders.
We take that exact list of order numbers and pull it through the 3PL bills for fulfillment cost. Merchant fees come from the Shopify and Faire payout exports; printing cost comes from QBO on an accrual basis.
This is the full month, with 3PL billing 96% complete and only 122 orders still unfulfilled.
Why the order count differs from Lifetimely. Lifetimely counts 3,677 orders for September; this report counts all 4,036 in the Shopify sales report. The two sets overlap heavily but are not identical, so AOV, CAC and ROAS sit on a slightly different base than the P&L lines.
Revenue: $340,393 of gross sales across the 4,036 orders placed in September, a $79,425 weekly run-rate and 21% short of the $100K/wk goal.
Margin: product margin is 37.3% on 22.2% discounting, the lowest discount rate of any month in the report. Contribution margin is $42,536 · 12.5%, 10.5 points under goal, with ad spend of $84,445 at 24.8% of gross.
Returns stepped up. The returns column is $10,780, 3.2% of gross against 1.3% in August. A full month of maturing orders explains part of it, but the rate itself is well above August's and is worth a look.
Nearly complete. 96% of orders carry a real 3PL charge; the last 162 would take contribution margin to 12.1%.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
Full-month order window · 2,265 of 4,036 orders fulfilled, only 122 still unfulfilled
96% of these orders carry a real 3PL charge — the most complete cost picture September has had.
Ad spend of $84,445 is 24.8% of gross. Billing the last 162 orders at the $9.58 average puts contribution margin at $40,984 · 12.0%.
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 91.8% | $312,555 |
| Shipping income | 6.4% | $21,946 |
| Package protection | 1.7% | $5,892 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $340,393 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 22.2% | −$75,532 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 22.5% | −$76,491 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 0.9% | −$2,960 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) UNDERSTATED see note below | 0.0% | −$41 |
| 3PL cost PARTIAL see note below | 10.9% | −$37,122 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY + FAIRE | 3.1% | −$10,486 |
| Returns & refunds | 3.2% | −$10,780 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 37.3% | $126,981 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 24.8% | −$84,445 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 12.5% | $42,536 |
Only 6 of the 4,036 orders have a ShipBob shipment, worth $41. Fulfillment cost sits on the 3PL cost line, billed by 5L – North Carolina.
The bills run to Oct 3 and cover 3,874 of the 4,036 orders at a $9.58 average. The remaining 162 would add roughly $1,552, taking contribution margin to 12.0%.
Worth settling with Jared: six weeks of empty ShipBob data alongside a fully active 5L account. If the migration is confirmed, the ShipBob line should come off September onward.
Lifetimely counts 3,677 orders and $240,698 of net sales for September against the 4,036 here, and puts contribution margin at $79,516, excluding printing and 3PL cost. Add both lines back to this tab and it reads $82,618 — $3,102 above Lifetimely.
Versus the payout tab: 4,036 orders and $340,393 of gross here, against 3,767 and $330,344 there. Contribution margin reads 12.5% here and 13.4% there — the closest the two bases have been all month, which is what a fully settled month should look like.
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Basis. The Total Sales by Order report for September 2026 is the source of truth — all 4,036 orders placed in the month, at every fulfillment status. Faire and Stripe orders are included; Amazon is not.
Fulfillment. Only 6 of the 4,036 orders have a ShipBob shipment, worth $41. ShipBob's export stops at Store Order ID 766,322 and holds nothing for September trading. The real fulfillment cost sits on the 3PL cost line, billed by 5L – North Carolina.
3PL cost. Billed 3PL charges matched by order number to this tab's order list. The bills run Aug 26 – Oct 3, so 3,874 of the 4,036 orders (96%) carry a billed charge, worth $37,130 at an average of $9.58 per order; $8 of that also sits in the fulfillment line and has been held back. The remaining 162 orders would add roughly $1,552, taking contribution margin to about $40,984 · 12.0%. Unallocated charges of $8,075 carry no order number and are excluded.
Printing cost. $2,960 for September on an accrual basis from QBO, 0.9% of gross — well below June, July and August as a share of revenue. Worth confirming no September printing invoices are still unaccrued.
Status mix. 2,265 of the 4,036 orders were fulfilled at the time of the pull, 1,649 partial and only 122 unfulfilled — 3%, against 64% on the first 6-day cut of the month.
Fees and refunds. Merchant fees are $7,564 of Shopify processing fees plus $2,922 of Faire fees (Faire order total of $15,242 less the $12,320 paid out), $10,486 in total. Returns are the sales report's own returns column ($10,780), 3.2% of gross against 1.3% in August.
Gaps. Packaging materials are unavailable and excluded. Bundle SKU costs are only partially loaded in Shopify, so product cost is understated by an unquantified amount.
Lifetimely. Manual entries for September 2026. Lifetimely counts 3,677 orders and $240,698 of net sales against the 4,036 here, and puts contribution margin at $79,516 — which excludes printing and 3PL cost. Add those two lines back and this tab reads $82,618, $3,102 above Lifetimely.
Month in review · August 01 – August 31, 2026 · 5,242 orders
Total Sales by Order · Aug 1–31, 2026 · all ordersGross sales of $442,160 across 5,242 orders put revenue at a $99,843/wk run-rate, effectively level with the $100K goal. Discounting dropped sharply to 19.6% of gross from 26.0% in July, lifting product margin to 38.1%. Contribution margin still lands at 14.7%, 8.3 pts under target, because printing cost adds $23,071 and billed 3PL cost a further $14,673 — 8.5% of gross between them.
The caveat is large. ShipBob holds no shipment dated after Aug 25, so only 2,833 of 5,242 orders (54.0%) carry a fulfillment cost. Filling the gap at the observed $6.75 average adds about $16,262 and pulls contribution margin to $48,706 · 11.0%. Read August as a range, not a result.
Acquisition got more expensive. CAC rose to $30.81 from $26.78 and ROAS fell to 3.2× from 3.7×, while AOV climbed to $71.54. Revenue is holding on basket size rather than efficiency.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
31-day window · all 5,242 orders placed in August
Discounting fell to 19.6% of gross from 26.0% in July — the healthiest rate of the three months.
after COGS, fulfillment, fees, returns & ad spend
Fulfillment is badly understated: ShipBob recorded nothing after Aug 25. Filling that gap takes this to $48,706 · 11.0%.
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 91.9% | $406,233 |
| Shipping income | 6.3% | $27,886 |
| Package protection | 1.8% | $8,041 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $442,160 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 19.6% | −$86,512 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 23.9% | −$105,777 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 5.2% | −$23,071 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) UNDERSTATED see note below | 4.3% | −$19,124 |
| 3PL cost PARTIAL see note below | 3.3% | −$14,673 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY + FAIRE | 3.4% | −$15,005 |
| Returns | 2.1% | −$9,325 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 38.1% | $168,674 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 23.5% | −$103,706 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 14.7% | $64,968 |
The export covers ship dates through September 2 and returned 5,320 shipments, none later than Aug 25. The gap is in ShipBob's records, not the pull. Only 2,833 of 5,242 orders (54.0%) carry a fulfillment cost; 2,409 do not. Match rates collapse mid-month: Aug 21 matched 215 of 533 orders, Aug 23 matched 11 of 336, and Aug 30 matched none of 82.
At the observed $6.75 average the missing cost is roughly $16,262 — taking fulfillment to $35,385 (8.0% of gross), product margin to $152,412 (34.5%) and contribution margin to $48,706 (11.0%). Those orders were paid for and will be shipped, so the adjusted figures are the better read.
Operational flag. Shopify also shows 1,358 August orders still unfulfilled at the September 2 pull, concentrated from Aug 21 onward. Two independent sources point to the same thing: fulfillment stopped or the Shopify-to-ShipBob sync broke around Aug 21–25. Worth raising with Jared before month-end close.
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Month in review · July 01 – July 31, 2026 · 5,942 orders
Total Sales by Order · Jul 1–31, 2026 · all ordersGross sales reached $546,276 across 5,942 orders, a 34.6% jump on June and a $123,353/wk run-rate, 23.4% clear of the $100K/wk goal. Contribution margin went the other way: $83,756 · 15.3%, 7.7 points under the 23% target and down from 23.4% in June. Printing cost of $34,217 — 6.3% of gross, more than four times June's — is the largest single driver.
The cause is July 31. A single promo day booked 738 orders and $90,059 of gross at a 44.0% discount — 16.5% of the month's revenue at a 9.5% contribution margin. Strip that day out and the other 30 days run at a 22.5% discount and 24.0% contribution margin before printing cost, in line with June on the same basis.
Product cost also rose to 22.9% of gross from 20.9%, and ad spend hit $100,859 — up 25.9% on June for a 20.2% gain in orders.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
31-day window · all 5,942 orders placed in July
Down from 43.2% in June · discounting at 26.0% of gross, product cost at 22.9%, printing at 6.3%
after COGS, fulfillment, fees, returns & ad spend
Excluding the July 31 promo day, the rest of the month runs at 24.0% before printing cost.
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 92.3% | $504,205 |
| Shipping income | 6.0% | $32,838 |
| Package protection | 1.7% | $9,233 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $546,276 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 26.0% | −$142,111 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 22.9% | −$125,200 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 6.3% | −$34,217 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) UNDERSTATED see note below | 7.4% | −$40,632 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY + FAIRE | 2.2% | −$11,988 |
| Returns | 1.4% | −$7,513 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 33.8% | $184,615 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 18.5% | −$100,859 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 15.3% | $83,756 |
July 4 — 936 orders and $48,904 of gross at a 13.3% discount, 42.2% product margin and 23.8% contribution margin. High volume, light discounting, no margin damage.
July 31 — 738 orders and $90,059 of gross at a 44.0% discount, 28.0% product margin and 9.5% contribution margin. It is the single reason July missed the 23% goal.
The other 30 days produced $456,217 of gross at a 22.5% discount, 42.4% product margin and 24.0% contribution margin. All three day-level figures here are stated before printing cost, which the source data provides only as a monthly total and cannot be split by day. Whatever the July 31 promo was meant to achieve, it bought volume at roughly half the usual margin — worth deciding deliberately before repeating it.
5,788 of the 5,942 orders (97.4%) matched a ShipBob shipment — the best coverage of the three months. The 154 that did not are mostly Redo exchange orders and a handful of Jul 31 orders that shipped past the export cutoff.
At the observed $7.02 average the missing cost is about $1,081, taking fulfillment to 7.6% of gross and contribution margin to $82,675 (15.1%).
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Month in review · June 01 – June 30, 2026 · 4,943 orders
Total Sales by Order · Jun 1–30, 2026 · all ordersContribution margin landed at $94,969 · 23.4% — 0.4 points above the 23% target — on $405,689 of gross sales across all 4,943 June orders. Revenue ran at $94,661/wk, 5.3% short of the $100K/wk goal, so the month was carried by cost discipline rather than volume: discounting held at 22.1% of gross, product cost at 20.9% and printing cost at just 1.9%, leaving product margin at 43.2%.
Ad spend is the pressure point to watch. At $80,106 it is 19.7% of gross and the second-largest cost line after discounts, with CAC at $27.58 against an AOV of $67.70.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target
30-day window · all 4,943 orders placed in June
before marketing · discounting at 22.1% of gross, product cost at 20.9%, printing at 1.9%
after COGS, fulfillment, fees, returns & ad spend
Filling the 230-order fulfillment gap puts this at $93,390 · 23.0% — level with goal.
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 91.0% | $369,153 |
| Shipping income | 7.2% | $29,265 |
| Package protection | 1.8% | $7,272 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $405,689 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 22.1% | −$89,465 |
| Product cost (COGS) Cost of goods sold from Shopify (printing cost not included) | 20.9% | −$84,786 |
| Printing cost (accrual basis) QBO DATA | 1.9% | −$7,508 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) UNDERSTATED see note below | 8.0% | −$32,342 |
| CC / merchant fees SHOPIFY + FAIRE | 2.5% | −$10,038 |
| Returns | 1.6% | −$6,475 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs GAP | — | — |
| Product margin | 43.2% | $175,075 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) see note below | 19.7% | −$80,106 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 23.4% | $94,969 |
4,713 of the 4,943 orders (95.3%) matched a ShipBob shipment, matching against all three ShipBob exports combined. Most of the 230 that did not are Redo exchange orders, which carry almost no revenue but are still picked and shipped; the rest are late-June orders with no shipment on record.
At the observed $6.86 average the missing cost is about $1,578. That would take fulfillment to $33,920 (8.4% of gross), product margin to $173,496 (42.8%) and contribution margin to $93,390 (23.0%). The gap is small enough that it does not change the read on the month.
Worth a look: Redo exchange orders are consistently missing from ShipBob under their own order numbers, in every month built so far. If those shipments are recorded against the original order the cost is already captured; if not, exchanges are running as an untracked fulfillment cost.
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Other files · key links
Here are a few important links to your key models and reference documents — open any of them whenever you'd like to dig into the detail behind the numbers.
Access. Links open in the shared Google Drive and client portal. If a file won't open, request access from the owner.
Cash. The 13-week cash flow section is no longer part of this dashboard — the model is prepared and maintained by HWLF directly. The link above still opens it.