What you actually make on a can.

Start with your cost

Our published ladder runs from $3.87 a can at one carton to $2.45 at 41 cartons and above. Your cost is fixed by the size of the order you place, not by negotiation, so you can calculate before you call.

Then your shelf price

Don't guess at this. Here is what the brands you are competing with actually cost, as of August 2026:

Those are national reference points, not your market. Walk into the two stores nearest you and write down what they actually charge — that number is your real ceiling, and it can differ by two dollars between neighbourhoods.

Excise tax moves it further. Illinois brought nicotine pouches into its other-tobacco-products tax in July 2025, and ZYN there has been reported around $9.92 a can. A national "typical margin" figure is close to useless for exactly this reason.

The subtraction, on real numbers

Take $4.99 — the competitive floor, roughly where CLEW sits. Before excise:

• 1 carton at $3.87 → about $1.12 a can
• 5 cartons at $3.45 → about $1.54
• 11 cartons at $3.05 → about $1.94
• 21 cartons at $2.85 → about $2.14
• 41 cartons at $2.45 → about $2.54

Why buyers pay you anyway

If you sell purely on being cheaper, the next cheaper brand takes your shelf. What holds a customer is what they can see in their hand:

• 20 pouches per can against ZYN's 15. A third more product. Point at it on the shelf and the sale largely makes itself.
• 20 mg, which nobody else in this set reaches. ZYN Ultra stops at 11, CLEW at 12, ZOLT at 15, ALP at 9. The dip convert is badly served by all of them.
• 15 flavors, all four strengths on each. ALP runs five flavors, CLEW around six. You can fill a shelf from one supplier.

Those let you hold a price rather than chase one. See the strengths guide for who buys the high end.

Margin per inch of shelf

The comparison worth running is not against other nicotine products but against whatever currently occupies that counter space. A can is small, never spoils, and doesn't need a case or a cooler. For most stores, the space pouches take was previously earning less.

The competitive angle

We publish the ladder rather than making you ask, because the argument either works on your numbers or it doesn't. At volume it works comfortably. At one carton it is a sampling exercise, and we would rather say so.