POE2 Farming Profit Calculator: Realized vs Provisional Returns

A valuable-looking batch can still hide costs, failed runs, unsold inventory, and hours of trade work. Separate confirmed results from estimates before increasing investment.

Define the batch before entering values

Create a comparison unit that prevents an isolated result from representing the route.

• Choose a fixed group of completed and failed attempts from the same recorded farming session.
• State the version played and route label without assuming that a recent update changed its returns.
• Exclude attempts with missing cost or time records, or mark their effect as unknown.
• Preserve the raw quantities so valuations can be revised without rebuilding the log.

Enter every consumed cost once

Build a complete cost total without counting the same resource in multiple fields.

• Record entry costs and other resources consumed to begin the batch.
• Record additional preparation costs separately when they are not already included in entry cost.
• Include resources consumed by failed attempts instead of deleting those attempts from the batch.
• Keep reusable equipment and character upgrades outside the consumed-cost total unless the player has chosen and documented an allocation rule.
• Enter explicit trade-related costs when applicable, while handling trade time in the time section.

Separate returns by evidence status

Prevent unsold estimates from appearing as confirmed proceeds.

• Place rewards kept for immediate use in the usable-return field using a documented personal valuation.
• Place proceeds from completed in-game sales in the completed-sale field.
• Place unsold items or currency that depend on a future trade in the sale-dependent field.
• Leave uncertain rewards unvalued or label their estimate clearly rather than forcing a precise figure.
• Retain quantities alongside values so changing an assumption does not change the recorded batch.

Calculate realized and provisional net

Show what the batch has already produced and what remains dependent on estimates or sales.

• Calculate realized net as immediately usable value plus completed-sale proceeds minus total consumed costs.
• Calculate provisional net by adding estimated sale-dependent value to realized net.
• Show the gap between provisional and realized net as unresolved inventory value.
• Calculate the additional realized return needed to cover costs when the realized result remains below break-even.
• Never present provisional net as confirmed profit.

Use total time for profit-per-hour math

Include work outside the active run so route comparisons use the same time boundary.

• Add preparation, active run, failure recovery, sorting, pricing, and trading time when those activities belong to the batch.
• Calculate realized profit per hour from realized net divided by total batch hours.
• Calculate provisional profit per hour from provisional net divided by the same total batch hours.
• Flag the result as incomplete when the time record omits material work.
• Use the same time boundary when comparing later batches.

Turn the result into a bounded decision

Choose whether to scale, continue testing, reduce investment, or stop without inventing a profitability threshold.

• Scale only when repeated realized results fit the player's resource limits and the unresolved inventory gap is acceptable.
• Continue testing when the sample is incomplete or estimates materially drive the result.
• Reduce investment when failures, consumed costs, or trade burden make the batch difficult to sustain.
• Stop the test when required records cannot be reconstructed or the route exceeds the player's stated limits.
• Change one cost, valuation, or investment assumption at a time so the next batch remains interpretable.

Decision checklist

• Define the attempts included in one fixed batch.
• Record every consumed entry and setup cost once.
• Include failed-attempt costs in the batch total.
• Separate usable returns, completed-sale proceeds, and unsold estimates.
• Include preparation, run, recovery, pricing, and trading time.
• Review realized and provisional results separately.
• Save raw quantities and assumptions before changing investment.

Worked example

A player records one fixed farming batch. Let U be the documented value of immediately usable returns, R the proceeds from completed in-game sales, S the estimated value of unsold sale-dependent returns, C all consumed batch costs including failed attempts, and T the total batch hours including preparation and trade work. Realized net is U + R - C. Provisional net is U + R + S - C. Realized profit per hour is the realized net divided by T, while provisional profit per hour uses the provisional net. If the provisional result depends heavily on S, the player keeps testing at the current investment level instead of treating the estimate as confirmed performance.

Common mistakes

• Using the strongest attempt instead of the complete batch.
• Excluding costs consumed by failed attempts.
• Counting the same setup resource in more than one cost field.
• Treating listed or unsold value as completed-sale proceeds.
• Measuring active run time while omitting preparation and trade work.

Related guides