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Qi Hou Xiao Huang Shuo: Not necessarily—it depends on the level of industry competition in each company's region and other factors, such as the company's per-capita operating costs. This article was inspired by a video from Ji Linmao, founder of Qi Pei Feng, who said in the video that a store achieving 50,000 to 60,000 RMB in monthly per-capita output can steadily turn a profit and be considered "passing."

Is it really true, as Mr. Ji says, that per-capita output of 50,000–60,000 RMB means profitability or a passing grade? I would say not necessarily. Many auto parts store owners also treat "50,000–60,000 per person" as the baseline for acceptable operations, but judging from the actual state of the industry today, this standard, which held true a decade ago, is at best a break-even line now—and many stores still lose money even at that level. Or, to put it another way, sometimes you don't even need to hit 50,000–60,000 to be doing fine.

It has to be analyzed case by case, based on each company's own operating situation. For example, a tire seller's math is different, and if your gross margin is very high, you may not need 50,000–60,000 at all. Conversely, if your gross margin is extremely low—say only 3%–5%—then 50,000–60,000 in output will definitely not be passing. So we have to understand the core logic: whether a business can be profitable, or whether it is "passing," can never be judged by revenue (turnover) alone. You have to look at real gross margin, inventory turnover, costs, and other factors.

Back in the day, say twenty years ago, auto parts information was opaque, price gaps between parts were large, cross-region gray goods were rare, prices were stable, and comprehensive gross margins commonly reached 25%–30% or more (at the retail end, not wholesale). In that era, per-capita output of 50,000–60,000, after deducting labor, rent, and logistics, left very respectable net profit.

But today, the whole industry has completely changed. Whether you sell full-line parts, wear-and-tear parts, or oil, batteries, and tires, prices and market conditions are now highly transparent. Platform price comparison, online disruption, and cutthroat competition among peers have compressed the real comprehensive gross margin of the vast majority of ordinary auto parts distributors down to 15%–20%, and even lower.

Let's do a simple calculation. At 50,000–60,000 RMB in monthly per-capita output, and using the industry-average 15% comprehensive gross margin, each person generates only about 9,000 to 10,800 RMB in gross profit. Then you have to deduct fixed costs: employee wages, social insurance, rent allocation, logistics and freight, packaging materials, platform commission (if any), scrap and wastage losses, and inventory write-downs. On top of that come hidden or semi-hidden costs such as capital interest and bad debts from credit sales. After running the numbers, you'll find that per-capita output of 50,000–60,000 basically means breaking even or a slight loss—and in some cases, a serious one.

That's why so many auto parts owners see beautiful monthly turnover, with hundreds of thousands or millions flowing through, only to do the books at year-end, deduct all end-of-period receivables and inventory, and find there's no money left, no profit—it's all in the goods, all in the warehouse, all on the balance sheet. This is the classic "false prosperity."

Second, whether per-capita output translates into profit depends on the product mix. Sellers of tires, batteries, and large circulating parts enjoy high unit prices and fast volume, easily racking up high turnover but very low gross margin—even at 60,000 per person, profit is razor-thin. By contrast, sellers of chassis parts, engine parts, and premium boutique items don't post huge turnover, but their gross margin is solid; if the return rate is low, they can make money without much after-sales effort. Of course, the opposite also holds. So the real truth of the industry is: large parts drive turnover, small parts drive profit. If you only chase output without adjusting your mix, you'll always be earning hard-earned money.

There's also the most easily overlooked factor: inventory turnover efficiency. Many stores hit their output targets, but their inventory is bloated, slow-moving stock piles up, and all their capital is locked in goods. They look like they're selling every month, but their cash flow is actually terrible. Once payments slow down or sales dip in the off-season, funds immediately tighten.

To sum up the industry's plain truth: in today's auto parts business, 50,000–60,000 RMB per person is no longer a profit line—it's a survival line. The era of just chasing turnover, slashing prices, and piling up inventory is over. The stores that will survive and make money in the future will no longer compete on how high their output is, but on high-margin product structure, fast inventory turnover, low bad-debt rates, and refined operations. Turnover is only the face; profit is the substance. If you don't know how to run the numbers, no matter how high your output is, you're just working for nothing.