This counter argument is silly. Paying workers at a loss doesn't make it not exploitative. If the customer is charged $1 per unit and the employer pays workers

This counter argument is silly. Paying workers at a loss doesn't make it not exploitative. If the customer is charged $1 per unit and the employer pays workers (at an obvious loss) $2 per unit sold, that still says nothing about the worker's conditions, just that the company is subsidizing its losses somehow.