Craft pricing calculator
What to charge for something you make: the wholesale and retail price from your materials and time, and what a sale at your booth really leaves you.
Retail price
$58.00
Wholesale price $29.00
| Materials | $7.00 |
|---|---|
| Your time30 minutes at $15.00 an hour | $7.50 |
| Overhead | $0.00 |
| What one costs you | $14.50 |
| Wholesale: cost × 2 | $29.00 |
| Retail: wholesale × 2 | $58.00 |
| Card fee, averaged over all sales50% by card at 2.6% + 15¢ | −$0.83 |
| Left from each retail sale, after paying yourself | $42.67 |
1 sale at $58.00 cover a $40 booth fee.
Card fee at Square's free plan in-person rate, read October 25, 2026, from Square. The example item is Craft Professional's soy candle, and the example booth fee is the Downtown Farmers Market day rate in Salt Lake City.
The formula
Wholesale is what one item costs you, times two. Retail is wholesale times two [1]. Put the other way, wholesale is half of retail [2]. What it costs you is materials, plus your time at an hourly rate, plus a share of overhead.
Selling only at markets?
Some makers who only sell direct charge the cost times two as their retail price [1]. That's the wholesale price here. It covers your costs once, but leaves nothing to sell to shops at, and less to absorb a slow day or a booth fee.
What a sale at the booth leaves
The price isn't what you keep. Take off what the item costs you, and the card fee on the sales paid by card. The booth fee then comes out of what's left. For a market that takes a share of sales, use the booth fee break-even calculator.
Questions
What is the formula for pricing handmade items?
Add up what one item costs you: materials, your time at an hourly rate, and a share of overhead. Double it for the wholesale price, and double that for the retail price. $7 of materials and 30 minutes at $15 an hour cost $14.50, so wholesale is $29 and retail is $58.
Should I count my time?
Yes. Your time is part of what the item costs. If you leave it out, the price only pays you back for materials, and selling more never pays you.
What counts as overhead?
What the business spends that isn't in one item: tools, packaging, booth displays, insurance, software. Add a month of it up and divide by the items you make in a month.
Why is retail twice wholesale?
A shop that buys from you at wholesale doubles it to sell. Pricing your own retail the same way means you can sell to shops later without undercutting them, or yourself.
How many do I need to sell to cover the booth?
Divide the booth fee by what one retail sale leaves you after its cost and the card fee. The calculator does it, and the booth fee calculator handles a market that takes a share of sales.
Sources
- 6 craft pricing formulas, Craft Professional. Read October 29, 2026.
- How to price handmade items, Craftybase. Read October 29, 2026.
Read more: what markets charge for a booth, and what card fees cost over a season.
Keep the whole price from your regulars
They prepay by Zelle® to your business bank, and you charge them with a scan, with no card fee.
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