Craft Pricing Calculator
Enter what your craft costs in materials and time. The calculator adds overhead and works out a wholesale and a retail price, so a handmade item pays you for your work.
How to use this Craft Pricing Calculator
- Add up the cost of the materials for one item.
- Enter the hours it takes to make one item and the hourly rate you want to earn.
- Enter an overhead percentage for tools, space and other shared costs.
- Keep or change the wholesale and retail multipliers.
- Press Calculate to see the cost, the wholesale price and the retail price.
How to price handmade items
Start with the true cost of making the item, then apply markups.
- Labor = hours x hourly rate
- Cost = (materials + labor) x (1 + overhead)
- Wholesale = cost x wholesale multiplier
- Retail = wholesale x retail multiplier
Worked example
An item costs $12 in materials and takes 2 hours at $15 an hour, so labor is $30.00. Materials and labor come to $42.00. With 10% overhead the cost is $46.20. Doubling the cost gives a wholesale price of $92.40, and doubling again gives a retail price of $184.80. Selling at retail leaves a profit of $138.60 over the cost, and wholesale leaves $46.20.
The doubling rules are a common starting point and not a law. Your market may pay less or more. If the retail price looks too high for the market, look at your time. Faster methods, bulk materials or a simpler design can bring the cost down. If you sell on a marketplace, add the fees to the price. If you only sell at retail, you can use a retail multiplier of 2 on the cost and skip wholesale. Review your numbers every few months, since material prices change. Keep a simple record of the time each piece takes, because your first guess is often too low. Over a few weeks, the log shows which products pay well and which ones eat your hours, and you can then make more of the first kind. If you sell at markets, think about how many items you can make and sell in a month, and check that the profit adds up to a living wage.
Assumptions & limits
- The multipliers of 2 are common rules of thumb, not standards. Edit them to suit your market.
- Overhead is a single percentage you choose. Work it out from your own yearly costs.
- Platform fees, shipping, taxes and returns are not included.
- Your hourly rate is what you want to earn. It does not account for time spent on marketing, photos or admin.
- The price is a guide. What buyers will pay decides the real price.
Frequently asked questions
How do I price handmade items?
Add materials and labor, add overhead, then apply a markup for wholesale and retail.
What is the keystone markup?
Doubling the cost to get the wholesale price, and doubling again for retail. It is a common rule of thumb.
Should I pay myself an hourly rate?
Yes. Otherwise your time is not covered.
What is overhead?
Shared costs such as tools, space and supplies that are not tied to one item.
What if my price is too high?
Check your time and materials, and look at what similar items sell for.
Do I include selling fees?
Add them to your price, or use the Marketplace calculators on this site to check.
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Last updated: November 2026