Craft Pricing Calculator
Price handmade items from your materials, time, and overhead, and see what you really earn per hour.
Handmade price calculator
What you earn per hour
The Craft Pricing Formula
The most common way to price handmade items starts with your full cost to make, then doubles it for wholesale and doubles it again for retail. The second step leaves room for a shop to stock your work and still make a profit.
Cost to make = Materials + Labor + Overhead
Wholesale price = Cost to make × 2
Retail price = Wholesale price × 2
Here is a worked example for a personalized wooden sign. The numbers are illustrative, so replace them with your own.
| Cost per sign | How it’s calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Materials | Wood blank, finish, and hanging hardware | $6.00 |
| Packaging | Box and tissue | $1.00 |
| Labor | 30 minutes at $20 per hour | $10.00 |
| Overhead | $150 a month spread across 60 signs | $2.50 |
| Cost to make | $19.50 | |
| Wholesale price | $19.50 × 2 | $39.00 |
| Retail price | $39.00 × 2 | $78.00 |
If you only sell direct, you don’t have to use the full retail price. You should still price well above your cost to make, because selling fees, shipping, returns, and slow months all come out of that gap. Keep your retail price consistent across channels so shops that carry your work aren’t undercut.
What to Include in Your Costs
Materials
Count everything that goes into the finished piece, from the base material to glue, paint, finish, and hardware. Add a share for offcuts, failed attempts, and test pieces, since those are part of making the item too.
Labor
Include all of your time, not only the making. Design, setup, finishing, photography, packing, and answering messages all take time that a price has to pay for.
Overhead
Overhead covers the costs of running your business that aren’t tied to one item: tools and machine payments, software, electricity, rent, website fees, and marketing. Add up a typical month and divide it by the number of items you make in that month.
How to Set Your Hourly Rate
Your hourly rate is what you pay yourself for your time. Pricing your labor too low is the most common reason handmade businesses stay busy without making money.
- Start with a wage you would accept for skilled work in your area, not the minimum you could live with.
- Raise it as your skill grows. Faster work at the same hourly rate means a lower price, so your rate should rise with experience.
- Charge for design time on custom orders. A one-off design can take longer than making the piece.
Tools that make the same piece faster lower your labor cost per item without lowering your rate. For example, a laser engraver can cut and engrave a batch of identical items while you finish the last one.
Check What You Really Earn Per Hour
A price can look profitable until you divide it by the time it takes. The Hourly Earnings tab takes your selling price, removes materials and selling fees, and spreads what’s left over the time each item takes.
Hourly earnings = (Selling price − Materials − Fees) ÷ Hours per item
A $35 item with $7 in materials, a 9.5% + $0.45 selling fee, and 45 minutes of work leaves $24.23 per item, or $32.30 an hour. To earn $25 an hour, the same item needs a price of at least $28.95. The default fees approximate a US Etsy sale; use our Etsy fee calculator for a full breakdown.
This number pays for your time and your overhead together, so it should be comfortably above the hourly rate you set for labor.
Common Craft Pricing Mistakes
- Matching the cheapest seller. Their costs, time, and goals aren’t yours, and a race to the bottom is hard to win.
- Leaving out your time. Materials-only pricing turns a business into an expensive hobby.
- Forgetting selling fees and shipping. Marketplace fees come out of the sale price, so they reduce what you keep from every order.
- Using one price for custom work. Personalized orders take more design and communication time, and the price should show it.
- Never raising prices. Material costs go up and your skill improves, so review your prices at least once a year.
To see how your price turns into profit margin and markup, use our profit margin calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the formula for pricing crafts?
A common formula is materials + labor + overhead = cost to make. Multiply the cost by 2 for the wholesale price, then multiply the wholesale price by 2 for the retail price.
Should I include my time when pricing crafts?
Yes. Multiply the time each item takes by your hourly rate and include it in your cost. Without it, your price only pays for materials and you work for free.
How much should I charge per hour for handmade items?
Use a wage you would accept for skilled work in your area as your starting rate. Then check that your prices cover that rate plus your overhead, using the Hourly Earnings tab.
How do I price my crafts for wholesale?
Wholesale prices are usually about half the retail price. A common approach is to double your cost to make for wholesale, so a shop can double it again for retail.
How do I price custom or personalized items?
Price them like your standard items, then add a design or setup charge for the extra time a one-off order takes. For laser-made pieces, our laser engraving price calculator prices jobs by machine time and setup.
What if my price seems too high?
Don’t cut your labor first. Look for cheaper materials, faster methods, or batch production, and think about whether you’re selling to the right customers. Shoppers looking for handmade and personalized items often expect to pay more.
More Free Calculators
- Profit Margin Calculator: margin, markup, and selling price
- Markup Calculator: selling price from cost and markup
- Etsy Fee Calculator: every Etsy fee and your profit per order
- Laser Engraving Price Calculator: job quotes from laser time and setup
These calculators provide estimates for general planning and are not financial, tax, or accounting advice.