Handmade Pricing Calculator

INTRO

If you make things to sell, you’ve probably felt that flicker of doubt when setting a price. Too high and you worry nobody will buy; too low and you’re quietly working for pennies. Most handmade sellers undercharge — not because their work isn’t worth it, but because they forget to count the one ingredient that matters most: their own time.

This free handmade pricing calculator fixes that. Pop in your material costs, how long an item takes to make, your hourly rate and your selling fees, and it works out a fair retail price in seconds — one that actually pays you for your work.

I’m an engineer who sews, so I built this the way I build everything: with the maths done properly so you don’t have to. Have a play below.

HOW IT WORKS

How the pricing formula works

The calculator uses the tried-and-tested handmade pricing formula:

(Materials + Your time) = your cost price

Cost price × 2 = wholesale price (what you’d charge a shop buying in bulk)

Cost price × 3 = retail price (what you charge in your own shop or at a craft fair)

The reason for multiplying isn’t greed — it covers everything the basic sum misses: the electricity, the machine wear, the broken needles, the packaging, the marketing, the admin, and a genuine profit so your craft is a business rather than an expensive hobby. The retail multiplier also leaves room for marketplace fees (Etsy and payment processing usually swallow 10–13%) without eating into what you take home.

Why your price might look “too high”

When sellers first use a proper calculator, the suggested price often comes out higher than they expected — sometimes higher than similar items they see online. That’s not the calculator being wrong; it’s the first time their time has been counted. The makers underpricing around you are usually the ones who’ll burn out. If the number feels scary, the answer is to raise the perceived value — better photos, lovely packaging, a clear brand — not to drop the price and underpay yourself.

WORKED EXAMPLE

A real example: pricing a zipper pouch

Say a lined zipper pouch uses about £2.50 of fabric, zip, interfacing and thread, plus 50p of packaging — £3 in materials. It takes me 30 minutes to make, and I value my time at £12 an hour, so that’s £6 of labour. My cost price is £9. Multiply by three and the retail price is £27 — and after Etsy’s fees I’m still making a healthy profit per pouch, rather than the £12 I might have nervously charged before doing the sums.

New to selling your makes?

Start with my guide to 15 Things to Sew and Sell for Extra Income, then come back here to price them.