Handmade pricing calculator
Work out what to charge for anything you make, with your own time counted. See your real hourly pay, check your current price and test wholesale.
Free · Nothing is saved or sent anywhere · Works on your phone · Prices in pounds sterling
Quick answer
To price a handmade item, add your materials, packaging, your own time (hours multiplied by an hourly rate), overheads and postage to get your true cost. Add the profit you want, then divide by one minus your fee rate so fees are covered. This free calculator does every step as you type and shows your real hourly pay at the price it suggests.
Jump to: Calculator · How it works · Worked example · FAQ
By the KavanaStock team · Last updated
Start with an example
Make it yours
1. Materials
Enter what a pack costs and how much one item uses. Example: a £7 bag of wax with 1000g, and you use 200g.
2. Packaging
Boxes, bags, labels, tissue, ribbon, the thank-you card. Customers see these as part of the product.
3. Your time
Time one item from start to finish, including prep, making, cleaning up and packing.
Not sure? Pick the rate you would accept from an employer. The UK National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for ages 21 and over from 1 April 2026 (GOV.UK). It is a useful floor, not a rule for the self-employed.
4. Overheads, fees and postage
The costs that are not in the product itself but still come out of every sale.
Workspace, equipment, insurance, stall fees.
Overheads are shared across these.
Check your platform's current fees. Market stalls and card readers also take a cut.
Leave at 0 if customers pay postage.
5. Profit and price
Profit is what is left after you have been paid for your time. It funds new equipment, better materials and slow months.
Round my price up to
Optional checks
See how your current price stacks up, and whether selling to shops would work.
Stockists commonly buy at around half your retail price.
How does the handmade pricing calculator work?
The calculator uses one formula: price = (materials + packaging + your time + overheads + postage + profit) ÷ (1 − fee rate). Everything except the fee is added up as your true cost. Fees come out of the sale price, so you divide rather than add.
Because your own time is included, it can also show your real hourly pay at any price, which is often the number that changes minds.
How do I use the calculator?
- 1. Choose an example or start blank. Pick a starting example (soy candle, clay earrings, knitted hat) or start from blank and name your product.
- 2. Add your materials. For each material enter what a pack costs, how much is in the pack and how much one item uses. The calculator works out the cost per item.
- 3. Add your packaging. Boxes, bags, labels, tissue and cards, entered the same way.
- 4. Enter your time and hourly rate. Minutes to make and pack one item, and the hourly rate you want to be paid.
- 5. Add overheads, fees and postage. Monthly running costs and how many items you sell, your platform and payment fee percentage, and any postage you absorb.
- 6. Choose profit and rounding, then read the results. Set the profit you want on top of cost and how to round the price. Read the recommended price, the cost breakdown and your real hourly pay, then try the optional current-price and wholesale checks.
What does a worked example look like?
This is the calculator's first example, a 200g soy candle that takes 45 minutes to make and pack. The figures are illustrative, so swap in your own.
| Item | How it is worked out | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Soy wax | £7.00 pack of 1000g, 200g used | £1.40 |
| Glass jar | £9.60 for 8 jars, 1 used | £1.20 |
| Cotton wick | £4.50 for 50, 1 used | £0.09 |
| Fragrance oil | £8.10 for 100ml, 10ml used | £0.81 |
| Materials | £3.50 | |
| Packaging | Gift box £0.45 + label £0.20 | £0.65 |
| Your time | 45 minutes at £12.71 an hour | £9.53 |
| Overheads | £30 a month shared across 40 items | £0.75 |
| True cost | £14.43 | |
| Profit target | 30% on top of true cost | £4.33 |
| Break-even price | true cost ÷ (1 − 10% fees) | £16.04 |
| Recommended price | (cost + profit) ÷ 0.9 = £20.85, rounded up to the nearest 50p | £21.00 |
| Profit per item at £21.00 | after £2.10 of fees | £4.47 |
| Your real hourly pay at £21.00 | (£21.00 − fees − materials, packaging and overheads) ÷ 0.75 hours | £18.67 an hour |
If this candle currently sells at £12, the calculator shows you are paid about £7.87 an hour, well below the £12.71 target, so each sale earns £3.63 less than planned. That is the kind of insight a simple “materials plus a bit” guess never shows.
What counts as a material, packaging or overhead cost?
Anything that ends up in the product (wax, yarn, clay, findings) goes under materials. Anything the customer receives around it (box, bag, label, tissue, card) goes under packaging. Overheads are running costs not tied to one item: workspace, equipment, insurance, stall fees. Add up a typical month, divide by how many items you sell, and each item carries its share.
Why does the calculator count my time?
If your hours are not in the price, you are paying yourself nothing and calling it a discount. Counting time is also what makes the hourly-pay figure possible. For a UK reference point, the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for ages 21 and over from 1 April 2026 (GOV.UK). It is not a rule for the self-employed, but it is a sensible floor to compare against.
Which common pricing mistakes does it catch?
- Leaving out your time. The hourly-pay figure shows what you really earn.
- Forgetting small items. Labels, boxes and tissue are easy to miss and add up over many orders.
- Adding fees instead of dividing. A 10% fee takes 10% of the sale price, not of your cost.
- Pricing from competitors alone. Use their prices as a sense-check after your own numbers.
- Saying yes to wholesale without checking. At half of retail, many products lose money.
Does VAT affect my price?
The calculator works with prices excluding VAT. If you are VAT-registered, work out your price here and then add VAT on top. If you are not VAT-registered, you do not add VAT. Check HMRC guidance or ask an accountant about what applies to your business.
Frequently asked questions
How do I price handmade items?
Add your materials, packaging, your time (hours multiplied by an hourly rate), overheads and any postage you absorb to get your true cost. Add the profit you want, then divide by one minus your fee rate so fees are covered. This calculator does every step for you and updates as you type.
What hourly rate should I use?
Use the rate you would accept if someone else employed you to make this product. In the UK, the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over from 1 April 2026, which is a useful floor to compare against even though it does not legally apply to the self-employed.
Should I count my time if making things is a hobby?
Yes. Counting your time shows whether the product could ever pay you, and it reveals your real hourly pay at any price. You can start with a lower rate and raise it as you grow, but leaving time out hides the real picture.
How do fees change the price I should charge?
Fees come out of the sale price, so you divide rather than add. If you need £17.10 to cover costs and profit and your fees are 10%, the price must be £17.10 divided by 0.9, which is £19.00. Check your platform and payment provider for their current fees.
How do I include overheads in the price?
Add up a typical month of running costs such as workspace, equipment, insurance and stall fees, then divide by the number of items you sell in a month. The calculator adds that share to each item automatically.
What is a break-even price?
Break-even is the lowest price that covers all your costs, including your own time and fees, with no profit on top. Charging less than break-even means you are earning less per hour than the rate you set.
How do I work out my real hourly pay?
Take the price, subtract fees and the cost of materials, packaging, overheads and postage, then divide what is left by the hours it takes. The calculator shows this number for any price, so you can see what you really earn per hour.
Does it work for selling to shops (wholesale)?
Yes. In the optional checks, enter the percentage a shop would pay of your retail price (stockists commonly pay around half). The calculator shows whether you would make or lose money per item at that price, and the retail price you would need for wholesale to work.
Is the calculator free, and is my information saved?
It is free with no signup. Everything you type stays in your browser: it is not sent to us and it is not saved, so refreshing the page clears it. Analytics only runs if you accept our cookie banner.
Sources and further reading
- GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates (checked 5 October 2026)
- How to price handmade items: a simple formula with a worked example
- The hidden costs eating your handmade profit
- How to stop running out of materials
Figures in the examples are illustrative. Check your own costs and any official rates before you rely on them.
About KavanaStock
KavanaStock is an inventory and profit-tracking web app for independent makers. You add your materials and what they cost, build a recipe for each product, and it shows your true estimated profit per item (your own time included), warns you when materials run low, and flags products that are not selling. There is a free plan with no credit card required. Learn more at kavanaapp.co.uk.
Written by the KavanaStock team. Last reviewed 5 October 2026.
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