Price handmade items without guessing.

The pricing formula

Most handmade pricing advice boils down to cost-plus: add up what each item costs you, then add profit. The part that is easy to get wrong is that marketplace fees are charged as a percentage of the whole order, so a price that looks right before fees ends up short after them. This calculator solves that directly. If G is the total the buyer pays (item plus shipping), then G times (1 minus transaction fee, processing fee, any offsite-ad share and your margin) must equal your costs plus the fixed fees, so G = (costs + fixed fees) / (1 − percentage fees − margin).

Worked example with the default numbers

Materials $6, packaging $1, postage $4, one hour at $15, and $100 of monthly overhead spread over 50 items ($2) gives a cost stack of $28. Fixed fees are the $0.20 listing fee and the $0.25 processing fixed fee. Percentage fees are 6.5% plus 3% and the target margin is 20%, so G = $28.45 / (1 − 0.095 − 0.20) = $40.35. Subtract $5 shipping and the item price is $35.35. Profit is about $8.07, which is 20% of $40.35, on top of the $15 you paid yourself for the hour.

Methodology

Labor is hours multiplied by the hourly pay you enter. Overhead per item is monthly overhead divided by items made per month. Etsy fee defaults are the US figures: $0.20 listing, 6.5% transaction on price plus shipping, and 3% + $0.25 processing on the order total. If you enter a share of orders that come from Offsite Ads, the expected fee is that share times the ad rate. The offsite ads cap per order and the lower 12% rate are not modelled; use the dedicated offsite ads calculator for a single sale.

The wholesale line halves the item price and subtracts the cost stack with no platform fees, which is a rough check of whether a wholesale discount would still leave money. Your wage, overhead and margin are your decisions; the tool does not say what any of them should be, and results vary by shop.

Sources and retrieval date

All figures below were read from the primary sources listed here in October 2026 (retrieved 2026-10). Rules and fees change; re-verify before relying on a number. Fee rates: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy ($0.20 listing fee, 6.5% transaction fee) and Etsy Payments Policy (US processing 3% + $0.25), as recorded on this site's Etsy offsite ads calculator, which read them from those Etsy pages on 2026-10-02. Re-verify on Etsy before relying on them. The pricing formula is standard algebra and is not a platform rule.

What this does not cover

• Sales tax or VAT on your sales and income tax on your profit.
• Etsy Ads, currency conversion, Regulatory Operating Fees and fees outside the US.
• Market demand; a price that covers your costs may still be above what buyers pay.
• Free-shipping pricing strategies and discount codes.
• Time spent on photos, listings and customer messages unless you add it to your hours.

Frequently asked questions

How do I price a handmade item?

Add materials, packaging, postage, your labor and a share of overhead, then add a profit margin and solve for the marketplace fees that are charged on the whole order. This calculator does that in one step.

Should I pay myself an hourly wage in the price?

Many makers do, because otherwise the profit hides unpaid labor. The wage here is an input; set it to 0 to see price on materials and fees alone.

What Etsy fees are included?

The $0.20 listing fee, the 6.5% transaction fee, 3% + $0.25 US payment processing and an optional offsite ads share. You can edit all of them.

Why is my price higher than materials plus time?

Because fees are taken from the total the buyer pays, a margin of 20% means the price must be higher than cost times 1.2 once the 9.5% in percentage fees and the fixed fees are included.

Does this guarantee I will make a profit?

No. It shows the price your numbers require. Whether buyers pay it, and how many you sell, is outside the model, and results vary.