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Retail Price Calculator

Set a retail price from a wholesale price using a shop multiple, and see the margin that leaves at each end of the chain.

Handmade Business
A shop buying your work doubles the price it pays, and this calculator works that chain forwards so the retail price, the shop margin and your own margin are all visible at once. It is the companion to the wholesale tool, which works backwards from a retail price. Use this one when a shop has given you a wholesale price and you want to know what the customer will pay and whether the whole chain makes sense.

At a glance

What you enter
Wholesale price, Shop multiple, Cost per unit, Your own direct retail price, Units in the order, Hours per unit
What you get
Retail price on the shelf, Profit the shop makes per unit, Shop margin on the shelf price, Shop markup on what it paid, Your profit per unit at wholesale, Your margin on the wholesale price, Your profit as a share of the shelf price, Cost as a share of the shelf price, Your revenue on the order, Your profit on the order, Value of the order at shelf price, Your profit selling direct, Wholesale units to match one direct sale, Profit per hour at wholesale, Profit per hour selling direct, Cost is low enough for a keystone channel, The wholesale price covers the cost
Formula shown
Yes, every step, right below your results.
Cost and privacy
Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.

See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓

The price you receive from the shop.

Two is the keystone convention: the shop doubles the price it paid.

The full cost including materials, labour and overhead.

Optional. What you sell the same item for when selling direct, for the comparison.

Reset

Results are estimates for general information only, always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.

How to use the Retail Price Calculator

  1. 1 Enter Wholesale price, The price you receive from the shop.
  2. 2 Enter Shop multiple, Two is the keystone convention: the shop doubles the price it paid.
  3. 3 Enter Cost per unit, The full cost including materials, labour and overhead.
  4. 4 Enter Your own direct retail price, Optional. What you sell the same item for when selling direct, for the comparison.
  5. 5 Enter Units in the order
  6. 6 Enter Hours per unit (h)
  7. 7 Press Calculate. You get Retail price on the shelf, Profit the shop makes per unit, Shop margin on the shelf price, Shop markup on what it paid, Your profit per unit at wholesale, Your margin on the wholesale price, Your profit as a share of the shelf price, Cost as a share of the shelf price, Your revenue on the order, Your profit on the order, Value of the order at shelf price, Your profit selling direct, Wholesale units to match one direct sale, Profit per hour at wholesale, Profit per hour selling direct, Cost is low enough for a keystone channel, The wholesale price covers the cost, and every intermediate step stays visible under "How is this calculated?"
  8. 8 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result, that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.

Worked examples

Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.

A 140 dollar wholesale price at keystone

A cost of 70 dollars and a shop doubling the price.

You enter

Wholesale price
$140.00
Shop multiple
2
Cost per unit
$70.00
Your own direct retail price
$280.00
Units in the order
10
Hours per unit
3.50 h

You get

Retail price on the shelf
$280.00
Profit the shop makes per unit
$140.00
Shop margin on the shelf price
50.0%
Shop markup on what it paid
100.0%
Your profit per unit at wholesale
$70.00
Your margin on the wholesale price
50.0%
Your profit as a share of the shelf price
25.0%
Cost as a share of the shelf price
25.0%
Your revenue on the order
$1,400.00
Your profit on the order
$700.00
Value of the order at shelf price
$2,800.00
Your profit selling direct
$210.00
Wholesale units to match one direct sale
3.00
Profit per hour at wholesale
$20.00
Profit per hour selling direct
$60.00
Cost is low enough for a keystone channel
1
The wholesale price covers the cost
1

A shelf price of 280.00, a shop margin of 50 percent, and your own profit of 70.00 a unit, which is only a quarter of the shelf price.

Open this example in the calculator →

A thin channel

A cost that is nearly two thirds of the shelf price.

You enter

Wholesale price
$85.00
Shop multiple
2
Cost per unit
$70.00
Your own direct retail price
$170.00
Units in the order
10
Hours per unit
3.50 h

You get

Retail price on the shelf
$170.00
Profit the shop makes per unit
$85.00
Shop margin on the shelf price
50.0%
Shop markup on what it paid
100.0%
Your profit per unit at wholesale
$15.00
Your margin on the wholesale price
17.6%
Your profit as a share of the shelf price
8.8%
Cost as a share of the shelf price
41.2%
Your revenue on the order
$850.00
Your profit on the order
$150.00
Value of the order at shelf price
$1,700.00
Your profit selling direct
$100.00
Wholesale units to match one direct sale
6.67
Profit per hour at wholesale
$4.29
Profit per hour selling direct
$28.57
Cost is low enough for a keystone channel
0
The wholesale price covers the cost
1

A shelf price of 170.00 with a cost of 70.00, so 41 percent of the price is cost. The channel is technically viable but leaves only 15.00 a unit.

Open this example in the calculator →

A gallery using a 2.5 times multiple

A higher overhead retailer, with the maker selling direct at the same price.

You enter

Wholesale price
$85.00
Shop multiple
2.50
Cost per unit
$40.00
Your own direct retail price
$212.50
Units in the order
8
Hours per unit
2 h

You get

Retail price on the shelf
$212.50
Profit the shop makes per unit
$127.50
Shop margin on the shelf price
60.0%
Shop markup on what it paid
150.0%
Your profit per unit at wholesale
$45.00
Your margin on the wholesale price
52.9%
Your profit as a share of the shelf price
21.2%
Cost as a share of the shelf price
18.8%
Your revenue on the order
$680.00
Your profit on the order
$360.00
Value of the order at shelf price
$1,700.00
Your profit selling direct
$172.50
Wholesale units to match one direct sale
3.83
Profit per hour at wholesale
$22.50
Profit per hour selling direct
$86.25
Cost is low enough for a keystone channel
1
The wholesale price covers the cost
1

A shelf price of 212.50 with a cost of 40.00, which is 19 percent of the price, so the channel works comfortably at both ends.

Open this example in the calculator →

Guides that go with it

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Frequently asked questions

What multiple does a shop put on handmade goods?
Two times the wholesale price is the standard, known as keystone, which gives the shop a fifty percent margin. Some shops use 2.2 or 2.5 times, and a gallery taking a commission rather than buying outright will often take forty to fifty percent of the retail price. The multiple is not something to negotiate, because it is what the shop needs to survive. The thing to negotiate is your wholesale price.
Why is my margin so much lower when I sell wholesale?
Because the shop has to make money too, and the money it makes comes out of the gap between your cost and the customer price. On a seventy dollar cost, a hundred and forty dollar wholesale price and a two hundred and eighty dollar shelf price, the shop makes half the shelf price and you make half the wholesale price. Your profit per unit is the same in absolute terms whichever way you look at it, but as a share of what the customer pays it is much smaller.
Should my direct price be the same as the shop price?
Yes, in almost every case. Undercutting a shop on your own website ends the relationship, and shops do check. The usual arrangement is that the retail price is the same everywhere and the difference is the channel, with the shop taking its margin in exchange for finding the customer. If you want to reward direct customers, do it with free shipping or a small extra rather than with a lower headline price.
When does a product stop being viable for wholesale?
When the cost rises above about a third of the shelf price. At a third, a shop doubling its money leaves the maker a wholesale price equal to one and a half times the cost, which is a thin margin before any fees. Above a third it becomes impossible to give the shop its fifty percent and keep anything meaningful. That is a structural limit on labour heavy products rather than a negotiation problem.
How does an order quantity change the retail price?
It does not change the retail price, but it changes the profit on the order. A ten unit order at a hundred and forty dollars wholesale is fourteen hundred dollars of revenue and seven hundred dollars of profit on a seventy dollar cost. If the larger quantity lowers your cost per unit, the margin improves at the same wholesale price, which is the right way to reward a big order: keep the price and keep the extra margin.

More money questions answered →

Terms used here

Short, plain-language definitions of the words this calculator uses.

Markup Profit expressed as a multiple of COST rather than as a share of price. Profit margin Profit expressed as a share of the SELLING PRICE. Wholesale price The price a maker charges a shop, which then sells at retail.

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