Ardent Seller — embeddable calculator

Sample data pre-filled — replace each field with your own product's numbers to get a defensible retail price.

Your product

Enter the true unit cost components. The suggested retail solves for your target margin after platform fees.

Materials cost per unit

Every consumable that goes into one finished unit — wax + wick + jar, flour + butter + sugar, beads + wire + clasp.

Hands-on minutes per unit

minutes

Your hourly labor rate

$/hour

Pay yourself. BLS May 2023 median for craft and fine artists: $24.04/hr.

Packaging cost per unit

Box, mailer, tissue, label, hang-tag, thank-you note — the per-order packaging is almost always under-counted.

Overhead allocation per unit (optional)

Studio rent + software + insurance divided by your typical monthly units. Skip this if you're just starting out.

Selling channel

6.5% transaction + 3% + $0.25 US payment processing + $0.20 listing. Excludes Offsite Ads (12–15% on attributed orders).

Variable fee %

Fixed fee

Target gross margin55%

Handmade goods retail margin: 50–70% is defensible. Below 30% rarely covers real labor; wholesale floor is typically 50% (keystone).

Suggested retail price

Solved so the price clears your target margin after platform fees, not before.

Suggested retail

$38.59

to clear 55% margin after 9.5% + $0.45 fees

Suggested wholesale

$19.30

keystone (retail ÷ 2)

True unit cost: $13.25
Profit / unit: $21.23
Fees / unit: $4.12
Effective margin: 55%

Healthy margin

Margin sits in the 40–70% sweet spot. Re-check every quarter so creep doesn't sneak in.

Per-unit cost by batch size

Holding labor at the same per-unit minutes — true scaling savings come from materials only.

Per-unit cost at different batch sizes
Batch size	Unit cost	Suggested retail
5 units	$15.25	$44.23
10 units	$14.25	$41.41
25 units	$13.65	$39.72
50 units	$13.45	$39.15
100 units	$13.35	$38.87
250 units	$13.29	$38.70

Setup-cost savings (one-time photography, listing creation) divide across batch — the larger the batch, the smaller the setup cost per unit. The materials-and-labor portion stays the same per unit.