Pottery Pricing Calculator — Clay, Glaze, Kiln Cost & Etsy Profit
Price handmade mugs, bowls and planters: clay by weight, glaze, kiln electricity per piece and losses in firing, then Etsy fees, postage and profit per order.
By Marginory teamContent reviewed
Production cost
kWh for one full load
Cost per sellable piece: $15.82
Order
This order
Price per piece for a target margin
US Etsy fees: 6.5% transaction and 3% + $0.25 processing on item + shipping, $0.20 listing fee per piece sold. Target-margin prices assume a one-piece order without Offsite Ads.
Firing losses are a real cost
A piece that cracks in the bisque or crawls in the glaze firing used clay, glaze, kiln time and your hours. The loss percentage spreads all of that over the pieces you can sell. Track it over a few loads; new glazes and larger forms usually lose more.
Worked example with the default inputs
| Line | Normal sale | Offsite Ads sale (15%) |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer pays ($38.00 + $0.00 shipping) | $38.00 | $38.00 |
| Etsy fees | −$4.06 | −$9.76 |
| Cost per piece | −$15.82 | −$15.82 |
| Postage + packaging | −$10.50 | −$10.50 |
| Profit (margin) | $7.62 (20.1%) | $1.92 (5.1%) |
For a 40% margin on a one-piece order with these costs, the price would need to be about $53.01. The defaults are illustrative; replace them with your own supplier prices and timed production.
Packing decides the margin on Etsy
Postage on a boxed mug is often a quarter of the price. Sets of two or four share one box, so compare a single piece with a set using the quantity field. If breakage in transit is a problem, add the replacement cost to packaging rather than ignoring it.
Sources and assumptions
US Etsy fees from Etsy's fee policy. Sales tax, currency conversion and Etsy Ads you buy yourself are not modeled. Default material prices are illustrative, not market quotes. How these estimates work.
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Review the market, fee bases and exclusions shown with this tool. Published rates and illustrative cost inputs have different certainty. Compare your breakdown with an actual order statement. Sources and methodology.