Farmers market and cottage food pricing. Free, no signup.
Count every minute: baking, packing, labeling, loading the car. Your time is a real cost.
Include setup and teardown in market hours. Sell-through is the share of units you expect to actually sell; unsold units still cost you money.
30 to 50 percent margin is a healthy range for market products. Enter the price you charge today, or the one you are considering.
What your price would be at common margin targets, given your true cost per unit sold.
Start in the "Your batch" card: enter units made, the ingredient cost for the batch, packaging per unit, prep hours, and the hourly rate you pay yourself. Count every minute, including baking, packing, labeling, and loading the car, because your time is a real cost. Next, the "Market day costs" card takes the booth fee, travel and fuel, market hours including setup and teardown, and your sell-through percent. Sell-through is the share of units you expect to sell, with unsold units still costing you money. Then the "Price check" card takes your price per unit and your target margin, with 30 to 50 percent flagged as a healthy range for market products. The "Results" card recalculates as you type, showing units sold, batch cost, market day fixed cost, total day cost, gross revenue, your margin at the price, and effective pay per hour. The headline numbers are: true cost per unit sold, the suggested price at your target margin, and projected market-day net. The verdict reads WORTH IT, TIGHT, or LOSING MONEY. A separate "Price ladder" card prices your product at 30, 40, and 50 percent margins. Estimates are for planning only, and everything runs on your inputs.
Example only, not typical earnings. Say you make 48 units with $32 in ingredients, $0.45 packaging per unit, 4 prep hours at a $20 hourly rate, a $35 booth fee, $12 in travel, 7 market hours, 85 percent sell-through, a $6 price, and a 40 percent target margin.
Prep labor is 4 x $20 = $80, so the batch costs $32 + (48 x $0.45) + $80 = $133.60. Market day labor is 7 x $20 = $140, so the market day fixed cost is $35 + $12 + $140 = $187. Total day cost is $133.60 + $187 = $320.60. You sell 48 x 0.85 = 40.8 units for 40.8 x $6 = $244.80 in revenue, leaving a net of $244.80 - $320.60 = -$75.80. True cost per unit sold is $320.60 / 40.8 = $7.86, so your margin at $6 is ($6 - $7.86) / $6 = -31.0 percent.
The verdict reads LOSING MONEY, and the suggested price at a 40 percent margin is $7.86 / (1 - 0.40) = $13.10 per unit. Your effective pay across all 11 hours is -$75.80 / 11 = -$6.89 per hour. The price ladder prices the product at $11.23, $13.10, and $15.72 for 30, 40, and 50 percent margins.
**Why is my true cost per unit sold higher than my batch cost per unit?**
Because the true cost spreads the entire market day, batch cost, booth fee, travel, and all of your paid hours, across only the units you actually sell. At 85 percent sell-through, 48 units cost you $320.60 but only 40.8 sell, so each sold unit carries $7.86. The lower your sell-through, the more the unsold units weigh on the ones that sell.
**How does the tool calculate the suggested price?**
It divides your true cost per unit sold by one minus your target margin. At a $7.86 true cost and a 40 percent target, that is $7.86 / 0.60 = $13.10. The price ladder card runs the same math at 30, 40, and 50 percent so you can compare margin targets side by side.
**Should I really count my own time as a cost?**
Yes. The tool charges every prep hour and market hour at the hourly rate you enter, which is why the WORTH IT verdict says you clear your net "after paying yourself" that rate. If you price without labor, the margin number flatters you and the effective pay per hour exposes it.
**What does the TIGHT verdict mean?**
It means the day is profitable but your margin at the entered price is below your target. The verdict tells you exactly what price per unit would hit your target margin, so you can decide whether to raise the price, cut a cost, or accept the thinner margin.
**Is this financial or tax advice?**
No, informational only. The tool gives estimates for planning based on your own inputs. It does not account for taxes, permits, cottage food rules, or other legal requirements. Check with a qualified professional before making pricing, tax, or business decisions.