Business & Pricing
True Product COGS (No-BS)
The real cost to make and sell one unit — materials with wastage, packaging, labor with burden, overhead, payment + platform fees, shipping absorbed, income + self-employment taxes. All in.
True Product COGS (No-BS)
Inputs
Payroll taxes + benefits
Monthly fixed overhead
For allocating fixed costs per unit
Stripe 2.9%, PayPal 3.49%
Etsy 6.5%, Amazon 15%, 0 own site
100 = full pass-through
Your marginal bracket
15.3% US standard
Results
True unit COGS
Materials + packaging + labor + overhead
$28.82
Materials (w/ waste)
$6.22
Packaging
$2.10
Labor (w/ burden)
$10.42
Overhead allocated
$605.00/mo ÷ units
$10.08
Payment fee
$1.61
Platform fee
$3.13
Shipping absorbed
$0.00
Gross profit / unit
25.4% gross margin
$11.45
Income tax
−$2.52
Self-employment tax
−$1.75
Take-home per unit
16.0% net margin
$7.18
Prices for target net margins
40% net margin
$109.39
50% net margin
$270.10
60% net margin
—
Break-even units / month
To cover fixed overhead at this price
28
How to use this
Most makers underprice because they forget something — wastage, labels, payment fees, or taxes. This calculator lumps every real cost into the unit price.
Wastage on materials: the 2 oz you plan to use might actually cost 2.2 oz because of off-cuts, spills, test batches. Default 5-10% for most materials, 15-25% for resin, 10% for wood cuts.
Payroll burden: if you hire anyone, wages are 1.2-1.35× the paycheck number after FICA, FUTA, state UI, workers comp, health. Your own labor should still be priced in — at a real hourly rate, not $0.
Overhead allocation: rent + utilities + insurance + software are fixed each month. Divide by your realistic unit volume (not your best month — your average month) to get a per-unit burn.
Taxes: income tax + self-employment tax (15.3% US) together eat 30-50% of net profit depending on bracket. If you don't price for them, April hits hard.
Educational estimate only — not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Consult your CPA for filing.
Formula
unit_cogs = materials_with_waste + packaging + labor × (1 + burden) + monthly_fixed ÷ monthly_units
fees = retail × (pay_% + platform_%) + pay_flat + listing_flat
gross_profit = retail − unit_cogs − fees − shipping_absorbed
take_home = gross_profit × (1 − income_% − se_%)
Related calculators
Packaging Cost Per Unit
Sum the real packaging stack — box, label, stickers, tissue, mailer, void fill, tape, ship label — into a single per-unit cost.
Wastage Buffer Reference
Industry-standard waste percentages for 20 common maker materials — feed into the True Product COGS calc for honest pricing.
Average Shipping Cost
Weighted average shipping across your real zones and services — with fair flat-rate suggestion and per-order profit/loss.
Cost-Plus Pricing
Set a retail price from your cost and target margin — with a sanity check against competitor pricing.
Payroll True Cost
Total cost to employ someone — wages + FICA + FUTA + state UI + workers comp + benefits. The real number, not the paycheck number.
Formula
cogs = materials×(1+waste) + packaging + labor×(1+burden) + fixed/units; take_home = (retail − cogs − fees − ship) × (1 − income% − se%)