Craft & Design
Wastage Buffer Reference
Industry-standard waste percentages for 20 common maker materials — feed into the True Product COGS calc for honest pricing.
Wastage Buffer Reference
Inputs
Without waste factor
Results
Recommended waste buffer
Mix cups, sticks, drips, test pours
22%
Amount per project with buffer
0.61
Projects per purchase
1.6
Material cost per project
$30.50
How to use this
Waste is the difference between what you buy and what ends up in the finished product. It kills margin if you forget it. This calculator gives you the industry-standard buffer for 20 common maker materials — plug into the True Product COGS calculator.
Use the lower end (3-8%) for precise liquid ingredients and beads; the high end (20-25%) for resin, wood cut from rough, leather, and meat — anything where you're working around defects or sticky residue.
Formula
buffered_amount = raw_amount × (1 + waste_%)
Related calculators
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.
Resin Project Cost
Epoxy resin volume, Part A/B split, and total cost — with deep-pour exotherm warning for 1:1 mixes over 2 inches.
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.
Formula
buffered = raw_amount × (1 + waste%)