how do you price handmade jewelry?

start from your true cost, not what feels right. add up materials, your labor (time on the piece at an honest hourly rate), packaging, and any shipping you absorb. that's your unit cost. then work backward from a target profit margin, accounting for the marketplace and payment fees that come off every sale, to a retail price that actually leaves you the margin you wanted. the calculator above does exactly this, so the number it returns is what you need to charge to keep your target profit after fees.

what is the formula for pricing jewelry?

the classic handmade formula is based on cost: (materials + labor + overhead) × 2 gives a wholesale price, and wholesale × 2 gives retail. it's a fine starting point but it ignores marketplace fees, so your real margin ends up thinner than it looks. the more accurate version solves for price directly: price = (unit cost + fixed fees) ÷ (1 − fee rate − target margin). that's the formula this tool uses, so the margin you pick is the margin you actually keep.

what profit margin should handmade jewelry have?

aim for a net margin around 50% after every fee. that's healthy for handmade jewelry and leaves room to discount, run ads, or sell wholesale without losing money. keystone (a 2× markup on cost) sounds similar but is roughly a 50% gross margin before fees, so once you subtract marketplace and payment cuts it lands well below 50% net. price to the net margin, and you know what you're really keeping.

how much are Etsy fees on jewelry?

on Etsy you pay a 6.5% transaction fee on the item price (plus shipping), payment processing of roughly 3% + $0.25 per order in the US, and a $0.20 listing fee per item. offsite ads, if you're enrolled, add 12 to 15% on those orders. it adds up to around 10% or more of each sale before a cent of profit, which is exactly why pricing from cost alone leaves makers short. set the platform to Etsy in the calculator to fold these in.

what's the difference between wholesale and retail price?

retail is what a customer pays you directly. wholesale is the lower price you sell at when a shop buys to resell, usually about half of retail, or roughly 2× your cost. the gap has to be real: if your retail is only a small step above cost, there's no room to offer wholesale, and a stockist can't make their own margin. price retail properly first, and a workable wholesale number falls out of it. the calculator shows both.

should I pay myself for labor when pricing?

yes, always. unpaid labor is the most common reason a jewelry business looks busy but never profits. put a real hourly rate on your bench time, even if it feels high at first, and price so the finished piece covers it. if the resulting price feels too high for the market, that's useful information: it usually means the piece takes too long, the materials cost too much, or it needs better photos to justify the price. it rarely means your time is worth less.

tools · pricing

jewelry pricing calculator.

what to charge for a handmade piece so it actually turns a profit. add your materials, time, and the fees that come off every sale, pick a margin, and get a retail price, a wholesale price, and the break-even behind them.

start from

your cost to make it

materials

packaging

time per piece

min

your hourly rate

shipping you absorb

where it sells

platform fee

payment fee

+ per order

ad cost per order (optional)

price by

margin is the profit you keep after every fee, as a share of the price. 50% is a healthy target.

sales per month (for projection)

sales

suggested retail price

$78.40

$39.20 profit · 50% margin kept

unit cost to make: $31.50
break-even price: $35.08
wholesale (2× cost): $63.00
break-even ROAS: 2.0×

at 20 sales / month

$784profit · $1,568 revenue

price at each target margin

target margin	retail price	profit / sale	margin kept
30%	$52.48	$15.74	30%
40%	$62.87	$25.15	40%
50%	$78.40	$39.20	50%
60%	$104.10	$62.46	60%

the math

price is built from cost, not guessed.

most underpricing comes from leaving something out. four things go into a real cost, and fees come off the top of every sale after that.

materials

metal, stones, findings, chain: everything that ends up in the finished piece.

labor

your bench time at an honest hourly rate. the cost makers most often skip.

overhead

packaging, and a share of tools, rent, and the shipping you eat on free shipping orders.

fees

the marketplace cut and payment processing that come off the sale price, not the cost.

worked examples

three pieces, priced honestly.

the same trap every time: cheap materials hide expensive time. here is what a fair price looks like once labor and fees are in.

stacking ring
≈ $55 retail
$9 materials · 20 min labor
a maker would often tag this at $28. at a real hourly rate and a 50% margin after Etsy fees, it needs to be closer to $55.
beaded bracelet
≈ $75 retail
$14 materials · 25 min labor
the beads are cheap; the stringing and finishing time isn't. paying yourself for that time is what moves this from $35 to $75.
pendant necklace
≈ $100 retail
$18 materials · 35 min labor
a bezel set pendant is slow work. priced to keep 50% after fees, a $100 tag isn't ambitious. it's break even plus a fair wage.

these shots were all made from a single phone photo in bling ai, part of how a fair price becomes an easy one. run your own numbers in the calculator above.

keystone vs. reality

why a 2× markup isn't a 50% margin.

keystone pricing, doubling your cost, is the rule of thumb most makers start with. it feels like a 50% margin, but it isn't, because the marketplace takes its cut after you set the price.

sell a $40 piece that cost $20 and keystone says you made $20. but Etsy's transaction fee, payment processing, and a listing fee quietly remove $4 to $6 first, so the real margin is closer to 35%, and any ad spend eats further in.

price = (unit cost + fixed fees) ÷ (1 − fee rate − target margin)

the calculator solves that equation for you, so the margin you pick is the margin you keep. it also reports a break-even ROAS: the minimum return your ads need before a promoted sale starts making money.

by channel

the same piece, priced for where it sells.

the method doesn't change from channel to channel. the fees and the room you need to leave do.

your own site

lowest fees (payment processing only), so the most margin, but you pay for the traffic. price full retail and fund your own ads.

marketplace

Etsy and Amazon bring the traffic and take 10%+ per sale. price so a healthy margin survives the fee, not just the cost.

wholesale

shops buy at about half your retail to resell. it only works if retail was priced with that headroom built in from the start.

consignment & fairs

consignment shops take 30 to 50%. craft fair booth fees are a fixed cost to spread across the day's pieces. both need it priced in.

what goes wrong

five ways makers underprice.

01Not paying yourself for labor, the single biggest cause of a busy shop that never profits.
02Treating a 2× markup as a 50% margin. After fees it's closer to 35%.
03Forgetting marketplace and payment fees, which come off the price you set, not the cost.
04Offering free shipping without folding the shipping cost into the price.
05Pricing to match competitors instead of covering your own real costs. you don't know theirs.

where you sell

built for how indie jewelers actually sell.

selling on Etsy, your own Shopify store, or wholesale to shops changes the fees, not the method. set the platform and the number adjusts. more on each channel is in the guides for Etsy sellers and jewelry makers.

pricing in solid gold or silver? cost your metal by weight first with the gold price calculator, then drop that into the materials field here.

plain english

pricing terms, defined.

unit cost (COGS): everything it costs to produce one piece: materials, labor, packaging, and absorbed shipping.
margin: profit as a share of the selling price. a $50 piece with $20 profit has a 40% margin.
markup: profit as a share of cost. that same piece, $20 profit on $30 cost, is a 67% markup. margin and markup are not the same number.
keystone: doubling cost to set the price (a 2× markup, ~50% gross margin). a starting rule, not one that accounts for fees.
break-even price: the lowest price that covers cost and fees with zero profit. never sell below it.
break-even ROAS: return on ad spend at which a promoted sale makes exactly $0. ads need to beat it to be worth running.

questions

jewelry pricing, answered.

how this is calculated

the calculator solves price = (unit cost + fixed fees) ÷ (1 − fee rate − target margin), so a target margin is the margin you keep after fees rather than before them. the preset fee rates reflect the public schedules for Etsy and Amazon Handmade and are editable. always confirm the current rate for your shop, as platforms change them. estimates are a starting point, not financial advice.

fee rates last reviewed July 2026.

more tools

the rest of the bench.

price it, then sell it

a fair price is easier when the photo earns it.

bling ai turns an iphone photo of your jewelry into a shot ready for a campaign, so the price on the tag looks right to the buyer.

download on theApp Store

jewelry pricing calculator.

price is built from cost, not guessed.

three pieces, priced honestly.

stacking ring

beaded bracelet

pendant necklace

why a 2× markup isn't a 50% margin.

the same piece, priced for where it sells.

five ways makers underprice.

built for how indie jewelers actually sell.

pricing terms, defined.

jewelry pricing, answered.

the rest of the bench.

gold price calculator

permanent jewelry pricing calculator

silver price calculator

platinum price calculator

hallmark decoder

ring size converter

a fair price is easier when the photo earns it.