Print Pricing Calculator — Calculate Print Retail Prices

The print pricing formula accounts for all costs plus a profit margin:

Total cost = print cost + packaging + shipping + labour

Labour cost = (minutes ÷ 60) × hourly rate

Net trade price = total cost × markup multiplier

Profit margin = (net trade price − total cost) ÷ net trade price × 100%

A 3× markup produces a 67% profit margin; a 2× markup gives 50%. Margin is measured on the net trade price, so VAT on its own does not change it. If you also pay a platform fee, though, that fee is charged on the VAT-inclusive price the customer pays — so a higher VAT rate makes the fee larger and trims your margin by roughly the fee rate × the VAT rate (about 1.3 points at a 6.5% fee and 20% VAT).

VAT (optional) is added on top of the net price to give the price your customer pays: customer price = net trade price × (1 + VAT rate). VAT is collected for HMRC, so it is not counted as profit.

Platform fee (optional — Etsy, marketplace or website host) is taken out of your takings, so it reduces profit: fee = customer price × fee rate, then profit = net trade price − total cost − fee. To keep your margin intact, raise the markup or price the fee in.