The Maker's Price

You made the thing. Now price it like an engineer, not by vibes. Every real cost, your break-even, a defensible price, and the number nobody wants to see: what you're actually paying yourself per hour.

No account. No subscription. Nothing leaves your phone, the numbers stay right here. Hit download at the bottom and this tool is yours forever, works with the wifi off.

what goes into one unit

Materials, packaging, the sticker on the bag. Everything you buy per unit sold.

your hands-on time

Only time you're actually working: assembly, sanding, packing, listing. Machine time doesn't count, that's the next box.

minutes per unit

what your hour is worth ($)

If you wouldn't do this job for someone else at that rate, the rate is wrong.

the machine

Printers, kilns, cutters, sewing machines. They wear out, so every hour they run costs you money. Skip this box if there's no machine.

machine cost ($)

expected life (hours)

machine hours per unit

Plate of 6 takes 9 hours? That's 1.5 machine hours per unit.

failure rate

Failed prints, cracked glaze, crooked seams. Good units carry the cost of dead ones.

overhead (optional, but real)

Booth fees, software, a share of rent and power, insurance. Monthly total, split across what you actually sell in a month.

monthly overhead ($)

units sold per month

where you sell

Every platform takes a cut. Tap one for approximate 2026 rates, then correct them to yours. Rates drift, trust your dashboard over my chips.

fees (% of price)

fixed fee per sale ($)

shipping you eat ($)

profit margin

Profit is not your wage, you already paid yourself above. Profit is what funds the next machine, the next material order, the bad month. 30% is a healthy start.

30%

the answer

break-even, below this you lose money$0.00

your price at 30% margin$0.00

the reality check

Type the price you were thinking of charging. This is the part that stings.

your gut price ($)

Enter a price above.

the math, shown

materials = your lines ÷ (1 - failure)

machine = (cost ÷ life hours) × hours per unit ÷ (1 - failure)

labor = minutes ÷ 60 × your rate

overhead = monthly ÷ units per month

true cost = all of the above

break-even = (cost + fixed fee + shipping) ÷ (1 - fee%)

price = (cost + fixed fee + shipping) ÷ (1 - fee% - margin%)

real wage = (labor + profit at your price) ÷ hands-on hours

Failure only multiplies materials and machine time. You don't redo all your labor on a fail, you mostly lose plastic and hours the machine already ate.

This is Public Works #1. Real problems from regular people, solved by an engineer with AI leverage, given away as tools you own. Nothing here phones home: your numbers never leave this page. Got a problem money can't fix but an engineer could? Send it. Built by John Jones, first used to price his own product. Approximate platform rates, verify against your own statements; this is engineering, not accounting advice.