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Craft fair profit calculator
See what one craft fair or market really made after the booth fee, card fees, mileage and item costs, plus your profit per hour and the sales you needed to break even.
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How to use it
- Enter your total sales and what the items you sold cost you as a percentage of sales.
- Add the booth fee and any other costs of doing the event.
- Enter the share of sales taken by card, your card fee and the number of card payments.
- Add round-trip miles and all your hours for the event, then read profit, profit per hour and break-even.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type into the calculator is sent or saved anywhere.
How one event's profit is worked out, with an example
A busy market day can feel like a great day, and a quiet one can feel like a waste, but neither feeling tells you whether to book it again. The useful numbers are what's left after every cost the event caused, how much that is per hour of your time, and how much you'd have needed to sell just to break even. This calculator works out all three for one event.
- Item costs: the materials and packaging for what you sold, as a percentage of sales.
- Card fees: the percentage fee on card sales, plus any fixed fee per card payment.
- Booth fee and other costs: what you paid to be there: pitch, parking, table hire.
- Mileage: round-trip miles × your cost per mile.
- Your hours: packing, loading, driving, setup, selling and teardown, not just opening hours.
Worked example
A maker takes $900 at a Saturday fair, 70% of it by card in 30 payments at 2.6% + $0.15. Items cost about 30% of their price. The booth was $75, parking and extras $15, and the round trip was 60 miles at $0.70 a mile. Including packing and driving, the day took 10 hours.
| Sales | $900.00 |
| − Item costs (30%) | $270.00 |
| − Card fees ($630 × 2.6% + 30 × $0.15) | $20.88 |
| − Booth fee | $75.00 |
| − Other costs | $15.00 |
| − Mileage (60 × $0.70) | $42.00 |
| Profit | $477.12 |
| Profit per hour (10 hours) | $47.71 |
| Break-even sales | $200.21 |
The event cost $422.88 in total, so profit was 112.8% of costs and 53% of sales. Break-even was $200.21: the first $200 or so of sales just paid for being there. To pay yourself $20 an hour for those 10 hours, you'd have needed about $493.55 in sales, so this day cleared that comfortably.
Comparing events
Run the calculator for each market you do and compare profit per hour rather than sales. A big city fair with a $250 booth and a long drive can earn less per hour than a small local market with a $40 pitch. Break-even is useful before you book: if you've never sold more than break-even at a market like it, it's a risk.
The result is before income tax and only as good as the numbers you enter. Card fees in particular differ by provider, so check your own rate. For a running record across a whole season, with a rebook score for each event, a tracker that logs every market is the next step.
// want this in a spreadsheet?
Track every market, all season.
The Craft-Fair & Market Vendor Tracker ($19) tallies booth sales, counts your cash float, and shows each event's true profit, ROI and profit per hour, with a rebook score for every market. Google Sheets and Excel. See what’s inside.
Calculators give estimates from the numbers you enter. They aren’t financial, tax or legal advice.
Questions
How is craft fair profit worked out?
Profit = sales − item costs − card fees − booth fee − other event costs − mileage. Card fees = card sales × your card fee % + card payments × the fixed fee. Profit per hour = profit ÷ all your hours for the event.
What is break-even sales?
The sales you need before the event pays for itself. Booth fee, other costs, mileage and fixed card fees are paid whatever you sell; item costs and percentage card fees grow with sales. Break-even = fixed costs ÷ (1 − item cost % − card share × card fee %).
What does return on costs mean?
Profit divided by everything the event cost you, including the items you sold. 100% means you made back your costs plus the same again in profit.
Why count my hours and mileage?
A market can look profitable until you divide by the hours you spent packing, driving, setting up and selling. Mileage is a real cost of getting there, even if you don't pay it on the day.
Where do I find my card fee?
In your card reader or payment app's pricing page or monthly statement. Rates differ by provider and change from time to time, so use yours rather than the example.
Is this tax advice?
No. Profit here is before income tax, and it's arithmetic on the numbers you type. Ask a qualified professional about tax.
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