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Wholesale price calculator
Turn your cost per item into a wholesale price and a keystone retail price, then see your margin, an order's value and how consignment compares.
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How to use it
- Enter what one item costs you to make, packaging included.
- Set your wholesale markup and the retail markup shops use (2 is keystone).
- Enter the number of units in a typical order to see what it's worth.
- Optionally compare a consignment split, and check your current retail price against your wholesale target.
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How wholesale and retail prices are worked out, with an example
Selling to shops means two prices: what the shop pays you (wholesale) and what the shopper pays the shop (retail). If you set retail first and then discount for shops, wholesale orders can end up barely covering your costs. It's safer to work upwards from what one item costs you to make. That cost should include materials, packaging and labels, and, if you want wholesale orders to pay you for your time, your making time at an hourly rate. Every price below is built on it, so a cost that's too low makes every price too low. This calculator does that with two markups you choose, and shows what an order is worth and how consignment compares.
- Wholesale price = your cost per item × your wholesale markup. A markup of 2 doubles your cost.
- Suggested retail = wholesale × the retail markup. A retail markup of 2 is called keystone.
- Your margin = (wholesale − cost) ÷ wholesale. The shop's margin = (retail − wholesale) ÷ retail.
- Consignment = retail price × your split, paid only when the item sells.
Worked example
A candle costs $6 to make, including the jar, wax, wick, label and packaging. The maker uses a wholesale markup of 2, expects shops to use keystone, and a typical shop order is 6 candles.
| Your cost per item | $6.00 |
| Wholesale price ($6 × 2) | $12.00 |
| Your profit per item at wholesale | $6.00 (50%) |
| Suggested retail ($12 × 2, keystone) | $24.00 |
| The shop's margin | 50% |
| Order of 6: value / your profit | $72.00 / $36.00 |
| Consignment at 60% of $24 | $14.40 per sale |
On consignment at a 60% split, the maker would get $14.40 per candle sold, $8.40 over cost, compared with $6.00 over cost at wholesale. But consignment only pays when a candle sells, and unsold stock comes back. The wholesale order pays $72 for all six up front.
Checking your retail price
If the maker already sells the candle for $20 online, a shop using keystone would expect to pay about $10 wholesale. That's $2 below the $12 target, so either the online price should move towards $24 or the markups need another look. Shops notice when you undercut them online, so keeping your own retail price in line with the suggested retail matters.
Markups vary by product and by shop, so treat 2 × 2 as a starting point, not a rule. Agree prices and terms with each shop in writing. For tracking which stockists actually make you money once orders, consignment payouts and invoices are coming in, a stockist tracker is the next step.
// want this in a spreadsheet?
Track every stockist’s real profit.
The Wholesale & Consignment Stockist Tracker ($19) tracks consignment stock at every shop, your split and payouts owed, wholesale orders and invoices, and the true profit of each stockist. 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 the wholesale price worked out?
Wholesale price = your cost per item × your wholesale markup. Suggested retail = wholesale × the retail markup. With both markups at 2, a $6 item wholesales at $12 and retails at $24.
What is keystone pricing?
Keystone means the shop doubles the wholesale price to set its retail price, so it keeps about 50% of the retail price. Many shops start there, but some use more or less, so ask each shop.
What should my cost include?
Everything it takes to make one item: materials, packaging and labels, plus your own making time at an hourly rate if you want wholesale orders to pay you for it. If your cost is too low, every price built on it is too low.
Wholesale or consignment: which pays more?
Consignment usually pays more per item (often 50–70% of retail) but only when the item sells, and you carry the risk of unsold stock. Wholesale pays less per item, but up front for the whole order. The comparison shows both for your numbers.
Why check my current retail price?
Shops compare your wholesale price with what you sell for yourself. If you sell at $20 online and a shop would use keystone, they'll expect to pay about $10. If that's below your wholesale target, raise your retail price or rethink the markup.
Is this financial advice?
No. Markups and splits are your own choices, and you agree prices and terms with each shop. It's arithmetic on the numbers you type.
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