Pricing handmade products can feel surprisingly difficult. You know how much the yarn costs and roughly how long the product takes to make, but then comes the uncomfortable question: What should I actually charge?
Many handmade sellers make one of two mistakes: charging only for materials, or looking at what someone else charges and simply copying their price.
A better approach is to build the price from the actual cost of making and selling the product.
The basic crochet pricing formula
A simple starting point is:
Material Cost + Labour Cost + Other Costs + Profit = Selling Price
1. Calculate your material cost
Start with everything that physically goes into the product: yarn, crochet accessories, stuffing, eyes or buttons, thread, labels, packaging and other materials.
For example, if a skein of yarn costs ₹300 and you use half of it:
Yarn cost = ₹150
2. Pay yourself for your time
This is where many handmade sellers accidentally undervalue their work.
Crochet takes time. Your price should not treat that time as free.
Suppose you spend 4 hours making a product and decide that your working rate is ₹150 per hour.
Labour = 4 × ₹150 = ₹600
Your hourly rate can be different. The important thing is that you consciously decide what your time is worth instead of leaving it out completely.
3. Don’t forget the smaller costs
Some expenses do not become part of the finished product but are still necessary to run the business: packaging, electricity, tools, website costs, payment processing, delivery-related expenses, marketing and marketplace fees.
You do not necessarily need to calculate every tiny expense for every individual product. But over time, these costs need to be accounted for.
4. Add your profit
After covering your costs, you still need a reason to be in business. That’s your profit.
| Component | Example |
|---|---|
| Materials | ₹250 |
| Labour | ₹600 |
| Other costs | ₹100 |
| Cost to make | ₹950 |
| Profit | ₹250 |
| Selling price | ₹1,200 |
The numbers above are only an example. Your actual material cost, time, hourly rate and other expenses will be different.
What if another seller charges less?
This is one of the biggest traps in handmade pricing.
You may find someone selling something similar for ₹500 while your calculation gives you ₹900. That does not automatically mean your ₹900 price is wrong.
They may use cheaper materials, work faster, value their labour differently, have lower expenses, sell at a very small margin, or be treating the product as a hobby rather than a business.
Instead of asking “Why can’t I sell it for ₹500?”, start with “What does it actually cost me to make and sell this?”
A simple way to think about handmade pricing
Don’t think of your selling price as “yarn cost + a little extra.”
Think of it as:
Materials + Your time + Business costs + Profit
That’s a much healthier starting point.
Want to calculate it instead?
If you already know your material cost, working time and other expenses, you can use the StickyKnots Crochet Price Calculator to work through the numbers instead of doing everything manually.
One important thing
A handmade product isn’t just a bundle of materials.
Someone is paying for the materials + the time + the skill + the finished product.
Your pricing should reflect the whole process.