Crochet Pricing Calculator Free Download

I often see posts throughout the crochet community asking about how to calculate the costs of your handmade crochet items. There are always a wide range of responses and discussions on these kinds of questions.

In this post we are going to talk about common pricing methods, and my alternative for profitable crochet pricing for your crochet business. I will also provide you with a free download for a crochet pricing calculator tool that will help you price your items, and your time!

Other Pricing Methods

3x Cost of Materials

If you’ve ever seen a pricing post in a crochet Facebook group, I’m sure that you’ve seen well-meaning people suggesting to charge the cost of your materials, multiplied by 3.

First, let me explain why this method is not the best choice if you are truly trying to earn a profit and create a sustainable business. Here are a few examples:

Scenario 1

Let’s say that I’m making a hat in one solid color using a worsted weight yarn. It requires about 110 yds of yarn, which is usually less than one skein. I purchased one skein of Brava Worsted yarn, which is only $3.99 per skein, with a total of 218 yards. The total cost in yarn for this hat is then $3.99. Using this pricing method, I should charge $11.97 for this hat, which leaves me a profit of $7.98.

However, this hat took me 2 hours to make. That means I’m only making $3.99 per hour!

Scenario 2

In this example, let’s say I’m making an amigurumi that only requires 2 colors of worsted weight yarn. I purchased 2 skeins of Brava Worsted yarn, for a total of $7.98. Using this pricing method, that means I should charge $23.94, and would only have a profit of $15.96.

However, this doesn’t factor in the cost of safety eyes, stuffing, and anything else that might be used. Not to mention that amigurumi is generally always more time consuming. If this amigurumi took me 5 hours to make, I’m only making $3.19 per hour!

I don’t know about you, but I think that my time is worth more than that.

Exceptions

As with everything, there are exceptions to every rule. I will say that if you do not have any intentions of crocheting for a profit, this 3x materials method make work out for you. If you just want to cover the cost of your yarn and make a few dollars to purchase more yarn, this might be the right fit for you.

Pricing Per Stitch

I’ve seen others suggest pricing per stitch. This sounds like it would work out in theory, provided you set the per stitch rate appropriately; however, I don’t want to try to do the math on how many stitches are in a project, especially for something like an amigurumi project!

Profitable Crochet Pricing Calculator Method

Using my crochet pricing calculator, we will take the same details in scenario 1 above, and see what price we come up with.

Hourly Rate

Your first step to using the crochet pricing calculator is to first decide what your ideal hourly wage is. This may change for you over time, or even based on the project.

For this example, I’m going to use $12 for my hourly rate.

Insert your hourly rate in the designated box.

Yarn Details

Next you’ll need to enter in the details of your yarn in the pink section.

If you don’t have the exact weight information, feel free to leave the ending weight blank, and the calculator will use the entire skein for your calculation.

The purple section will automatically calculate. Here you will see the total yardage used in your project, as well as the total cost of that yardage.

Your Time

Next you’ll need to add in the amount of time you spent working on the project.

Notice that there is more than one row for this. This is so that you can compare different pricing scenarios side by side.

Set the Price

The final step is to play around with some pricing options. I’ve entered a few different options, starting at $15.

As you can see in the $15 scenario, I would only be making $6.50 per hour, which is below my preferred hourly rate, so the calculator shows that in red.

The next scenario, selling the hat for $25, I would be making $11.50 per hour, with a profit of $23.01. This is pretty close to my hourly rate, but we can do better.

Of course the best scenario would be selling the hat for $30, which would leave me with a profit of $28.01, making $14.00 per hour.

I find it really helpful to see these comparisons side by side. Sure, in the first scenario, a profit of almost $13.01 sounds fine, but not when you break it down with the hourly rate.

Time Tracking

Of course if you are going to be charging based on your time, you’ll need to be able to accurately track the amount of time that you spend on a project. Whether you simply keep an eye on the clock as you work, track your time with pencil and paper, or use an app.

I personally use an app called Boosted to keep track of the time spent on each project. You can download it from the Google Play Store for free.

Other Material Costs

If you’re making things like amigurumi that require stuffing, or perhaps making items that require buttons, safety eyes, etc., you’ll want to factor the cost of those items into your price as well. Simply add those material costs to the total price that you decide on using the crochet pricing calculator.

Orders and Payments

I use two different apps to help keep my orders and payments organized. The first is Etsy. If you are doing any kind of shipping, I highly recommend you set yourself up with an Etsy shop. You’ll save so much money in postage by printing labels directly from them, and their order management system is quite nice. You can easily see open orders, and mark an order as shipped or complete. If you sign up using my affiliate link, you’ll get 40 listings free! (and so will I!)

The next app that I’d recommend is Square. Square is essential if you are going to be doing any in-person sales! You can get a free card reader that connects directly to your phone. This allows you to accept credit and debit cards wherever your set up! I also like to use Square for taking deposits on large orders. You are able to customize invoices so that a certain amount is due immediately, while the remainder is due upon completion of the order. If you sign up for your free Square account using my affiliate link, you’ll get free processing on up to $1000 in sales over 180 days! (and so will I!)

Accounting

I personally have a separate bank account for my business. While this isn’t necessary as a sole proprietor, I just like to keep everything clearly organized. I also find it super helpful to keep track of all of my business related income and expenses throughout the year, rather than collecting a pile of receipts to sift through at tax time. I have tried several different programs, some free, and some paid, and I still find that excel has been the best option for me. Perhaps I will share a blank version of my bookkeeping spreadsheet in the future. Leave me a comment if you’d be interested in that!

And now, on to what you came here for…

Get the Free Download

There are of course other factors to consider when pricing your items, such as the cost of your tools, packaging, marketing, etc. If you have a lot of other outside expenses, you should consider changing your hourly rate to something a bit higher, to help in offsetting those other cost factors. I hope that this crochet pricing calculator helps you grow your handmade business and earns you a fair wage!

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Note: THIS SPREADSHEET ONLY WORKS IN MICROSOFT EXCEL. IT WILL NOT WORK IN GOOGLE SHEETS. This excel spreadsheet has several formulas in it in order for it to complete the automatic calculations. It is very important that you only enter data into the spaces that are highlighted in yellow. If you would accidentally delete a formula and it can’t be undone, no big deal! Just come back over to the blog and download a fresh copy!

If you’ve enjoyed this crochet pricing calculator freebie, please consider purchasing from one of my online shops, or shopping with my affiliate links. I so appreciate your support! All the details can be found here:

More Crochet Business Resources

I hope that this free crochet pricing calculator download is a helpful tool in selling your crochet items, making a profit, and growing your handmade business!