Cottage bakery pricing calculator
To price a baked good, add the cost of ingredients, packaging, your time and overhead for one batch, divide by the number of items, then divide by (1 minus your profit margin). For example, a batch of 24 chocolate chip cookies costs about $33.12 to make, or $1.38 each, so at a 30% margin each cookie sells for $1.98.
Use the calculator below with your own recipe. It runs in your browser, needs no account, and you can share or print the result.
Keep your recipes and costs in one place
A free CrumbCounts account saves up to 10 recipes, updates their cost when ingredient prices change, and exports a PDF.
The pricing formula
- Ingredient cost: what the amount you use costs, not the whole bag. 2¼ cups of flour is about 0.62 lb.
- Packaging: per item: boxes, bags, labels, stickers.
- Labour: minutes per batch × your hourly rate ÷ 60.
- Overhead: a percentage of ingredients and packaging for electricity, gas, equipment wear, market fees and card fees.
- Cost per item = total batch cost ÷ items per batch.
- Price = cost per item ÷ (1 − margin). A 30% margin means dividing by 0.7.
Ingredient prices move: eggs fell 36.7% in the year to August 2026. Check the ingredient price pages every few months and re-run your numbers.
Frequently asked questions
How do I price homemade baked goods?
Add up what one batch costs you: ingredients, packaging, your time at an hourly rate, and a share of overhead such as electricity and equipment. Divide by the number of items to get the cost per item, then divide that by (1 minus your profit margin). At a 30% margin, an item that costs $1.40 to make sells for $2.00.
What profit margin should a cottage bakery use?
Many home bakers aim for a 25-40% profit margin on top of paying themselves for their time. Check what similar items sell for locally: if your suggested price is far above the market, look at ingredient costs, batch size and packaging first.
Should I include my time in the price?
Yes. Leaving labour out means the profit is really your wage, and you cannot hire help or grow without raising prices later. Enter the minutes you spend per batch and an hourly rate you would accept.
Where do the ingredient prices come from?
Staples such as flour, sugar, butter, eggs and milk use the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly average prices. Other ingredients use typical US grocery prices from the CrumbCounts catalog. Every price is editable, and your own receipts are always more accurate.