Leopard Split Tumbler Cost Breakdown - How I Price My Handcrafted Products

If you haven’t seen it yet, go check out my tutorial on how I create my best selling and most requested tumblers here. 

Honestly, there are so many possible variations to this tumbler that creates endless possibilities. I, myself, have a few ideas that I am excited to try out. 

Something I never typically see when it comes to tumbler tutorials is cost break downs and how much you should sell the tumbler for, so I thought it would be fun to add a blog with cost break down and supplies for the tumblers as well as show you how I figure out what to charge for the tumbler. 

All of these prices are based off of the supply list below:

20 oz Skinny Tumbler from GriffinBlanks.com (use code BAMF10 for 10% off)
Glitter: basic blackboard, matse, cleopatra, tabby, espresso from peachyoliveglitters.com
Electrical tape: https://amzn.to/3hi1AwD
Medicine Cups: https://amzn.to/3fg0KOm
Popsicle Sticks: https://amzn.to/3w1cY3N
Gloves: https://amzn.to/3uFw4fF
Nitrile Powder Free Gloves: https://amzn.to/3tCcTlL
My favorite gloves: http://www.walmart.com/ip/AMMEX-Nitrile-Latex-Free-Medical-Disposable-Gloves-Small-Black-1000-Case/178201259
Precut wax sheets: https://amzn.to/2RE7Fsl
Modpodge: https://amzn.to/33N89iR
Regular Acrylic Paint: https://amzn.to/3f5EqXs
Metallic Acrylic Paint: https://amzn.to/3tBUipR
Dixie Cups: https://amzn.to/3uDjcH6
Paint brushes: https://amzn.to/3vVYvX0
Baby wipes: https://amzn.to/3himM5F
91% alcohol: https://amzn.to/3uG4Ndd
Push top liquid dispenser: https://amzn.to/3tDgEaz
Cotton rounds: https://amzn.to/3y245cc
Painters tape: https://amzn.to/33GmeOF
Gold Vinyl: https://createbyfirefly.com/firefly-fantasy-vinyl-gold/
10x4x4 Corrugated Mailers (TheBoxery - shipping can be expensive and can make the boxes approximately $1.30 each): https://www.theboxery.com/Product.asp?d=103545&Product=CXMMAI92
10x4x4 corrugated mailers from amazon: https://amzn.to/2SHbA8m
Black & color tissue paper: https://amzn.to/3tywEe1
White tissue paper: https://amzn.to/3f9mc7B
White crinkle paper: https://amzn.to/2SJKEVu
Kraft crinkle paper: https://amzn.to/3y33AP9
Color crinkle paper: https://amzn.to/3bk4ZqS
Bubble Wrap: https://amzn.to/33z0xQD
Regular packing tape(clear): https://amzn.to/3uErzSG
Leopard packing tape (package mint): https://amzn.to/2RO2BS4
Boho Rainbow packing tape (package mint): https://amzn.to/3fadpSO
Thermal 4x6 shipping labels: https://amzn.to/2R9ZeFj
Rollo thermal printer: https://amzn.to/3ocnliD
Metallic leaf sheets (3 colors): https://amzn.to/3tEN6JI
Dawn power wash: https://amzn.to/2R35j6B
Multi-Sized Double Sided Tape: https://amzn.to/3ofhrNN
Barkeepers Friend Soft Cleanser Liquid for Matte Tumblers: https://amzn.to/3bjrGLS
Steel Wool #0000: https://amzn.to/3hfxkm1

In total this is the amount per material item it approximately costs to make this tumbler:

Tumbler $7.99
Electrical Tape $0.08
Painter’s Tape $0.03
Spray Paint $0.49
Fast Set Epoxy $2.96
Artist Resin Epoxy $0.60
Epoxy Mixing Supplies $1.84
Glitter $3.49
Wax Paper $0.06
Modpodge + Acrylic $1.20
91% Alcohol $0.08
Acetone $0.06
Cotton Pads $0.36
Vinyl $0.24
Decal $3.00

Supply(Material Cost) Total $22.48
ACTIVE* Working Hours = 1 hour
(Active - what I mean by active, is active work on the cup. I do not include cure or dry time, but I do include active work on the cup, as well as packaging the cup, photography, listing, etc.)
Hourly Wage $12/hour. 

Typical hand crafted items, people charge $10-$20 an hour. The reason why I chose $12 is because I have been making cups for 2 years, so I added a $ to the $10 minimum for each year of experience I have. This is completely up to you how you charge it - this is just the hourly wage I felt fit right. 

Now the formula I use is one that was posted/created by the University of Michigan. This formula I found to be well more accurate in calculating an approximate price to charge for had crafted items to not only include the labor but the materials.

The formula goes as follows:

Price A = Material Cost + (Hourly Wage x Time)
Price B = Material Cost x 3
Price C = (Price A + Price B)/2

This is what I got for this cup:
Price A = $22.48 + ($12 x 1) = $34.48
Price B = $22.48 x 3 = $67.44
Price C = ($34.48 + $67.44) / 2 = $50.96

So by this formula, and not accounting for other factors, it is recommending I charge approximately $50 for this cup. 

What are other factors you should consider when calculating cost for your cup? Well, depending on your selling platform you need to account for your fees that will be charged to you when you sell the cup, your packaging costs, your shipping costs, etc. 

So look at it like this, technically your profit (not accounting for labor costs) is $16.48

If you package this cup using the supplies above, it would cost approximately $2.37. So now your profit is $14.11

But what if you sell this on etsy? $2.50 in transaction fees, $1.75 in processing fees, $0.20 in listing fees, and $0.45 in shipping fees (if you charge $9 for shipping which is average for tumblers). That comes to a total of $4.90 bringing your profit to $9.21.

What if you sell this on Shopify? You would cover the $29 monthly see in your overhead costs and then consider the transaction fee of $1.75, leaving your profit to be $12.36

So for packaging costs I considered the following:

10x4x4 box from amazon $0.66
3 Sheets of tissue paper $0.09
Crinkle Cut Paper $0.17
Bubble Wrap $0.26
Leopard Packing Tape $0.12
Rollo Shipping Label $0.04
Cooke Co Stickers $0.63 (without the $ discount using BAMF at checkout)
Freebie Vinyl Sticker $0.19
Thank You Post Card $0.15
Care Card $0.06

Totaling: $2.37

So let’s include packaging costs in with the material costs and see where that leaves us:

Price A: $36.85
Price B: $74.55
Price C: $55.70

I sincerely believe you should include your packaging costs with your material costs as it is a mandatory cost for your business. Charging $55 for this tumbler I believe is reasonable. 

Charging $55 would leave you with $18.15 in profit not including the labor you put into it. It would leave you room to wiggle with fee costs as well as assist with overhead. 

I am currently working on a better excel spreadsheet to help do all the math for you when it comes to calculating costs by incorporating more factors I did not include before. If you have already purchased a Tumbler Profit Margin Sheet - you will not need to buy a new updated sheet - you will be emailed with the updated version for your convenience!

Leave your questions, comments, concerns below. I hope this helps you