Woodworking Pricing Calculator (What to Charge for a Project)

What should you charge for a cutting board, a table or a set of shelves? This calculator uses the formula from our guide on how to price your woodworking projects: materials + labor + operating costs + other business expenses + profit = price. Enter your numbers and it gives the price to charge, how much of it is profit, what you actually earn per hour, and the higher listing price you need if a marketplace or card processor takes a percentage.

Woodworking pricing calculator

How it works

Labor = hours x your hourly wage
Cost = materials + labor + shop operating costs + other business expenses
Price = cost x (1 + profit %)
Listing price with fees = price ÷ (1 − fee %), so that after the platform takes its share you still receive the price

Profit is entered as a markup on cost. The result also shows it as a share of the final price (the margin), which is always the smaller of the two numbers.

Worked example

A walnut serving tray: $45 of materials, 6 hours of work at $25 an hour, $10 of shop costs, $8 of packaging and marketing, and 20% profit:

Materials (wood, glue, hardware, finish): $45
Hours to make it: 6 hours
Your hourly wage: $25
Shop operating costs per piece (power, blades, sandpaper, tool wear): $10
Other business expenses per piece (packaging, marketing, insurance share): $8
Profit added on top of costs: 20%
Marketplace or card fees taken from the sale price: 0%

The calculator gives:

Price to charge: $255.60
Total cost: $213.00 (materials $45.00 + labor $150.00 + shop $10.00 + other $8.00)
Profit: $42.60 (20% on cost, 16.7% of the price)
Fees: none
You keep for your time: $192.60 ($32.10 per hour)
Materials share of the price: 17.6%

The costs add up to $213, of which $150 is your time. With 20% on top, the price is $255.60, and you earn $192.60 for the six hours, about $32 an hour. If you sell it through a shop that takes 10% in fees, enter 10 and the listing price rises to $284 so that you still receive $255.60.

Notes and limits

Count every hour: design, milling, sanding, finishing, photography and packing all go in the hours.
Shop costs are real even if you do not see a bill for them: blades, bits, sandpaper, finish brushes, electricity and the wear on your tools.
Retail and wholesale prices are different things. If a shop buys from you to resell, they will need room for their own markup.
The price the formula gives is a floor. If buyers will pay more for your design or finish, the extra is profit.
Fees here are percentages of the sale. Fixed listing fees and shipping you pay yourself go in other business expenses.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate the price of a woodworking project?

Materials + labor + operating costs + other business expenses + profit. Paying yourself an hourly wage for the labor is the step most often skipped.

How much should I charge per hour for woodworking?

That depends on your skill and local wages; many hobby sellers start at $20 to $30 an hour. Whatever the figure, it belongs in the price as a cost, separate from profit.

Is 3 times the cost of materials a good rule?

It is a quick check, not a method. In the example above the price is about 5.7 x the materials because most of the cost is labor. A material multiple undercharges slow, detailed work.

How do I account for selling fees?

Divide your price by (1 − fee rate). For a 10% fee, $255.60 ÷ 0.9 = $284. Adding 10% instead ($281.16) leaves you short, because the fee is taken from the higher price.

Sources

Builderology, "How to Price Your Woodworking Projects to Sell": materials + labor + operating costs + other business expenses + profit margin = price

Last reviewed: 16 October 2026. The calculation is covered by automated tests with known answers taken from the sources above. Found an error? Please let us know.