Craft Fair Profit Calculator
Heading to a market or craft fair? Add your booth fee, sales, costs, and travel to see what you actually take home — and how many sales you need to break even.
Last Updated: June 2026
Reviewed for current platform fees and pricing rules.
Optional tax
Only fill this if tax comes out of your revenue rather than added on top.
Total revenue
$1,000.00
Total product costs
$270.00
Total expenses
$514.00
Net profit
$486.00
Profit margin
48.6%
Break-even sales
13 units
Expense breakdown
- Booth fee
- $150.00
- Travel
- $40.00
- Food / misc
- $25.00
- Product + packaging
- $270.00
- Card processing
- $29.00
- Tax remitted
- $0.00
- Net profit
- $486.00
Selling online too? Cross-check with the Etsy Profit Calculator, set your prices with the Handmade Pricing Calculator, or compare with the Shopify and Print-on-Demand profit calculators.
Formula
Revenue = Avg price × Units sold · Net profit = Revenue − (Product + packaging)×Units − Card% − Tax% − Booth − Travel − Misc
Worked example
A $150 booth, 40 items sold at $25 each, $6 materials + $0.75 packaging per item, 2.9% card processing, $40 travel, $25 food, no extra tax.
- Revenue = 25 × 40 = $1,000
- Product + packaging = (6 + 0.75) × 40 = $270
- Card processing = 1,000 × 0.029 = $29
- Fixed costs = 150 booth + 40 travel + 25 food = $215
- Total expenses = 270 + 29 + 215 = $514
- Net profit = 1,000 − 514 = $486 (≈48.6% margin)
Answer: ≈ $486 profit on the day (≈48.6% margin)
How it works
A craft fair feels great when the cash drawer is full — but the real number is whatever's left after the booth, the gas, the lunch, and the credit card fees. This calculator strips a market day down to its true bottom line so you can decide which fairs are worth your weekend.
Revenue is simply average price times units sold. From there we peel off your variable costs (materials and packaging per item, plus card processing on every swipe), then your fixed costs for the day (booth fee, travel, food, and any extras). What's left is your net profit.
Break-even tells you the minimum number of sales at your average price that would cover the booth, travel, and misc — useful for setting a goal before the doors even open. If the answer is "unreachable", your average price is lower than your per-unit cost and even a sold-out booth would lose money.
Common mistakes
- Counting gross sales as profit and forgetting the booth fee was already paid weeks ago.
- Leaving out card processing — 2.9% on every $25 sale really does add up by the end of the day.
- Forgetting travel time and gas, especially for out-of-town markets that require a hotel.
- Using the cheapest item's cost as your average — average per-item cost should reflect what people actually bought.
- Confusing tax collected from customers (a pass-through) with tax that comes out of your margin.
FAQ
- What's a realistic profit margin at a craft fair?
- 30–50% net margin is healthy for handmade goods sold direct. Smaller local markets with low booth fees can run higher; large juried shows with $500+ booths often run lower because the fixed costs are bigger.
- Do I need to include tax?
- Only if sales tax comes out of the price you charge. In most US states you add tax on top, collect it from customers, and remit it — that's a pass-through and you can leave the tax field at 0.
- How do I handle cash vs card sales?
- If most sales are cash, lower the card processing % to reflect the actual share that went through your reader. For a rough average, multiply your full processor rate by the fraction of sales taken on card.
- What goes in misc expenses?
- Anything you spent for the day that isn't materials, packaging, or travel — lunch, parking, a last-minute extension cord, tip jar change, signage you printed that morning.
- How does break-even work?
- It's the number of sales at your average price needed to cover booth + travel + misc, after each sale pays for its own materials, packaging, and card fees. Hit that number and you've broken even on the day.
- Can I use this for a multi-day event?
- Yes. Use totals for the whole event: total units sold across all days, total booth fee, total travel, and total food/misc. The result is your profit for the event as a whole.
- Should I include my own labor?
- This calculator measures cash profit from the event itself. If you also want to pay yourself for your time, divide net profit by your hours worked to see your effective hourly rate — and compare to the Handmade Pricing Calculator for product-level labor.
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