Maker Profitability Tools

Wholesale Pricing & Minimum Order Calculator

Set a wholesale price that protects your margin, gives retailers room to earn, and shows the smallest first order and reorder worth accepting.

One product · USD · Wholesale planning

One-product plan

Enter your wholesale assumptions

Calculations update live after every field is valid and at least one unit-cost component is greater than zero.

Unit cost

Include every cost required to produce one sellable unit. Labor and overhead are easy to overlook but still affect whether wholesale pricing is viable.

Materials and supplies per unit ($, optional)

Blank means zero. At least one unit-cost component must be greater than zero.

Labor time per unit (hours, optional)

Enter up to two decimals. Time and labor rate must both be entered or both left blank.

Labor rate ($ per hour, optional)

Enter this together with labor time, or leave both labor fields blank.

Overhead allocation per unit ($, optional)

The share of workspace, utilities, tools, and similar overhead assigned to one unit.

Product packaging per unit ($, optional)

Packaging required to make one unit ready for wholesale delivery.

Other unit cost ($, optional)

Any other cost that applies once to every sellable unit.

Pricing goals

Margin is profit divided by selling price. It is different from markup. The 50% defaults are planning starting points, not universal wholesale rules.

Target maker gross margin (%, required)

The share of wholesale revenue left after unit production cost.

Target retailer gross margin (%, required)

The share of retail revenue left after the retailer's wholesale product cost.

Proposed wholesale price ($, optional)

When entered, order calculations use this price while the margin-based recommendation remains visible.

Current direct retail price ($, optional)

Add your current price to check whether it supports the retailer-margin target.

Order structure

Order-level costs apply once per order. Optional blank costs count as zero; required zero defaults model a fee-free direct order.

Case-pack size or order increment (required)

A case pack of 6 means recommended quantities will be 6, 12, 18, 24, and so on.

Wholesale channel commission (%, required)

Leave channel and processing fees at zero for a fee-free direct order.

Payment-processing percentage (%, required)

Enter the percentage charged by your actual marketplace or payment provider.

Fixed payment-processing charge per order ($, required)

This fixed payment fee is deducted once per order.

Order administration and fulfillment cost ($, optional)

Order-level handling, paperwork, picking, and packing cost.

Unreimbursed shipping cost per order ($, optional)

Include only shipping paid by the seller and not separately reimbursed.

Additional first-order setup cost ($, optional)

Applied only to the first-order calculation for onboarding or setup work.

Minimum profit desired per order ($, required)

A $0.00 target finds the smallest case-pack order projected not to lose money.

Wholesale pricing for makers

Protect unit economics before choosing an order minimum

A wholesale price has to cover the maker's product cost and leave room for the maker's selected margin. A retailer also needs a retail price that supports the retailer margin assumption. This calculator keeps those two perspectives visible without prescribing one universal retail-to-wholesale ratio.

It then tests order-level fees and fixed costs to find mathematical reorder and first-order minimums for one product and case-pack size.

How to use it

Turn your assumptions into a decision

Build one product's unit cost from materials, labor, overhead, packaging, and other per-unit cost.
Choose maker and retailer margin assumptions, then optionally test a proposed wholesale price and current direct retail price.
Add case-pack, channel fee, payment fee, administration, shipping, setup, and profit-target assumptions to evaluate order minimums.

Behind the result

Unit pricing and order economics answer different questions

The recommended wholesale price divides unit cost by the share left after the maker margin. The suggested retail price applies the retailer margin to the working wholesale price, which may be your proposal or the recommendation.

For minimums, the calculator evaluates merchandise revenue against product cost, percentage fees, payment charges, administration, unreimbursed shipping, and first-order setup cost. Quantities round upward to a complete case pack and are verified with the full order formula.

Common questions

Questions this estimate can clarify

Is a 50% maker or retailer margin always correct?: No. The defaults are editable starting points. Your costs, channel, product, buyer expectations, and business goals determine which assumptions are useful.
Why can the first-order minimum be larger?: The first-order calculation includes the additional setup cost you enter. Reorders omit that one-time cost.
Is the calculated minimum a commercial recommendation?: It is the smallest supported case-pack multiple that meets the entered economics. A practical wholesale minimum may need to be higher for operational or buyer-related reasons.

Keep planning

Use another focused calculator when the business question changes.

Scope

A one-product planning estimate

This version models one product or SKU. A real minimum order value may be met using multiple products across a wholesale line.

Not included in this version

Mixed-SKU orders, catalogs, line sheets, and quantity-tier pricing
Volume discounts and retailer-specific negotiated pricing
Taxes, duties, currency conversion, and marketplace-specific fee rules
Shipping-rate calculations and shipping billed separately to retailers
Returns, chargebacks, damage, replacements, and ongoing sample costs
Inventory, capacity, lead times, purchase orders, invoicing, and payment-term financing
Accounts, saved products, forecasts, analytics, and advertising