Craft Fair Break-Even Calculator

Formula and method

Fixed event costs = booth + travel + other costs. Contribution per item = selling price × (1 − fee rate) − product cost. Break-even units = fixed event costs ÷ contribution, rounded up. Profit = expected units × contribution − fixed event costs.

Worked example

With a booth fee of 150, travel of 30 and other costs of 20, fixed costs are 200. An item priced at 25, costing 9 and charged a 3% fee contributes 15.25. You need 14 items to cover the event. Selling 30 gives a profit of 257.50, or 25.75 for each of 10 total event hours.

Include the hidden event hours

Count preparation, packing, travel, setup, selling and clearing up. If you put your own labour cost into the product cost, hourly profit is the remaining return after that allowance. If you leave it out, hourly profit is the amount available to compensate you, before tax and unlisted overhead.

Several products need a weighted average

Use an average price and cost based on the sales mix you reasonably expect. If you expect to sell two low-priced items for every expensive item, give them twice the weight. A simple average of all catalogue prices can overstate contribution. Try a less favourable mix as a separate scenario.

Make the booking decision with a downside case

Pin your expected outcome, reduce expected sales and increase travel or booth costs. A result that only works on a perfect day is fragile. The calculator cannot predict attendance, weather, customer demand or unsold stock. Count only the product cost of sold units for profit, then separately check the cash needed to prepare all your stock.

Planning estimate only. Check all costs, tax treatment and your actual circumstances. Calculation and rounding notes.