🎧 Listen to this blog post as a Podcast instead ‘Are Your Etsy Prices Too Low? A Simple Handmade Pricing Method for Beginners’

Pricing on Etsy shouldn’t feel like you need a maths degree and a spreadsheet addiction.

If you’re guessing your prices, panicking you’re undercharging, and then changing them every five minutes… this video is your new pricing anchor.

In this episode, I’ll show you a beginner-friendly way to price handmade products for Etsy using a simple “bucket” method:

• the bare minimum numbers you actually need
  
  
• the #1 beginner trap that keeps you pricing too low (even when you know better)
  
  
• how to include your time without making it complicated
  
  
• a quick confidence check so you stop tinkering with prices forever
  
  

This works for any platform, by the way. Etsy, Shopify, Folksy, fairs… pricing is pricing.

Are Your Etsy Prices Too Low? A Simple Handmade Pricing Method for Beginners

If you’ve been Googling “how to price handmade products for Etsy” and everything you’ve found feels like a spreadsheet-themed nightmare…

This one is for you!

Pricing is one of the biggest reasons new Etsy sellers stay stuck. Not because you’re incapable. But because everyone makes it sound like you need:

• a finance degree
  
  
• a perfect formula
  
  
• and a calm nervous system (lol)
  
  

You don’t.

You need a simple method that helps you stop undercharging, covers your Etsy fees, pays you for your time, and leaves profit in the business so you can grow without burning out.

Let’s do that.

Why Etsy pricing feels so hard (and why you’re not broken)

Most handmade sellers start by doing one of these:

• copying someone else’s price on Etsy
  
  
• charging “what feels fair”
  
  
• charging just enough to cover materials (oops)
  
  
• pricing low because you’re scared no one will buy
  
  

And then you end up thinking:

“I’m getting sales but I’m not making money.”

Or worse:

“I’m making sales… but I kind of hate it.”

That’s not an Etsy problem. That’s a pricing handmade items problem.

The beginner-friendly Etsy pricing method (no spreadsheets)

Here’s the method I teach new sellers when they ask “how do I price my Etsy products?”

Price = Materials + Fees + Time + Profit

That’s it.

Four parts.

No spreadsheet.

No complicated systems.

Just enough structure to stop you guessing.

Think of it like packing an order into four little buckets, then sealing it with a lid so nothing leaks.

1) Materials cost (yes, packaging counts)

When people ask how to price handmade products, they usually mean “how do I price without feeling guilty?”

Start by being brutally honest about your costs.

Materials include:

• fabric, clay, wax, thread, beads, paint
  
  
• findings, blanks, inserts, backing cards
  
  
• and packaging (mailers, boxes, tissue paper, labels, stickers)
  
  

Beginner tip: round up.

If your material cost is roughly £1.12, call it £1.25.

You’re not running NASA.

You’re building a business.

2) Etsy fees (the invisible profit thief)

If you don’t include Etsy fees in your pricing, you’ll think you’re making money… and then wonder why your bank balance says otherwise.

There are listing fees, transaction fees, payment processing… and depending on what you use (ads, offsite ads), those can add more too.

You don’t need perfect calculations to start.

Quick Etsy fees shortcut (beginner safe)

Set aside 10–15% of your price to cover Etsy + payment fees.

Is it exact? No.

Is it enough to stop you accidentally underpricing? Yes.

If you want to get more detailed later, great.

But for now, this gets you out of the danger zone.

3) Labour: how to price your time (without the drama)

This is where most Etsy sellers undercharge.

Because paying yourself feels… awkward.

Like you’re being cheeky for wanting wages.

You’re not.

Your time is part of the cost of making the product.

Easy labour pricing method

1. Choose a realistic hourly rate
   
   
2. Divide by 60 (to get your per-minute rate)
   
   
3. Multiply by how long the product takes
   
   

Example:

Let’s say you pick £12/hour.

£12 ÷ 60 = 20p per minute

If the item takes 35 minutes:

35 × 20p = £7 labour

That’s your labour cost.

If you feel weird about £12/hour, just remember:

that’s not “rich person money”

that’s “I deserve to be paid for working” money.

4) Profit: the part that stops Etsy growth becoming burnout

Profit isn’t greedy.

Profit is what allows your handmade business to actually grow.

Profit pays for:

• replacing tools
  
  
• buying stock in bigger quantities
  
  
• upgrades (lighting, packaging, equipment)
  
  
• slow months without panic
  
  
• paying yourself more later
  
  

Beginner profit margin

Add 10–20% profit.

If you’re early stage and nervous, start at 10%.

But please don’t do zero.

Zero profit is how you build a job you regret.

A simple Etsy pricing example (so you can copy/paste this into real life)

Let’s say you sell a handmade keyring.

• Materials: £2.50
  
  
• Packaging: £0.60
  
  Materials total: £3.10
  
  

Labour: 25 minutes

Hourly rate £12 = 20p/min

25 mins = £5.00

Subtotal: £3.10 + £5.00 = £8.10

Fees allowance: let’s use 12% as a simple average

Add roughly £1 to cover fees at this price range

Now you’re at: £9.10

Profit: 15% of £9.10 is about £1.35

Price becomes: £10.45

Round it like a normal shop:

£10.50 or £10.99

Not £10.43.

No one needs that kind of chaos.

The #1 beginner Etsy pricing trap (even smart people fall into it)

This trap ruins profits fast:

Pricing based on what you think people will pay

Instead of what it costs you to make.

Then you tell yourself you’ll “make it up in volume”.

But volume at low prices means:

• more orders
  
  
• more time
  
  
• more stress
  
  
• less profit
  
  
• and eventually you resent your own business
  
  

If your price only works if you sell 200 a month…

that’s not a pricing strategy.

That’s a stress plan.

How to stop changing your Etsy prices every five minutes (confidence check)

If you keep tweaking your prices constantly, it’s usually because you don’t trust your method.

So here are three quick checks:

1) Would you happily make 10 of these?

If the answer is “absolutely not”, your price is too low or the product needs streamlining.

2) Can you say your price without apologising?

If you’re saying:

“It’s £24… but it’s handmade… and I can do a discount…”

No. Stop.

You’re not a bargain bin.

3) Does this price support the next stage of your business?

If you want Etsy growth, you need profit built in early.

Otherwise growth just means more work for the same money.

Pricing handmade products for Etsy (works for any platform too)

Quick reminder: this pricing method isn’t Etsy-only.

If you sell on:

• Shopify
  
  
• Folksy
  
  
• Not On The High Street
  
  
• craft fairs
  
  
• Instagram
  
  
• wholesale
  
  

The structure is the same:

Materials + Fees + Time + Profit

The “fees” bucket just changes depending on platform.

Your simple homework (do this today, not “sometime”)

Pick one product.

Open your notes app and write:

• materials:
  
  
• fees allowance:
  
  
• time:
  
  
• profit:
  
  
• final price:
  
  

Then set that price… and leave it alone for a week.

No fiddling.

No panicking.

No “what if no one buys”.

Give it time to work.

Quick recap: Etsy pricing for beginners

To price handmade products confidently:

✅ Materials (including packaging)

✅ Etsy fees allowance (10–15% to start)

✅ Your time (hourly rate → per-minute rate)

✅ Profit (10–20% so growth doesn’t burn you out)

You don’t need spreadsheets.

You need a method you can repeat.

Now go price like a business owner.

Not like you’re doing Etsy charity work in secret. ☕

Love Steph & Team HB xox

👋 Welcome everyone! My name is Steph, I've been running my handmade business full time on Etsy since 2016, and I'm here to help you! 

🧡 I'll help you to start an Etsy shop, Etsy ads, show you how to sell more on Etsy, get to grips with Etsy SEO, Etsy branding, Etsy product ideas, finding your target market, identifying your niche and many many more.

🛍️ If you have an Etsy shop or your own website selling handmade products, or want to start one, this is THE channel you need to be subscribed to!

💰 I help makers start, run and scale their handmade businesses. Turning them from an expensive hobby to profitable businesses making 4 and 5 figure months on Etsy and your own website.

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