It seems overly complicated and changes based on a variety of factors.
Paypal takes different levels of fees based on where the payment is coming from; postage rates change based on where the item is going. Same with stripe.
Seems to make it a complete headache to work out how much profit you actually make per sale. I developed a spreadsheet to try and figure it out, but it seems like it’s just so much work to calculate each one.
Am I missing something? Am I over complicating it?
I write down everything I use to make an item along with the cost. Plus time prorata per hour. Total plus a percentage for overheads plus a percentage for profit. Sometimes have to adjust the final total according if the public would pay that etc. I always find the first time of making slower as I draft a pattern etc but quicken up once that side is sorted.
Pricing is hard but easier to get it right first time and maybe charge extra then offer a discount rather than start off too cheap and have to increase prices.
If you google craft pricing calculator there is one on google.
Hiya, thanks for the response.
It’s not so much the materials/time I’m talking about, it’s the fees of the various selling platforms and where the sales have come from that make it a bit of a headache to calculate.
For example if you sell something on paypal to someone in the UK, it’s a 0.5% fee. If you sell that same item to someone in the US, it’s 2.00%. Stripe has different fees again. So you can’t just calculate a single profit margin per item as it depends how it’s purchased and where it’s purchased from.
I do understand but that is counted as an overhead so take the larger of the fees an add that on or a percentage for all those costs. Some you earn more than other types of sale
I no longer sell outside England, Wales and Scotland as with all the eori palaver not worth my time.
I sell on multiple sites with different payment providers (and when I’m allowed at craft markets) so I worked out which one has the highest overall fees and used that in my price calculations. This means if the item sells via a lower fees route I make more profit!
(and I’d double check how much paypal are charging you - I thought standard rates were 2.9% + 30p, or 5% +5p for micropayments)
Ah you’re right- I read paypals fees wrong. Best update that spreadsheet then 
Do you track every sale for when it comes to completing your tax return?
I use an accounting package and record everything on that at the y/e just print off and enter online. I update weekly so again at year end only takes about an hour to file my return.
Now because of my age and other income told by hmrc last year they no longer want returns from me. Still keep my accounts though along with copies of all invoices from suppliers etc.
I have an annual spreadsheet which I update monthly with an itemised list of what I have sold and where.
I have a formula in there which calculates the fee deducted from the sales value according to where I sold it.
Postage is easy as I always charge at cost.
As for PayPal , Stripe fees … I extract the total charged for the month and deduct those figures from my monthly sales.
You did ask.
I add 20% to the cost of my items to cover fees be it online or markets.
I just add each sale and the fees for that particular sale (whether from paypal or from the stripe dashboard) to a spreadsheet as they come in. And add in any additional fees (like listing or Folksy transaction fees not collected at the point of sale) as a lump sum at the end of the month. Far easier to my mind to keep on top of it like that than try and work it out in a panic at the end of the year - it’s just a part of the order processing, the same as buying postage etc. and marking something as shipped.
Also, like Sasha says, best to work out the most expensive place you sell and price for that. If you want to sell through shops or galleries they will take 40-50% commission (at least) - worth every penny to my mind when you take into account the time it takes me to photograph and list things online - which I don’t have to do if they sell it for me 