Free Pottery Pricing Calculator
Stop guessing what to charge for your pottery. Calculate fair prices based on your actual costs — clay, glazes, firing, labor, studio overhead, and markup.
Why Pottery Pricing Is Hard
Most potters struggle with pricing because pottery has hidden costs that are easy to forget:
- Materials aren't just clay and glaze — underglazes, decals, trimming tools, packaging all add up
- Firing costs money — electricity, kiln wear, and often two firings per piece
- Studio overhead gets forgotten — rent, utilities, website, market fees
- Your time has value — throwing, trimming, decorating, glazing, finishing
- Breakage happens — successful pieces need to cover casualties
Without tracking all these costs, you might be losing money on every piece you sell.
What The Pricing Calculator Does
Our free pottery pricing calculator helps you:
- Calculate the true cost of each piece (materials + firing + labor + overhead)
- Divide your monthly studio costs across the number of pieces you make
- Apply standard craft markup (2×, 2.5×, 3×, or custom)
- See a complete price breakdown so you understand where your money goes
- Save calculations and compare pricing across different pieces
Example: Pricing a Celadon Bowl
Inputs:
- • Clay: $2.50
- • Glaze (celadon): $1.25
- • Firing (bisque + glaze): $3.00
- • Labor (2 hours × $25/hr): $50.00
- • Monthly studio rent: $400 ÷ 40 pieces = $10.00/piece
- • Other monthly costs: $100 ÷ 40 pieces = $2.50/piece
Calculation:
Total Cost = $2.50 + $1.25 + $3.00 + $50.00 + $10.00 + $2.50 = $69.25
Suggested Price (2.5× markup) = $69.25 × 2.5 = $173.13
The calculator shows you exactly where your costs come from, so you can price confidently and make a sustainable living from your pottery.
How It Works
- Enter per-piece costs: clay, glaze, supplies, firing
- Add monthly studio costs: rent, utilities, overhead
- Tell us your production: how many pieces you make per month
- Set your hourly rate: what you want to pay yourself
- Enter time spent: hours for this specific piece
- Choose your markup: 2×, 2.5×, 3×, or custom
- See your suggested price: complete breakdown + profit margin
The calculator automatically divides your monthly costs across your pieces, so one bowl doesn't get charged your full monthly rent. It's smarter than manual calculation and faster than spreadsheets.
Start Pricing Your Pottery
Join The Potter's Mud Room free to access the Pricing Calculator, track your pieces, log firings, and organize your entire pottery studio.
Get Started Free →No credit card required • Free tier includes Pricing Calculator
More Than Just a Calculator
When you sign up for The Potter's Mud Room, you get:
- Pricing Calculator with saved calculations and photo attachments
- Piece Tracking — log every piece with clay, glazes, photos, notes
- Firing Logs — record kiln schedules, results, and piece links
- Glaze Library — track commercial glazes and custom recipes
- Sales Tracking — know your revenue and export for taxes
- Clay Bodies — compare clays, costs, and performance
Everything a potter needs to stay organized and run a sustainable pottery practice.