Wholesale Pricing Calculator

The keystone formula every wholesale buyer uses

Wholesale in the US handmade industry operates on a simple rule: retail ÷ 2 = wholesale. That is what boutique buyers expect. A $30 retail item wholesales at $15. Anything above that and the buyer cannot resell at a competitive margin; anything below and you lose money faster than necessary.

The trick is that keystone only works if your cost-of-goods is meaningfully below keystone wholesale. A $30 retail / $15 wholesale works if your cost is $8-$10. It fails if your cost is $13. Check the math before committing to wholesale.

Channel fees that change the math

Direct to boutique (0% fee): you invoice the boutique directly. Net-30 payment is standard. You handle freight. Zero middleman cut means your entire wholesale price is yours.

Faire (25% on new buyers, 15% on repeat): you list on Faire, they handle buyer acquisition and payment. You receive 75% (or 85% repeat) of your wholesale price. Dramatically simpler than direct sales but costs 25% of your wholesale revenue.

Handshake (~5% fee): Shopify's B2B platform. Much lower fee than Faire but smaller audience; works well if you already have boutique relationships and want to simplify invoicing.

Consignment (~40% to venue): boutique takes 40%, you get 60% of retail. Payment on sale, not up front. Risk shifts to you. Higher effective revenue per unit if items sell, but unsold inventory is your problem.

Worked example: $30 retail with $10 cost

Direct: Keystone = $15. Target-margin wholesale (40% margin) = $10 / 0.6 = $16.67. Recommended = $15 (keystone). Profit per unit = $15 - $10 = $5 = 33% margin. Min order $250 = 17 units = $85 profit per order.

Faire (25% fee): Target-margin wholesale (40% margin after fees) = $10 / (1 - 0.25 - 0.40) = $10 / 0.35 = $28.57. That is almost your retail price; Faire math is hostile to this cost structure. Either raise retail to $45+ (so keystone = $22.50 and Faire math works) or skip Faire for this product.

Consignment (40% fee): Minimum viable = $10 / 0.60 = $16.67. With 30% target margin = $10 / 0.30 = $33.33. That exceeds retail; consignment math breaks at this cost. Raise retail to $40-$50 or skip consignment.