Soap and Candle Break-Even Calculator: Markup, Margin and Contribution

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Opens on the book's Market Batch. Change any number to your own and press Calculate.

Fixed costs for the year

Insurance

Stall fee a day

Market days

Kit molds, scales, thermometer, PPE

Other e.g. stick blender

Product 1

Name

Price

Materials each

Cost to make each materials + time, optional

In a batch

Product 2

Name

Price

Materials each

Cost to make each optional

In a batch

Convert

A markup of %: what margin is it?

A margin of %: what markup is it?

Enter the prices and press Calculate.

The formula

Markup = (price − cost) ÷ cost; margin = (price − cost) ÷ price. Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup)
Contribution = price − materials each: what a sale leaves toward the fixed costs
Break-even = fixed costs ÷ contribution, rounded up (SBA)
A mixed batch: contribution per batch = takings − materials; break-even batches = fixed ÷ that. Keystone: wholesale = 2 × cost to make, retail = 2 × wholesale

The book's worked example, Chapter 12. A bar at 9 on 1.88 of materials leaves 7.12: a markup of 378.7 % but a margin of 79.1 %. A year's fixed costs are 1,074.60; one batch of 10 bars and 12 candles leaves 288.92 over materials, so break-even is 4 batches (or 151 bars alone, or 60 candles alone).

The book's prices (9 a bar, 22 a candle) are a choice after a market check, not data. Fixed costs here are the book's example year; platform fees and per-order costs belong in materials per unit. Prices are illustrative US supplier prices from October 2026, shown without a currency sign; put in your own. Everything stays in your browser: no sign-up, nothing stored.