Know your numbers.
Eight quick calculators for independent shops — for pricing a new line, taking a markdown, planning a buy and sizing up your floor. Made for your phone, at market or behind the counter.
What are you working on?
Pricing a line
Margin CalculatorStart here
Know the difference between margin and markup — and get your retail prices right every time.
Set Pricing
Bought it as a set? Split the set cost into a fair retail price for each size.
Freight-to-Margin Alarm
Freight quietly eats margin. See what shipping really cost you — and whether retail needs a bump.
Taking a markdown
Planning a buy
Use these three in order before market: how much to spend, where to spend it, then how many of each size.
1Open to Buy
Know your buying budget before you walk the showroom floor.
2Budget Allocator
Divide that budget across your categories, based on what actually sold last time.
3Size-Run Calculator
Don’t buy the same number of every size. Split your units the way shoppers actually buy.
Sizing your store
Protecting yourself
Double your cost and you’re at a 50% margin — that’s a 100% markup.
Margin is figured on the retail price. Markup is figured on your cost. Same dollars, two different percents.| Your cost | Margin you want | Retail price |
|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | 50% | $20.00 |
| $10.00 | 55% | $22.22 |
| $10.00 | 60% | $25.00 |
I ran my own retail business in Knoxville for fifteen years and started repping in the last few of them. Then I spent nearly four years buying for Elder’s Ace Hardware before coming back to repping. These are the numbers every shop I work with runs on.
More about working with me →Found these handy?
If you want a little more where this came from, I send Weekly Retail Tidbits every Friday — real talk for independent shops, no fluff, no spam — plus the occasional note in between when something can’t wait. Those stay rare on purpose.
270 issues · going out to 3,800+ independent retailers
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Built by AmyFay for retailers who want real clarity on their numbers.