Most handmade sellers remember the obvious material: fabric, wood, blanks, beads, leather, wax, paper, hardware, or the main ingredient. The easier costs to miss are the small things used around that material every time you produce.
One small cost may not change a price much. A dozen small costs repeated across hundreds of products can.
Start with production consumables
Consumables are supplies that get used up while you make the product even when they are not the main material. Depending on your process, that might include thread, adhesive, transfer sheets, blades, sandpaper, gloves, tape, needles, cleaning supplies, printer ink, or similar items.
You do not need perfect accounting for every fraction of a penny. A reasonable allowance is better than pretending the cost does not exist.
Include utilities or machine use when the process depends on them
Some products require meaningful use of heat presses, kilns, dryers, printers, sewing equipment, laser equipment, power tools, or other machinery. A simple utility or machine-use allowance can keep those costs visible without turning a beginner worksheet into an accounting system.
The goal is consistency: use a reasonable method, review it occasionally, and improve the estimate when you have better information.
Do not forget tags, labels and product packaging
If a tag, label, wrap, box, backing card, sleeve, or other packaging is attached to the product before it is sold, it belongs in the cost of making that sellable product.
That is different from transaction packaging such as a shopping bag used only because a customer completes a sale. Transaction packaging is a selling cost and can be handled later in the pricing calculation.
Some equipment belongs to the product; some belongs to the business
A tool or piece of equipment used specifically for one product can justify a product-specific equipment allowance. General equipment—such as a canopy, tables, signs, carts, and shared business tools—is better treated as a broader business cost rather than charging the entire purchase to one product.
The point is not to chase every half-cent
Festival Geeks uses a simple rule for beginner pricing work: the goal is not perfect accounting on day one. The goal is to stop accidentally treating a legitimate cost like it does not exist.
For the full structure, read How to Price Handmade Products for Festivals: What Your Price Has to Carry. For labor, see Should You Pay Yourself for Labor When Pricing Handmade Products? and Does Drying, Curing or Waiting Time Count as Labor?.
Use the free worksheet
The Know Your Number™ Pricing Workshop includes dedicated lines for the making costs people tend to forget so you can work through one product at a time.
This lesson comes from Episode 5 of Festival Geeks.