Craft market profit is your takings, less the stall fee, other costs on the day, card fees and what your stock cost to make. At a $89 stall with $30 of other costs, selling $45 pieces that cost $8 to make, a potter breaks even after 4 sales and makes about $609 on a 20-sale day before tax. This calculator works it out for your own stall, prices and expected sales.
Craft Market Profit Calculator for Pottery Market Stalls
Is a market stall worth it? Craft market profit depends on more than the stall fee: travel, parking, card fees and the cost of the pieces you sell all come out of the takings, and a long day of packing, selling and packing down takes more hours than it seems. This calculator puts it all together.
It shows how many pieces you need to sell to break even, and what you’d make on a slow day, an expected day and a good one.
Profit on an expected day
$609
20 pieces sold, $900 taken, before tax.
- Break-even
- 4 piecesto cover $119 of stall fee and costs
- Per hour
- $67.72over 9 hours
- Each sale earns
- $36.42after making cost and card fee
Three ways the day could go
| Day | Sold | Taken | Profit | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slow day | 10 | $450 | $245 | $27.25 |
| Expected | 20 | $900 | $609 | $67.72 |
| Good day | 30 | $1,350 | $974 | $108.19 |
Card fees on the expected day: $11.52. Slow and good days here are half and one and a half times your expected sales.
This tool at a glance
- What it does
- Works out whether a market stall is worth it: how many pieces you need to sell to break even and what you’d make on a slow, expected or good day.
- Inputs
- Stall fee, other costs on the day, hours for the whole day, average price, making cost per piece, expected sales, the share paid by card and the card fee.
- Method
- Each sale earns the price, less its making cost and the card fee on the share paid by card. Break-even is the stall fee plus other costs divided by that, rounded up. Slow and good days are half and one and a half times your expected sales.
- Outputs
- Profit on an expected day, break-even pieces, profit per hour, what each sale earns, and a table of slow, expected and good days.
Craft market profit: pieces to sell to break even
How many pieces you need to sell to cover the stall fee plus $30 of other costs, at three average prices, with $8 of making cost a piece and 80% paid by card at 1.6%. Stall fees from $40 for a small community market to $300 for a premium event are illustrative; Rose Street Artists’ Market charges $65 to $89.
| Stall fee | $25 average | $45 average | $80 average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40 stall | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| $65 stall | 6 | 3 | 2 | |
| $89 stall | 8 | 4 | 2 | |
| $150 stall | 11 | 5 | 3 | |
| $300 stall | 20 | 10 | 5 |
How the craft market profit calculator works
Each piece you sell earns its price, less what it cost you to make and the card fee if the buyer pays by card. The calculator works that out first: at $45 a piece, with $8 of making cost and 80% of sales paid by card at 1.6%, each sale earns about $36.42.
The stall fee and your other costs on the day are fixed: you pay them whether you sell one piece or fifty. Divide them by what each sale earns and round up, and you have your break-even: the number of pieces you must sell before the day makes any money. With an $89 stall and $30 of other costs, that’s 4 pieces.
Finally, the calculator works out three days: your expected sales, a slow day at half that, and a good day at one and a half times. Markets are unpredictable, and the spread shows whether a quiet day would still be worth turning up for.
What does a pottery market stall cost?
Stall fees vary widely. Melbourne’s Rose Street Artists’ Market in Fitzroy lists a single stall at $89 a day including GST, falling to $65 a day for a permanent weekend stall across a season, with shelter and a table or display cubes supplied. Small community and school markets often cost less, while large curated design markets and Christmas fairs can cost several hundred dollars for a weekend.
The stall fee is only part of it. Fuel and parking, food on the day, bags and wrapping, and card fees all add up. Larger markets usually also require you to hold your own public liability insurance and an ABN, which are yearly costs to spread across all the markets you do.
Don’t forget display gear. A gazebo, weights, tables, cloths, stands and signage can cost hundreds of dollars up front. They aren’t a cost of one market day, but they’re part of the cost of doing markets, and our pottery business startup cost planner includes them.
A worked example of a pottery market stall
Take the calculator’s starting values. The stall costs $89, and fuel, parking, lunch and bags add another $30, so the day starts $119 behind. Each piece sells for $45 on average and cost $8 to make, and with 80% of buyers paying by card at 1.6%, each sale earns about $36.42.
The fourth sale covers the fixed costs, so everything after that is profit. Selling the expected 20 pieces takes $900, less about $12 in card fees, $160 in making costs and the $119 of fixed costs, which leaves about $609 before tax. Over a nine-hour day, that’s roughly $68 an hour.
On a slow day of 10 sales, profit drops to about $245, or $27 an hour. On a good day of 30 sales, it rises to about $974. The fixed costs are the same in all three, which is why a cheap stall at a busy market usually beats an expensive one at a quiet market.
Card fees and cash at a market
Most market buyers now pay by card, usually by tapping. Square, a common choice for stallholders in Australia, charges 1.6% for in-person payments on its current plans, and 1.9% for some sellers who signed up earlier. On a $900 day that’s about $12 to $14, small but worth counting.
The calculator applies the card fee only to the share of sales you expect to be paid by card. Keep a small cash float as well, because some buyers still prefer cash and a dropped signal can stop card payments for a while.
Getting your pottery prices right for markets
Price is the strongest lever on market profit. A few dollars more on each piece adds up quickly over a day, and it costs nothing extra to make. If your break-even is close to what you expect to sell, look at your prices before anything else.
Make sure the making cost covers everything: clay, glaze, firing and packaging. If you want the market to pay for your time as well, include your labour in the making cost, and the profit figure becomes a true profit on top of a wage. Our pottery pricing calculator builds a price from all of those costs.
A range of price points also helps. Small, affordable pieces such as ring dishes and spoon rests sell steadily and cover the stall fee, while larger statement pieces lift the average sale. Many potters find a mix of the two sells best, and it gives every visitor something within their budget to take home.
Count every hour of a market day
A market day is longer than the trading hours. Packing the car, driving, setting up, selling, packing down and unloading easily add three or four hours to a six-hour market. The calculator divides the day’s profit by all of those hours, so you can see what you really earn per hour.
Compare that with other ways to sell. A gallery or shop takes a commission but none of your Saturdays, and online sales take time in photographing and posting. Our potter income estimator shows how markets fit into a whole year of sales.
Making a market day pay off
Bring enough stock. Running out early on a good day is a lost opportunity, so pack more than your expected sales. Price everything clearly, display pieces at different heights, and have a few pieces people can pick up and handle.
Track every market: the fee, the sales, the weather and what sold. After a few, you’ll know which markets suit your work and what to expect, which makes the calculator’s estimates much sharper. Collect email addresses or social media follows too, because a market’s value often continues long after the day.
And keep making. Stock for markets has to be thrown, fired and glazed weeks ahead, so plan your firings around your market calendar. A kiln firing service helps when you need extra kiln space before a busy season.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a market stall cost in Melbourne?
It varies by market. Rose Street Artists’ Market lists $65 to $89 a day including GST. Smaller community markets often cost less, and large curated events and Christmas fairs can cost several hundred dollars.
How many pieces do I need to sell to break even?
Divide the stall fee and other costs by what each sale earns after its making cost and card fee. With an $89 stall, $30 of other costs and $45 pieces costing $8 to make, it’s 4 pieces.
Is a market stall worth it for potters?
Often, if your break-even is well below what you expect to sell and your prices cover your time. Markets also bring new customers and feedback, which have value beyond the day’s profit.
Do I need insurance for a market stall?
Many larger markets require stallholders to hold their own public liability insurance and an ABN. Check each market’s conditions before you apply.
Should I include my time in the making cost?
If you want to see a true profit, yes. Without it, the profit figure is what you earn for your time and effort on the day and in making the stock.
Can I make and fire market stock at Le Studio Art Space?
Yes. Le Studio Art Space’s ceramic studio in Mordialloc offers casual days and monthly residencies, plus a firing service, which suits potters building stock for markets.
Sources and method
The Rose Street Artists’ Market stall fees, stall sizes and inclusions are from the market’s published stallholder pricing. Square’s in-person card fees of 1.6% and 1.9% are from Square Australia’s fees pages. The insurance and ABN requirements are as stated by the Finders Keepers markets for stallholders.
The calculation is standard break-even arithmetic. The slow and good day multipliers, the default other costs, hours and card share, and the stall fees in the break-even table other than Rose Street’s are our own illustrative assumptions.
Figures last checked .
Use this tool on your site
You’re welcome to embed the market stall profit calculator on your own site, studio page or class notes. Copy the code below. Please keep the credit link, it’s how other potters find the full version.
Cite this tool
Le Studio Art Space (2026). Market Stall Profit Calculator. The Potter’s Bench. https://lestudioartspace.com/potters-bench/market-stall-profit-calculator/ (accessed 28 October 2026).
This market stall profit calculator from Le Studio Art Space is general educational content. Results are estimates: firing results vary from kiln to kiln and with your clay, glaze, cone placement and firing schedule. Always follow the clay and glaze manufacturer’s data, and for glaze and food safety decisions follow the manufacturer’s guidance and local regulations.