For music instrument shops
Price instruments and accessories with set-up and returns counted
Guitars need setting up and strings sell in the hundreds. Price the big instrument and the small accessory each from its own costs.
Quick answer: how should music instrument shops price a product?
Add every cost, then the fees that take a share of the price, then choose your margin. For acoustic guitar that works out at $257.19, leaving $72.01 profit. Skip a cost and the profit shrinks without you noticing.
Check your best seller in two minutes
Take the product you sell most. If its price was set by adding a mark-up to the buy-in price and you have never counted returns allowance or lesson-bundle discount allowance, card fees and monthly costs, it may earn less than you think. Some items may even lose money. You will not see it in your till, only in the end-of-month result.
The mark-up trap, worked through
Marking up only the buy-in price by 28% gives a price of $179.20. After the other costs and the fees taken from that price, the sale loses $1.37, not the $72.01 you planned. The same costs priced properly give $257.19.
Illustration with the example costs below. Your numbers will differ.
Where music instrument shops usually lose money
Set-up time
Add the hours you spend setting an instrument up as a cost line.
Cheap accessories
Strings and picks have small margins. Check them in Catalog check.
Used instruments
Enter what you paid and your repair cost to price a trade-in.
Example: Acoustic guitar
These costs go in. The price comes out of the same engine the app uses.
- Buy-in price$140.00
- Inbound freight$8.00
- Set-up and tuning time$10.00
- Case or bag$12.00
- Card terminal fee2.9% of price
- Returns allowance3% of price
- Profit you want28% margin
Sell it for
$257.19
Profit per sale $72.01 on a total cost of $185.17.
What music instrument shops see in the app
Real screens. Your own costs and products go in, the same kind of answers come out.
A ready cost list
Pick music instrument shops and the usual cost lines appear. You fill in the amounts.
The exact price
Fees that depend on the price are solved exactly, so the profit you ask for is the profit you get.
Products that lose money
Check a whole price list at once and see which items run thin or below cost.
Already set up for music instrument shops
Choose this business type in the calculator and these cost lines appear. You only fill in the amounts.
- Buy-in price
- Inbound freight
- Set-up and tuning time
- Case or bag
- Strings and spare parts included
- Delivery and unboxing
- Card terminal fee
- Returns allowance
- Lesson-bundle discount allowance
- Rent (monthly)
- Staff wages (monthly)
- Insurance (monthly)
- Lesson room costs (monthly)
- Practice and demo room (monthly)
- Amp and sound equipment (monthly)
What music instrument shops get with CostCal Pro
The pricing maths is free. Paid plans add bulk tools and store connections.
Exact selling price
FreeEnter the buy-in price, other costs and fees, choose a margin, and get the price that keeps it.
Catalog check
FreeUpload a product export and see which products lose money or run on a thin margin.
Discount simulator
FreeSee the largest discount that still leaves a profit before you run a sale.
Break-even
FreeAdd monthly costs and see how many sales cover them.
Branded PDF report
FreeSend a clear cost and price breakdown to a customer or partner.
CSV import and typical costs
StarterBring in many products at once and start from ready cost templates.
Store connection
StarterLink calculations to products in your online store by SKU.
Weekly below-cost email
PremiumGet an email when a store product is selling below cost.
Apply prices to your store
PremiumPush approved prices to a connected WooCommerce store.
See plans and prices, all features or a sample report.
Questions music instrument shops ask about pricing
How do I price acoustic guitar?
Add every cost (buy-in price, inbound freight, set-up and tuning time, case or bag, card terminal fee, returns allowance), then choose the profit margin you want. With these example costs and a 28% margin, acoustic guitar should sell for $257.19, which leaves $72.01 profit on a total cost of $185.17. Your own costs will differ, so enter yours in the calculator.
What is the formula for a selling price that keeps your margin?
Price = fixed costs divided by (1 minus the percentage fees minus your margin). Here the fixed costs are $170.00, the percentage fees are 5.9% of the price and the margin is 28%. Percentage fees must be taken from the selling price, not from the cost, which is why a simple mark-up on cost usually leaves less profit than planned.
What costs do music instrument shops often forget?
The easiest to miss are returns allowance, lesson-bundle discount allowance, your own time, and monthly costs such as rent, staff wages, insurance. Each one is a row in the Music instrument shop preset, so you only fill in the amounts.
How do I know if a product is losing money?
Compare the selling price with the total cost, including the share of the price taken by fees. If the price is lower than that total, the product loses money. Catalog check does this for a whole product export and marks every item that loses money or has a thin margin.
Can I price used instruments?
Yes. Enter what you paid and your refurbishment cost.
Can I check accessories in bulk?
Upload a CSV in Catalog check.
Is the CostCal Pro calculator free for music instrument shops?
Yes. The Free plan never expires and needs no card. It includes the exact price calculation, 5 saved calculations, 5 PDF reports and a catalog check of up to 50 products. Paid plans start at $49 a year and add more saved calculations, CSV import, store connection and API keys.
Last reviewed 2026-11-11. Example figures are illustrations, not advice.
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