Need a good pricing formula

y=mx+b is not enough

[Tonearm]

I'm trying to come up with a formula that will input cost and output price. I can't seem to come up with anything that works well over a cost range (x) of about $1 - $25. Can any math guys or gals show me how it's done and how to tweak it?

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[edited by: buckworks at 4:58 am (utc) on Dec. 11, 2009]
[edit reason] No URLs please; see TOS [/edit]

[Wlauzon]

We used to use Excel, basically setup so that if the cost was xx.xx to yy.yy, the percentage markup was zz%. Works OK for basic starting numbers but gets to be a pain with a lot of products that change price a lot.

[iJeep]

I use a lot of excel functions such as:

=A1*1.5+if(A1<100, 10, 5)

That way for low dollar items you will be adding extra profit to cover processing and handling costs that I don't mind absorbing in higher dollar sales.

[ChrisE]

Can you elaborate on the question? If I understand correctly, you just need Price = markup * cost

But, it seems too basic of a question. Are you trying to understand how to calculate your COGS? Adding in time value of money, inventory carrying, fixed costs such as warehousing, etc?

[jwolthuis]

A proper pricing function will take into account several factors:

(a) the shipping cost you paid to acquire the product,
(b) the packaging and void-fill costs you paid to ship the product,
(c) the product life-cycle costs, including losses, damage, and non-resellable returns.

A (simplifed) formula that I've used is:

Markup = 2.475 * Cost ^ -0.16
if Markup < 1.2 then Markup = 1.2

Price = (Cost * Markup) + (0.25 * Weight)

Round to higher nickel if < 10.00, or
round to higher 95-cents if > 10.00.

[mellowmayhem]

I also take into account payment processing fees which applies to the sales price and shipping. For example, if the customer uses PayPal to buy your widget for $25 plus $5 shipping, that adds about $1 to your expenses ($0.35 + %1.9 to 2.9% I believe)

[Tonearm]

jwolthuis,
Thank you very much, your formula is exactly what I was looking for.