{
  "slug": "farmers-market-booth-breakeven",
  "title": "Farmers Market Booth Breakeven Calculator",
  "heading": "Farmers Market Booth Breakeven Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/farmers-market-booth-breakeven",
  "summary": "How much you need to sell per market day to cover the booth and come out ahead.",
  "description": "Farmers market vendors often don't track the full cost of a market day beyond the stall fee, missing drive time, setup/teardown labor, tent and table wear, samples given away, and unsold perishable product that gets composted at the end of the day. This calculator adds stall fee, round-trip mileage cost, paid labor hours, and an estimated unsold-inventory loss into a total day cost, then divides by your average margin percent to find the breakeven revenue you need before the day is actually profitable. It's built for producers selling baked goods, preserves, coffee, or craft beverages at weekend markets who want a real number instead of assuming any sales above the stall fee count as profit.",
  "formula": "Total day cost = stall fee + mileage cost + labor cost + unsold loss. Breakeven revenue = total day cost ÷ margin%.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=farmers-market-booth-breakeven",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "stallFee",
      "label": "Stall/booth fee",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 45,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "miles",
      "label": "Round-trip miles",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 30,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "mileRate",
      "label": "Vehicle cost per mile",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 0.67,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "laborHours",
      "label": "Total labor hours (setup+sell+teardown)",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 7,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "laborRate",
      "label": "Labor cost per hour",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 20,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "unsoldLoss",
      "label": "Estimated unsold/sample product loss",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 25,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "marginPct",
      "label": "Average gross margin on products",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 55,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 5,
      "max": 95
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "breakevenRevenue",
      "label": "Breakeven sales revenue",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "totalDayCost",
      "label": "Total cost of the market day",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "laborCost",
      "label": "Labor cost for the day",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "mileageCost",
      "label": "Vehicle/mileage cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Stall/booth fee: 45 $",
      "Round-trip miles: 30",
      "Vehicle cost per mile: 0.67 $",
      "Total labor hours (setup+sell+teardown): 7",
      "Labor cost per hour: 20 $",
      "Estimated unsold/sample product loss: 25 $",
      "Average gross margin on products: 55 %"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Breakeven sales revenue: $418.36",
      "Total cost of the market day: $230.10",
      "Labor cost for the day: $140.00",
      "Vehicle/mileage cost: $20.10"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter stall/booth fee ($).",
      "Enter round-trip miles.",
      "Enter vehicle cost per mile ($).",
      "Enter total labor hours (setup+sell+teardown).",
      "Enter labor cost per hour ($).",
      "Enter estimated unsold/sample product loss ($).",
      "Enter average gross margin on products (%).",
      "Read your breakeven sales revenue on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "stallFee": 25,
        "miles": 20,
        "mileRate": 0.402,
        "laborHours": 4.2,
        "laborRate": 12,
        "unsoldLoss": 15,
        "marginPct": 33
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "stallFee": 45,
        "miles": 30,
        "mileRate": 0.67,
        "laborHours": 7,
        "laborRate": 20,
        "unsoldLoss": 25,
        "marginPct": 55
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "stallFee": 70,
        "miles": 50,
        "mileRate": 1.072,
        "laborHours": 11.200000000000001,
        "laborRate": 32,
        "unsoldLoss": 40,
        "marginPct": 88
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Should I count my own time as labor cost?",
      "a": "Yes, at minimum what you could earn doing something else with those hours. A lot of vendors don't pay themselves anything and conclude the market is profitable, when really they're working for less than minimum wage once the full day is counted, including drive time and setup."
    },
    {
      "q": "How do I estimate unsold product loss?",
      "a": "Track it for a month: total cost value of anything not sold, given away as samples, or donated at the end of each market day, averaged. Perishable bakery and dairy-adjacent products typically run higher loss (10-20% of inventory cost) than shelf-stable jars and dry goods (often under 5%)."
    },
    {
      "q": "What if I sell out every week — does breakeven still matter?",
      "a": "Selling out tells you demand exceeds supply, not that pricing is right. If you sell out in the first 90 minutes of a 6-hour market, you likely have room to raise prices or bring double the inventory, both of which change the breakeven math in your favor."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cottage-food-pricing",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/wholesale-retail-channel-split"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Farmers Market Booth Breakeven Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/farmers-market-booth-breakeven)"
}