Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Breakeven sales revenue
$418.36
Total cost of the market day
$230.10
Labor cost for the day
$140.00
Vehicle/mileage cost
$20.10
Psst — share this and help Rex grow
One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.
How to use this
- 1Enter stall/booth fee ($).
- 2Enter round-trip miles.
- 3Enter vehicle cost per mile ($).
- 4Enter total labor hours (setup+sell+teardown).
- 5Enter labor cost per hour ($).
- 6Enter estimated unsold/sample product loss ($).
- 7Enter average gross margin on products (%).
- 8Read your breakeven sales revenue on the right — it updates as you type.
- 9Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
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.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
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 %
Results
- Breakeven sales revenue: $418.36
- Total cost of the market day: $230.10
- Labor cost for the day: $140.00
- Vehicle/mileage cost: $20.10
What each field means
Inputs
- Stall/booth fee ($)
- The stall/booth fee used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 45 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Round-trip miles
- The round-trip miles used in the calculation. Starts at 30 so you have a working example on load.
- Vehicle cost per mile ($)
- The vehicle cost per mile used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 0.67 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Total labor hours (setup+sell+teardown)
- The total labor hours (setup+sell+teardown) used in the calculation. Starts at 7 so you have a working example on load.
- Labor cost per hour ($)
- The labor cost per hour used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 20 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Estimated unsold/sample product loss ($)
- The estimated unsold/sample product loss used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 25 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Average gross margin on products (%)
- The average gross margin on products used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 55 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 5–95 %.
Results
- Breakeven sales revenue
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total cost of the market day
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Labor cost for the day
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Vehicle/mileage cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Should I count my own time as labor cost?
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.
How do I estimate unsold product loss?
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%).
What if I sell out every week — does breakeven still matter?
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.
Accuracy and 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.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Farmers Market Booth Breakeven Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/farmers-market-booth-breakeven
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/farmers-market-booth-breakeven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Farmers Market Booth Breakeven Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Farmers Market Booth Breakeven Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/farmers-market-booth-breakeven) (2026).