Pricing is the decision new studio owners agonise over most, and I was no exception when we opened. Set prices too low and you're quietly subsidising every customer's afternoon out of your own pocket. Set them too high and the walk-in family does the maths at the shelf and leaves without painting. The good news is that paint-your-own-pottery has settled on a simple, reliable way to price, and once the logic clicks you can apply it to any piece in your studio.
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Two ways to price
Almost every PYOP studio uses one of two models:
- All-in piece price. One number on the shelf covers everything — the bisque, the paints, the firing, and your time. Simple for the customer, simple to display.
- Piece price + studio fee. A lower per-piece price plus a separate "studio fee" (sometimes called a sitting or seating fee) per person or per piece. This separates the cost of the object from the cost of the experience.
Neither is "correct" — they're just two ways of recovering the same costs. What matters is that, whichever you choose, the total a customer pays clears your costs with healthy margin left over. The formula below works for both.
The 7× rule (and the 15% COGS target)
Here's the rule of thumb the industry leans on: price a piece at roughly seven times what the bisque costs you. That multiplier is reverse-engineered from a target most retail-style businesses aim for — keeping cost of goods sold (COGS) at around 15% of the selling price. Seven times the bisque cost lands you right around that 15% mark.
The crucial detail people miss: COGS here means the bisque (the base object) only. Paint, underglaze, clear glaze, brushes and the like are not part of this number — they're studio overhead you cover through the markup and the studio fee, not a per-piece cost you multiply. If you fold them into COGS you'll over-count and under-price.
Quick version: Piece price ≈ bisque cost × 7. Then sense-check it against your local market and your studio-fee model.
Worked examples
Let's run three pieces through both models. Assume a per-person studio fee of about $8 in the second model.
| Piece | Bisque cost | ×7 | All-in price | Piece + $8 fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small mug | $2.00 | $14.00 | $14 | $6 piece + $8 fee |
| Figurine | $5.00 | $35.00 | $35 | $27 piece + $8 fee |
| Large platter | $9.00 | $63.00 | $63 | $55 piece + $8 fee |
Illustrative only. Your bisque costs, studio fee and market will move these numbers.
Notice the all-in and split models land at the same total for a customer painting one piece. The difference shows up when someone paints several: a per-person fee is charged once, so the more pieces they paint, the better value they get — which gently encourages bigger orders. A per-piece fee scales the other way. Choose deliberately.
Setting your studio fee
If you use the split model, your studio fee is doing real work — it's covering paints, glazes, firing, table time and staff. To set it well, you need to know your average studio fee per item, because customers paint different amounts. The calculation is simple:
Average studio fee per item = total studio fees collected over a period ÷ number of items painted in that period.
Run that over a busy month and you'll see what each piece actually contributes, which tells you whether your fee is pulling its weight. Three common structures:
- Per person — one fee per painter, regardless of how many pieces. Simple, popular, rewards multi-piece painters.
- Per piece — a smaller fee on each item. Scales with usage, better for studios where people tend to paint one thing.
- Time-based — a fee per hour or per session, common in studios that also run open clay time.
Party and group pricing
Parties are where PYOP studios make real money, so price them as packages, not as a stack of individual pieces. A good package bundles a per-head price that includes a sitting fee and a piece allowance (or a price band of eligible pieces), plus any extras — a private room, a host, refreshments. Price the package so it covers your per-person studio fee and the marked-up cost of the included pieces, with extra margin for the additional staffing a party needs. A clear per-head number is also far easier for the customer to budget than "it depends what they pick".
Adjusting for your market
The 7× rule gets you a sensible starting price; your local conditions decide the final one. A studio paying city-centre rent in an affluent area can and should price above one in a quiet suburb. Watch three things: your rent and overhead, your customers' willingness to pay, and what comparable studios nearby charge. Then review your prices at least once a year — bisque costs, energy and rent all creep up, and prices that were healthy two years ago quietly stop covering their costs.
The hidden costs people forget
When you're checking whether your prices really work, don't forget the costs that don't show up on the bisque invoice:
- Firing energy — kilns are power-hungry, and every piece you sell gets fired at least once.
- Breakage and seconds — pieces crack, glazes run, and some stock never sells at full price.
- Labour — your time (and your staff's) dipping, loading, firing and serving is a real cost, even if you don't pay yourself yet.
Price to cover all of it, not just the clay. Once your numbers are solid, the operational side — getting every painted piece fired, tracked and collected without losing one — is what protects the margin you just built. That's the part good studio software handles for you, so a mispriced afternoon is the only money you ever leave on the table.
Frequently asked questions
What markup should I use on bisque?
A common rule of thumb is about seven times the bisque cost, which targets keeping cost of goods around 15% of the price. Treat it as a starting point and adjust for your rent, market and studio-fee model.
Should the studio fee be per person or per piece?
Both are common. Per-person is simpler and rewards customers who paint several pieces; per-piece scales with actual use. Many studios charge a per-person sitting fee plus the marked-up price of each piece.
How do I price a pottery party?
Build a per-head package bundling a sitting fee, a piece allowance or price band, and any extras. Price it to cover your per-person studio fee plus the marked-up cost of included pieces, with margin for the extra staffing.