Appliance repair
Appliance Parts Cost Calculator
What to charge for a part, priced from a markup or from a target margin, with the freight and core charges that get absorbed.
Result
Markup is measured against your cost and margin against the price you charge, and they are not the same number: a 65% markup is a 39.4% margin. Pricing from a margin figure by multiplying instead of dividing is the single most expensive arithmetic error in parts pricing, which is why both figures are always shown. Freight is folded into landed cost because a part marked up on its invoice price alone can arrive at a loss once shipping is counted, and on small inexpensive parts freight is frequently a large share of the total. The matrix method exists because a flat percentage either overprices cheap parts out of usefulness or underprices expensive ones below what carrying them costs.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Landed cost first, meaning the part plus freight plus any core charge you will not recover, because that is what the part actually cost you. Then the price, by whichever basis you use. A markup multiplies landed cost upward. A margin divides by one minus the margin, since margin is measured against the price rather than the cost. A matrix applies a higher percentage below a threshold and a lower one above it. All three report the resulting margin and markup side by side so the two cannot be confused.
What moves the number
- Freight, which on a small inexpensive part is frequently a large share of landed cost.
- Which pricing basis you use, since markup and margin produce different numbers from the same intent.
- Whether a core charge is genuinely unrecovered, as a returnable core is a deposit rather than a cost.
- Quantity, which spreads nothing since freight and markup both scale per part.
Where this one goes wrong
A 65% markup is a 39.4% margin, and pricing from a margin target by multiplying rather than dividing is the most expensive arithmetic error in parts pricing. Both figures are shown on every result for that reason. The second trap is marking up an invoice price rather than a landed one: on a cheap part ordered individually, freight can exceed the markup, so the part arrives at a loss while the paperwork says it was profitable.
Before you quote
- Price from landed cost, not the invoice figure.
- Check the resulting margin against the markup so the two are not confused.
- Exclude any core charge you will get back.
Questions
About this calculator
Should I mark up parts on cost or price to a margin?
They reach the same place if you do the arithmetic correctly, but they fail differently when you do not. A markup is easier to apply at the counter; a margin target is easier to reconcile against your accounts. The important thing is not to confuse them, since a 65% markup is a 39.4% margin and treating one as the other loses real money.
Why include freight in the cost?
Because you paid it. A part invoiced at a low price with meaningful shipping can cost substantially more landed than it appears, and a percentage markup applied to the invoice figure alone may not even cover the freight. On small parts ordered individually this is the difference between profit and loss.
What is a price matrix?
A sliding markup that applies a higher percentage to inexpensive parts and a lower one to expensive parts. It exists because the cost of sourcing, stocking and warranting a part is largely independent of its price, so a flat percentage leaves cheap parts unprofitable and makes expensive ones look gouging.
Can I charge a core charge to the customer?
Only enter the portion you will not recover. A core charge you get back by returning the old unit is not a cost, it is a deposit, and marking it up means charging the customer for money that comes back to you.
The formula
landed = part + freight + unrecovered core; markup price = landed x (1 + markup); margin price = landed / (1 - margin)
Put this calculator on your site
Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.
Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.
How to use this calculator
- What the part costs you ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $85.
- Freight and handling ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $12.
- Core charge you will not recover ($). Only the part you do not get back on returning the old unit.
- Price it by. Enter your own figure; the page starts at A markup on your cost.
- Markup on cost (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 65%.
- Quantity. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to charge the customer, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| What the part costs you | $85 |
| Freight and handling | $12 |
| Core charge you will not recover | $0 |
| Price it by | A markup on your cost |
| Markup on cost | 65% |
| Quantity | 1 |
| Sales tax | 8% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Charge the customer main result | $172.85 |
| Price per part before tax | $160.05 |
| Your landed cost per part | $97 |
| Gross profit | $63.05 |
| Actual margin | 39.4% |
| Same thing as a markup | 65.0% |
| Sales tax | $12.80 |
Your landed cost is $97 once freight is counted, not 85. Pricing it this way gives $160.05 per part, a 39.4% margin, which is the same as a 65.0% markup. The customer pays $172.85 including tax.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only what the part costs you, this is what happens to charge the customer. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| What the part costs you ($) | Charge the customer |
|---|---|
| $43 | $98.01 |
| $64 | $135.43 |
| $85 example above | $172.85 |
| $128 | $249.48 |
| $170 | $324.32 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- What the part costs you ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 20000, starting at $85.
- Freight and handling ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 2000, starting at $12.
- Core charge you will not recover ($)
- Only the part you do not get back on returning the old unit.
- Price it by
- Choose from A markup on your cost, A target margin on the price, A price matrix band.
- Markup on cost (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 500, starting at 65%.
- Quantity
- A number, between 1 and 1000, starting at 1.
- Sales tax (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 30, starting at 8%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Charge the customer | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Price per part before tax | A money figure. |
| Your landed cost per part | A money figure. |
| Gross profit | A money figure. |
| Actual margin | A percentage. |
| Same thing as a markup | A percentage. |
| Sales tax | A money figure. |
Keep going
Related calculators
All appliance repair calculators
Refrigerator Repair Cost Calculator
Prices a fridge repair, where the sealed system and everything else are two different jobs.
Open calculatorParts Markup Calculator
Set parts pricing that recovers sourcing, stocking and warranty rather than a flat percentage on the invoice cost.
Open calculatorWasher Repair Cost Calculator
Prices a washer repair, where bearing failure is the one that ends the machine.
Open calculatorEstimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.