Inventory, manufacturing process, business success topics for small DTC manufacturers.
bookkeeping tax
Shopify's built-in cost field won't give you accurate COGS if you make your own products. Here's how to actually track cost of goods sold as a maker using Shopify.
pricing
What does a healthy profit margin actually look like in your niche? Real gross margin benchmarks from 715,000 Craftybase order lines across 11 maker categories — and what the numbers tell you about your pricing.
Etsy doesn't show you your real COGS. Here's how to calculate cost of goods sold as an Etsy seller — materials, labour, overhead — and why it matters more than your revenue.
Weighted average costing is IRS-approved, GAAP-compliant, and the right choice for small-batch makers with fluctuating material costs. Here's why — and how Craftybase automates it.
Selling on Etsy, Shopify, or both? Your COGS doesn't care which platform the order came from — but your tracking system needs to. Here's how to get one consolidated number.
inventory management
Shopify tracks finished products. It doesn't track raw materials, recipes, or what it cost to make each item. Here's how to build the inventory layer Shopify is missing — specifically for Shopify sellers who manufacture what they sell.
Schedule C Part III is the section that trips up most handmade sellers at tax time. Here's what COGS actually means for makers, what to include, and how to fill it out correctly.
Learn how to calculate Cost of Goods Sold for your handmade business. Covers the COGS formula, materials, labour, overhead, weighted average costing, pricing, and Schedule C reporting.
Shopify tracks what you sell — not what goes into making it. Here's how to set up a real batch manufacturing workflow so your production runs are planned, costed, and synced.
Real COGS benchmark data from 1.3 million order lines across 11 maker niches. Find out if your materials cost percentage is typical — or a warning sign.
Selling on Etsy and Shopify? Your COGS is different on each platform — and most makers never account for this. Here's how to track it accurately across both channels.
QuickBooks tracks your material spend — but it can't calculate cost per product from a recipe or BOM. Here's why that's a problem for makers, and how to fix it without switching accounting tools.
You launched your Shopify store. Now your accountant is asking questions you can't answer. This guide covers Shopify bookkeeping: payout reconciliation, COGS tracking, sales tax, and the tools that actually work for product businesses.
Learn the COGS formula step by step with real-world examples for small manufacturers. We cover what to include, what to exclude, inventory valuation methods, and how to report COGS on your taxes.
WooCommerce doesn't track COGS natively. Learn your options — from plugins to dedicated manufacturing software — and why makers who produce their own products need a different approach.
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Because they don't know what their products actually cost to make.
Every week, one practical tip on pricing, materials, and COGS — the numbers that turn a busy craft business into a profitable one.
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