Selling and marketing
How Much to Charge for Sourdough: Cost Math (2026)
Add up ingredients, labor, and overhead for one loaf, then set a price that leaves you a real margin.
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What to remember
- Ingredients for a 900g loaf run $2.10 to $3.80.
- Your hands-on time is worth $3.50 to $6.00 a loaf.
- Overhead covers the box, the bag, the oven, and the table fee.
- Artisan markets charge $10 to $18 a loaf.
- Check the margin after all three costs, not before.
Getting how much to charge for sourdough cost right comes down to one habit: cost the loaf before you bake it, not after you sell it. The ranges below are wide on purpose, so you can drop in your own flour, your own hourly rate, and your own market. Once you have those three numbers, a price takes five minutes to set.
What goes into the cost of one loaf
Three costs sit under every loaf: ingredients, your time, and overhead. Ingredients are the flour, the starter feed, the salt, and anything you fold in. Overhead is everything else you pay to get the loaf to a buyer, from the box to the card fee on the sale.
Start with ingredients. A standard 900g sourdough loaf costs $2.10 to $3.80 in ingredients depending on flour quality, according to Bakingsubs. If you keep a starter going, the feeding math is its own small cost, and how much sourdough starter costs walks through it.
Leave nothing out of the ingredient line. A dusting of rice flour, a handful of seeds, and the liner in the basket all show up in the total. Small amounts feel free until you multiply them by forty loaves.
Price a loaf before you bake it
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Add your time before you add profit
A sourdough loaf takes 24 to 48 hours from mix to bake, according to Bakeprofit. Most of that is waiting, but the hours you actually work are the ones you get paid for. The Bakingsubs guide puts labor for a standard 900g loaf at $3.50 to $6.00 at a reasonable hourly rate.
Pick your hourly rate before you price anything, and choose a number you would accept from someone else. Time one bake from mixing to packing, then multiply those hours by the rate you chose. If the answer surprises you, that is exactly why you do the math before selling.
How to split a batch cost across loaves
Batch math keeps one loaf from carrying the whole bill, so add the full mix cost first. Divide that total by the loaves the batch really makes, not the count you hope for. A failed loaf still costs flour and time, and the paying loaves must carry it.
Time the batch once, then divide those hours by the same loaf count. Mixing four loaves takes barely longer than mixing one, so labor per loaf drops as the batch grows. Overhead follows the same rule and is divided by the loaves you sell in a month.
What your market already pays
Bakeprofit puts the cost to make a sourdough loaf at $3 to $5 for the baker. The same guide says artisan markets charge $10 to $18 for sourdough bread at the table. That range is a sanity check for your price, not an answer you can copy. Your cost sets the floor, and your local market sets the ceiling you can charge.
If your costed loaf lands above the top of that range, change something before you sell it. Try a smaller loaf, a simpler flour, or a price with a clear reason behind it. The linked guide shows what buyers pay at different levels, so you can compare.
Where delivery and card fees fit
Delivery is overhead, not a favor, so count the miles and the time in your per loaf number. If you drive loaves to buyers, the wear on the car belongs in that same overhead line. A card fee also belongs there, because every card sale costs you a fee from the same money.
Work out the card fee on your price, then add it to overhead per loaf. Cash sales then leave a little more in your pocket, and the price still covers the card sale. Do not treat delivery or card fees as unpaid extras, because they come out of your margin.
A worked example for one 900g loaf
Take the low end first, with ingredients at $2.10, labor at $3.50, and overhead at $1.20. The full cost is $6.80 a loaf, so at $12 you keep $5.20 after all three costs. That margin is about 43 percent, and it only exists because overhead is in the sum.
Now the high end, with ingredients at $3.80, labor at $6.00, and the same $1.20 overhead. The full cost is $11.00, so at $12 you keep $1.00 after all three costs. That margin is about 8 percent, and the same loaf and price tell a different story.
That $1.20 is yours to replace with your real number for boxes, bags, power, and fees. What a loaf costs to make shows the batch math behind these figures. The point is the gap between the two ends, because that gap decides whether your price works.
Run the same sum at $10 and at $18, the ends of the artisan market range. At $10 the low end loaf keeps $3.20 after all three costs, and the high end loaf loses $1.00. At $18 the low end keeps $11.20, and the high end keeps $7.00 after all three costs. That price works only if buyers near you will pay it at the table, so test it.
Mistakes that cost you money
The next mistake is copying the price at the table next to yours without knowing her costs. Her cost is not your cost, even when you sell the same size loaf. If she buys flour in 50 pound bags and you buy 5 pound bags, your costs differ. Her $10 loaf can make money while yours cannot, and the table price hides that gap.
The last mistake is leaving overhead out and calling what is left profit at the table. If the box, the bag, the table fee, and the card fee are missing, the margin you see is not real. The $12 loaf math shows the same three costs on a single loaf.
Watch the free loaf, because a sample here and a thank you loaf there feel kind. They are real cost, so count them in the batch total before you set a price. The paying loaves then carry that cost, and your margin stays honest.
Set your price in four steps
Do this once for your best selling loaf, then repeat it for everything else you bake.
Cost one loaf
Add the ingredients for the whole batch, then divide by the loaves it makes.
Add your time
Time the batch, multiply the hours by your rate, then divide by the loaves.
Add overhead per loaf
Box, bag, power, table fee, and card fee, divided by the loaves you sell in a month.
Add your margin and check it
Pick a price, subtract all three costs, and look at what is left. If it will not cover a slow week, change the loaf or the price.
Raise the price when a cost moves, not when a month feels slow at the table. A flour change or a new table fee is a reason you can explain to a buyer. A bad week is not a reason, and buyers will not accept it as one.
Write the final number on the recipe card and keep it there for every bake. When flour goes up or your market raises the table fee, redo the math before you sell.
Common questions
Should I charge by the loaf or by weight?
By the loaf is easier for you and clearer for the buyer at the table. Weigh your dough so every loaf lands near the same size, then set one price for that size. If you sell a bigger loaf, price it separately instead of guessing at the table.
What if my price is higher than the bakery down the road?
A bakery sells volume and buys flour by the pallet, while you sell small batches by hand. Do not match a price built on costs you do not have in your own kitchen. Compete on freshness, a named flour, or delivery, and protect your margin at the table.
Do I have to pay myself an hourly wage?
Count your time even if you leave the money in the business at first, because free labor hides a weak price. A price that only covers ingredients teaches you to bake for free, and that habit is hard to break. Put a rate in the math, then decide what to do with the profit after the loaf sells.
How do I split a batch cost across loaves?
Add the cost of everything in the batch, then divide by the number of loaves it really makes. Use the count you get, not the count you hope for, because a failed loaf still costs you. If a batch makes four loaves and one fails, the other three carry that cost.
Does the card fee belong in the price?
Yes, because every card sale costs you a fee, and it comes out of the same money. Work out the fee on your price and add it to overhead per loaf. Cash sales then leave a little more in your pocket, and the price still covers the card sale.
Sources
This is general pricing information, not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Your own costs and your local market set what you can charge.