Tooling Cost Amortization Calculator
Amortise over realistic sales, not tool life.
Tooling per unit sold
$0.38
$3.40 across the first order alone
Tooling is recovered after 289 units. Amortising across the tool's theoretical life rather than realistic sales is the standard way this cost gets understated: the tool may last 50,000 units and the product may not.
How the Tooling Cost Amortization Calculator works
Amortising tooling across a tool's theoretical life rather than realistic sales is the standard way this cost gets understated. The tool may last 50,000 units; the product may not.
Also known as: mould cost per unit · amortise tooling over units · die and tooling cost spread
Not financial advice. Marketplace fees change, and they vary by country, plan and seller status. Every rate here is an editable default, not a quoted price, check the platform's current fee schedule before you price a product against it. This is not tax or business advice.
Frequently asked questions
How should tooling be amortised?
Across the units you realistically expect to sell. Using the tool's capacity produces a per-unit figure that only holds if the product succeeds beyond any reasonable forecast.
Who owns the tooling?
Whoever paid for it, in principle, and the contract decides it in practice. Paying for a mould without a written agreement about ownership is how suppliers gain leverage.
How many units to recover tooling?
Tooling divided by contribution per unit. That number, rather than the tooling cost itself, is what tells you whether the investment is sensible.
Can tooling be avoided?
Often, at first, existing moulds with custom branding, 3D-printed short runs or off-the-shelf components with custom packaging all defer the commitment until demand is proven.