Whatever you make, know what it makes you
Hivara is inventory and production software for handmade sellers of every kind. Build any product from a real bill of materials, put your hours where the spreadsheet never did, and run the whole craft business — materials to margins — from one honest set of numbers.
- Free Starter plan
- No credit card
- Cancel anytime
Track everything that goes into a handmade product
From raw materials to finished stock, Hivara keeps handmade sellers on top of:
- components and supplies
- kit items
- finishing materials
- packaging
A handmade product in Hivara
Product
Handmade Gift Item
SKU HANDMADE-001
Material
Base Material
tracked in each · Supplies
Supplier
Maker Supply Co.
Variations
Size, Color
A day in Hivara, for handmade sellers
- 1
List what you buy
Every material in the unit you use it — by the ounce, yard, foot or piece — at what it really cost.
- 2
Build each product's BOM
Components plus your minutes: the true cost of anything you make, however unconventional.
- 3
Log making days
Production draws materials and adds finished stock — the workshop and the numbers finally agree.
- 4
Price and prune with data
Margin per product and earnings per hour show what to make more of, raise, or retire.
Built around how handmade sellers actually work
- 1
Your craft doesn't fit the template
Mixed-media, one-of-a-kind, three crafts at once — real handmade businesses are messy. A flexible bill of materials costs whatever you actually make, however you make it.
- 2
The spreadsheet stopped scaling
The pricing sheet that worked at ten products breaks at forty. When formulas drift and tabs multiply, the numbers quietly stop being true — and prices built on them follow.
- 3
Underpricing is the default
Most handmade prices start from 'what would I pay?' and end in unpaid labor. Cost-plus pricing from a real BOM and honest hours is the antidote — and it usually says 'charge more.'
- 4
One business, many tables
Etsy, markets, Instagram DMs, the occasional shop — every channel sells the same finished stock. One count across all of them ends the double-sold dread.
What a handmade gift item really costs
This is the math Hivara does for every product you make — every line from a real bill of materials, updated whenever a supplier price changes.
A 2× on true cost — including labor — is the classic handmade floor. Without the labor line it's an illusion.
Handmade Gift Item
- Base materials
- $4.20
- Finishing supplies
- $0.85
- Packaging + tag
- $0.95
- Your time (1 hr @ $15/hr)
- $15.00
Questions handmade sellers ask
How do I price handmade items?
Materials plus honest labor plus margin — in that order, with nothing skipped. The classic formula is cost × 2 for wholesale and cost × 3–4 for retail, where 'cost' genuinely includes your hours. Hivara computes the cost so the formula stands on something.
What's the best inventory software for handmade businesses?
One that thinks in recipes: raw materials in real units, products built from bills of materials, production that moves one into the other. Generic retail inventory counts boxes; handmade needs the making tracked too.
When should I stop using a spreadsheet for my craft business?
When updating it feels like a second job, when prices are built on formulas nobody's checked in months, or when you've sold something you didn't have. Those are the three signs the sheet is now costing more than software would.
How do I know which handmade products are profitable?
Margin per piece and earnings per hour, side by side. Bestsellers can be your worst earners once hours are counted — the data regularly reorders a maker's 'what to make this week' list.
Can Hivara handle a business that makes many different things?
That's the design: any material, any unit, any recipe. Candles beside quilts beside jewelry — one system costs them all, and the mixed catalog reports as one business.
Hivara for other crafts
Guides for handmade sellers
All guidesHow to Price Your Handmade Products (Without Guessing)
Most makers price by gut feel and quietly lose money. Here's a simple formula that covers your materials, pays you for your time, and leaves real profit.
How to Calculate the True Cost of a Handmade Product
Materials are only part of the story. Here's how to find the real cost of a handmade product — including the costs that quietly eat your profit.
5 Signs You've Outgrown Spreadsheets for Inventory
A spreadsheet is the right first tool for inventory. But there's a moment it starts costing you more time than it saves — here are the 5 signs.
KPIs Every Maker Should Track (and Ignore)
You don't need a dashboard of 50 metrics. You need a handful that tell you the truth. Here are the numbers worth watching — and the ones to ignore.
Run your handmade products business like a business
Know your true cost and profit, track every material, and produce by scan. Start free — no credit card. Or try the free pricing calculator first.