Perfume & attar makers
Perfume cost calculator: cost per bottle for EDP, EDT and attar
In perfumery, packaging often costs more than the juice. A ₹90 bottle with a ₹35 cap and a ₹60 rigid box can outweigh the concentrate in a 50 ml EDT — which is exactly why guessing is expensive.
What goes into the cost
- Fragrance concentrate. The single most variable line. Price per gram and cost at your actual percentage.
- Carrier. Perfumer's alcohol (density ~0.79 g/ml) for sprays, or a jojoba/DPG base for roll-on attars.
- Fixatives and modifiers. DPG, IPM, small doses of fixative — cheap individually, meaningful across a year.
- Bottle and closure. Glass, crimp or screw pump, collar and cap, usually priced separately.
- Secondary packaging. Rigid box, insert, shrink, batch sticker.
- Maceration and filtration loss. Chill-filtering and transfer losses of 2–4% are normal.
- Labour and overhead. Blending, resting, filtering, filling, crimping, labelling.
Worked example: 60 bottles of 50 ml EDP at 18% concentration
| Line | Quantity | Rate | Batch cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fragrance concentrate @ 18% | 540 g | ₹9.80 / g | ₹5,292 |
| Perfumer's alcohol | 2,370 ml | ₹0.62 / ml | ₹1,469 |
| Bottle 50 ml + pump + cap | 60 sets | ₹126.00 / set | ₹7,560 |
| Rigid box + insert | 60 sets | ₹58.00 / set | ₹3,480 |
| Labour (6 hrs @ ₹300) | 1 batch | — | ₹1,800 |
| Overhead (filtration, wastage) | 1 batch | — | ₹450 |
| Total batch cost | 58 sellable bottles | ₹20,051 | |
₹345.71 per bottle after two bottles lost to fill and crimp failures. At a 60% margin the MRP is ₹864; at 45% wholesale-safe it is ₹629.
Where makers lose money
- Costing alcohol by volume but concentrate by weight without converting — density matters at 0.79 g/ml.
- Ignoring the pump and cap because the supplier quoted 'bottle' as one line.
- Forgetting maceration and filtration losses.
- Pricing a 100 ml as exactly double a 50 ml — packaging does not scale linearly.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the cost of a perfume bottle?
Cost the concentrate at your actual percentage by weight, add carrier, bottle, pump, cap and box, then labour and losses, and divide by bottles filled. CraftCost keeps the percentages so a concentrate price change reprices every fragrance instantly.
Open the calculatorWhat concentration should I cost at?
Roughly: EDC 2–5%, EDT 5–12%, EDP 12–20%, extrait 20–30%, attar 20–100% in oil. Cost at your real dose, not the category label.
How do I convert perfumer's alcohol from ml to grams?
Perfumer's alcohol is about 0.79 g/ml, so 1,000 ml is roughly 790 g. Use the converter so concentrate percentage and carrier volume are on the same basis.
Weight ↔ volume converterWhy is my packaging more expensive than my fragrance?
That is normal below 20 ml and for gift-boxed lines. Model bottle and box as separate variants to see which size actually carries a healthy margin.
Open the calculatorShould attars be costed differently from sprays?
Yes. Attars skip alcohol and use a carrier oil, have far higher concentrate percentages, and use small roll-on bottles — a different recipe entirely, so keep them as their own product.
How do I price sample vials?
Cost them as a variant with a 2 ml fill and their own vial and label. Samples usually run at low or negative margin; you want to see exactly how negative.
What margin do perfume brands keep?
Indie brands commonly target 60–70% direct to customer because retail and marketplace fees eat 25–40%. Use the 30/40/50/60% MRP table to sanity-check before you list.
Ready to cost your next batch?
Save the recipe once and every future price change updates your cost per unit and MRP automatically.
Costing guides for other crafts
Work out the true cost of a soy or paraffin candle: wax, fragrance load, wick, vessel, label and labour — with a worked 40-unit batch and GST-aware suggested MRP.
Cost a batch of handmade soap accurately: base or oils, lye, fragrance, colour, cure weight loss, cutting waste and packaging — with GST-aware MRP suggestions.
Cost agarbatti, dhoop and cones accurately: bamboo sticks, base powder, binder (jigat), fragrance dip, drying loss and box packaging — with per-box pricing and MRP.
Cost wax melts and snap bars accurately: wax, fragrance load, clamshell or mould, label and labour — with per-clamshell and per-cavity pricing and suggested MRP.
Cost car fresheners accurately: felt or clay blank, fragrance soak, cord, printed card, poly bag and heat seal — with per-unit costing and GST-aware MRP.