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Price handmade pieces by counting materials and your hours with AI instead of using a retail markup
Lorna Reichmann, owner of The Nashville Mercantile Store in Nashville, Indiana, a family business she took over, who also makes butterfly shadow boxes, in the Brown County Democrat
In a 10-week local AI class (Project Fish), she used AI to work out a way to calculate the cost of materials and labor for each piece and help her decide on prices. She also used it to build spreadsheets that organize bills, sales information and other business records. The class used ChatGPT and Claude; the story doesn't say which she used.
ChatGPT Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo · Claude $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (the story doesn't say which plan she used)
Easy · or we set it up for $197
ChatGPT, Claude
The problem
She had been pricing her handmade butterfly shadow boxes by adding up materials and applying the same kind of markup she uses for merchandise bought in for the store. That ignored the hours she spends making each piece and the fact that it is handmade.
What happened
She concluded she had been undervaluing her work: "I think I undervalued because I'm just doing it as an item, whereas it's supposed to be art." No new prices or sales figures are given. Self-reported.
Quoted in the source: Lorna Reichmann, owner, The Nashville Mercantile Store, Nashville, Indiana. Source: Brown County Democrat: Working Smarter: Brown County business owners put technology to practical use (Courtney Hughett) (2026-11-10) · Added 2026-11-10.
How to set it up yourself
- For one product you make, list every material with what you paid and how much each piece uses, and time yourself making one.
- Give those numbers to ChatGPT or Claude with the prompt below and ask it to build a pricing sheet that adds materials, your hourly rate, overhead and a profit margin.
- Check the math yourself on one piece, then compare the suggested price with similar handmade work sold locally or online.
- Reuse the same sheet for each new design, and keep a separate simple spreadsheet for bills and sales.
Copy-paste prompt
I make {PRODUCT} by hand and sell it in my shop. Materials per piece: {LIST WITH COSTS}. It takes me about {HOURS} hours to make one. I want to pay myself {HOURLY RATE} an hour, cover {MONTHLY OVERHEAD} of shop overhead across about {NUMBER} pieces a month, and make a {PERCENT}% profit. Build me a simple pricing spreadsheet with the formulas shown, calculate a price for one piece, and show a wholesale price and a retail price. Explain each line in plain English so I can check it.We set up one AI automation in your tools, live within 48 hours of getting access, for $197. No call needed. Founding price for our first 10 customers (regular $297).
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Tools used
ChatGPT
General AI assistant for writing, research, brainstorming and analysis.
From Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (checked 2026-11-09)
Visit site →
Claude
AI assistant for writing, long documents, analysis and coding help.
From $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (checked 2026-11-10)
Visit site →Some tool links may be affiliate links. Disclosure
Checked prices: ChatGPT: from Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (verified 2026-11-09) · Claude: from $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (verified 2026-11-10)
Rather not do it yourself?
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See the $197 Quick-WinNeed more than one automation or ongoing care? Bigger setups: $149/mo with setup included (6-month minimum), or $497 pay-once. Satisfaction guarantee: we'll fix it until it works. Pay-once setups: or we refund your setup fee. $149/mo plan: cancel in the first 30 days and we refund your first month. We reply within 1 business day.
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