Open tool, no account
What a supplement really costs to make.
PriceLeaf costs a nutraceutical formula the way it is actually manufactured: assay and overage on every ingredient, lot minimums you are forced to buy, blend you lose to the equipment, and setup and testing spread across the run.
One engine, five points of view. The same bottle is a cash decision to a founder, a quote to a manufacturer, a margin to a distributor, an order to a dropshipper, and a markup to whoever buys it.
Worked example
Daily Mineral Complex
4 ingredients, 3 capsules per serving, 30 servings, run of 5,000
$3.41
per bottle
Two hundred milligrams of elemental magnesium from a 14 percent bisglycinate is about 1.4 grams of powder. That is why this formula is three capsules, not one, and it is the kind of thing a spreadsheet quote misses.
Open this exampleFive ways to read the same bottle
Every lens reads one shared cost model, so the numbers can never quietly disagree with each other. Pick the one that matches the decision you are making.
First-time founders and at-home formulators
I have an idea
Can I afford to make this, and what do I get back?
The full cash number, including the things that are not on a manufacturing quote: artwork, a barcode, insurance, registration. Then how many bottles have to sell before you are square.
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Contract manufacturers and private-label plants
I make things
What do I quote this job at, and where is my floor?
Direct cost with overhead loaded on, a price at your target margin, a tier sheet at every batch size, and the price below which the job stops paying for itself.
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Distributors, wholesalers and retail buyers
I move product
What is my landed cost, and what is left after the channel takes its cut?
Buy price plus duty, freight and handling, then the whole ladder from cost to make up to shelf price, with the margin each step takes.
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Dropshippers and marketplace sellers
I sell without stock
What does one order actually leave me, once everyone is paid?
Per-order economics: goods, pick and pack, freight, platform fee, payment fee and refunds. Then the highest you can pay for a customer and the return on ad spend you need to break even.
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Anyone standing in front of a shelf
I buy supplements
What is in this bottle, and what did it cost to make?
A teardown of a shelf price: what the materials cost, what the bottle and label cost, how much of your money reaches the active ingredients, and what a serving really costs.
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The four costs that decide whether a small run works
Assay and overage
A label claim is not a weight. Chelates, extracts and beadlets are mostly carrier, and fragile actives are dosed above claim so they still meet it at expiry.
Lot minimums
If a run needs 3 kg of something sold in 25 kg lots, you paid for 25 kg. On a first order that leftover is often larger than the material you actually used.
Yield loss
Blend that ends up in the equipment rather than in a bottle. A few percent, every run, on every ingredient including the expensive one.
Setup and testing
Charged once per batch. At 500 bottles they can be most of your unit cost. At 50,000 they round to nothing. This is the single biggest lever you have.