Pricing is where many small sellers lose money without noticing. They copy a competitor's price or guess a round number, then find that after transport, packaging and data there is little left. Knowing how to cost and price an item is a basic skill for any trader, and shop and sales roles in Ghana often list pricing and basic maths as requirements.
Step 1: find the full cost of one item
Start with the cost per item. List everything you spend to get one item into a customer's hands:
- Buying or making the product: the price you pay, or the ingredients and materials.
- Transport to collect stock: trotro, taxi or motorbike fare, divided across the items you carried.
- Packaging: tubs, bags, labels, tape.
- Selling costs: a share of your data bundle and airtime, and any mobile money charges you pay.
- Waste: items that break, spoil or go missing.
If you buy in bulk, divide the total cost by the number of items. If one trip to the market costs 20 cedis and you bring back 40 items, that trip adds 50 pesewas to each one.
Step 2: add your profit
Your price must cover the cost and leave profit, the money that pays you and helps the business grow. One simple method is to decide how much profit you want on each item and add it to the cost. Another is to add a percentage of the cost, such as a third or a half, depending on the product.