$50,000 to Make Ceramics? Here's Where Every Dollar Went
If you want to track your own expenses, whether for taxes, pricing your work, or just understanding where your money actually goes, I made a free checklist covering every category a ceramics or handmade art business should be tracking. It's the kind of thing I wish I'd had when I started.
Download Free PDF
Download Free PDF Checklist ↓
Maria Loram in her studio. Credits: Agathus Studios
Tax season has a way of making you sit down and actually look at the numbers. This year I did something everyone is avoiding — I went through every single expense from my ceramics business in 2025, category by category, receipt by receipt. The total came out to $43,388. And that's before rent, utilities, health insurance, and car expenses.
So yes. Running a ceramics business costs more than clay.
I shared the full breakdown in a YouTube video (timestamps included if you want to skip to a specific category), but here's the condensed version — with real numbers — for anyone building or pricing their own ceramic art business.
The Main Categories
West Edge Design Fair
Materials & Supplies — $6,632 Clay, glazes, hardware, packaging, lamp parts — all the physical stuff that goes into making the work. Honestly lower than I expected, which probably just means I didn't make enough this year.
Design Fairs & Booth Fees — $9,700 This was the biggest surprise. I participated in West Edge Design Fair and had a deposit down for ICFF in New York (which I ended up postponing — more on that in the video). Booth rental, insurance, wall prep, food during the fair — it adds up fast. I didn't land a single order that directly covered these costs, but I gave out 200 business cards and a lot of catalogs, so I'm counting it as a long game.
Platform Fees — $6,294 Squarespace payment processing, First Dibs subscription and commissions, Etsy fees. If you sell online, platforms take their cut — and it's more than you think.
Help & Assistance — $3,645 My first year hiring people — a virtual assistant, a studio assistant during my pregnancy, and a Pinterest/Etsy manager. Best decision I've made. You don't have to do everything yourself.
Education & Development — $2,690 A business retreat in Portugal, online courses, books, Patreon support for other artists. The retreat alone was transformative.
Equipment & Inventory — $2,534 New laptop (long overdue — my 2014 MacBook finally gave up), camera gear, shelves, studio accessories.
Subscriptions & Web — $2,333 Squarespace, Descript for video editing, ChatGPT, Canva, Adobe, Zoom, Tilda. Somehow, I'm spending $200/month on software as a ceramics person. Apparently, that's just the deal now.
Business Travel & Workshops — $5,208
Residency in Lisbon, workshops in Lebanon, Bali, and Mexico. This is my favorite category because I actually love spending this money. When you travel to teach or create, the work and the experience become the same thing.
Everything Else — $4,279 Shipping, ads, business cards, catalogs, business license, admin fees, sales tax filing. The unglamorous stuff that still needs to happen.
What I Didn't Include
Rent and utilities (I have a home studio and home office, so a percentage of both is deductible), health insurance, and car expenses. Add those in and you're looking at closer to $50,000 for the full picture.
Running a ceramics business is not just buying clay. But it is, genuinely, the most fulfilling thing I've ever done — and knowing the real numbers helps me make better decisions, charge what I'm worth, and keep building something sustainable.
If you have questions about any of these categories or want to share your own numbers, I'd love to hear from you.
🎥 Watch the full expense breakdown on YouTube →
About the Author
Hi, I’m Maria — a ceramic artist based in the US. I make sculptural lighting and hand-built vessels, and I share my studio process online.
I teach ceramics internationally and online. → loramceramics.com
This checklist is part of a growing library of free guides for ceramic artists and makers.
