The item is built from its blueprint, and every part it needs is built the same way down the chain until only things you buy remain. Those are the shopping list. The total is what you pay for them plus the job fees. The margin (section 6) compares that with what the item sells for.

1. Runs and jobs

runs = ceil(quantity / units per run)
jobs = the runs split into jobs of at most the job limit (Runs per job, or the game's limit), spread over the structure's job slots

A blueprint run makes one or more units, so you can end up with more than you asked for. The cost shown is divided by the quantity you asked for.

2. Materials for one job

ME%             = 1 − (1 − structure role) × (1 − rig × security) × (1 − blueprint ME / 100)
material needed = max(runs, ceil(round(runs × base quantity × (1 − ME%), 2)))   for each material

Quantities are rounded per job, not for the whole batch, so splitting the same runs into different jobs can change the totals slightly. ME and TE you enter apply to the item itself; the parts it is built from use the site defaults.

3. Job installation fee (every step of the chain)

EIV = Σ (base quantity × CCP adjusted price × runs)      materials at ME 0
job fee = floor(EIV × system cost index × (1 − structure role))
        + floor(EIV × (facility tax% + SCC surcharge%) / 100)

The adjusted price is CCP's own, so job fees do not move with the market. Each step of the chain pays its own fee; they are listed under "Variables used".

4. What you buy

price paid = market price × (1 + brokerage% / 100)   when buying via buy orders;  market price when buying from sell orders
materials = Σ (quantity × price paid)   over the shopping list

Brokerage is charged on placing your own buy order, so it is added to every purchased price when the buy basis is Buy orders, and never to job fees, which are paid to the game.

5. Total and cost per unit

total    = materials + job fees [+ invention total]
per unit = total / quantity

With "Invent the blueprint" the invention total is n attempts × the cost of one attempt, where n is the smallest number of attempts that gives a 90% chance of every copy the batch needs. The full working, with all nine decryptor options, is on the Invention Calculator.

6. Sale value and margin

gross sale = quantity × the Jita price on the sell basis chosen on the Pricing card
net sale   = gross × (1 − sales tax%) − gross × brokerage%      (brokerage only when selling via sell orders)
margin     = net sale − total
margin %   = margin / net sale
sales tax% = 7.5 × (1 − 0.11 × Accounting)         brokerage% = 3 − 0.3 × Broker Relations − 0.03 × faction standing − 0.02 × corp standing

The fee skills and standings are the site defaults set on the Pricing card, since a website visitor has no linked character.

Worked example

Calculate an item above to see its winning option worked through step by step.

Every point on the chart is one snapshot the site took of the item's build cost. The page only reads those stored figures and does the arithmetic below on the ones in the chosen range.

1. What a point is

cost = materials + job installation fees
       for one unit, built from one blueprint run, with the site's settings of that day

It is the same figure as /ett build basic and /ett build history. It does not include the blueprint's own price, haulage, or brokerage on buying (the Build Cost Calculator adds brokerage when materials are bought from buy orders).

2. Change over the range

change   = latest − first in the range
change % = change / first in the range × 100

No percentage is shown when the first figure is zero.

3. The range

range = every snapshot from (latest snapshot − N days) up to the latest snapshot

The range ends at the latest snapshot the site has for the item, not at today's date.

4. The chart

horizontal: true time, so a gap between snapshots shows as a gap
vertical:   from the lowest to the highest cost in the range, rounded outwards to clean numbers

The vertical axis does not start at zero, so small changes look larger than they are. The table lists the exact figures.

Worked example

Calculate an item above to see its winning option worked through step by step.