How this is calculated
Everything you must cover — fixed costs, your fee, the profit you want — is spread across the guests you actually expect. Then the per-guest costs are added, and the whole thing is grossed up so the payment processor's cut does not come out of your margin.
Why expected headcount, not capacity
Pricing at full capacity is the most expensive optimism in this business. Spread 7,590 of fixed costs across 14 guests and each one carries 542. Spread the same costs across the 9 who actually book and each carries 843 — a 300 difference per head that has to come from somewhere. If it does not come from the price, it comes from you.
The table above makes the trade explicit: the more optimistic your assumed headcount, the lower the price you can advertise, and the more guests you need before the retreat stops losing money. Both are real. Choose deliberately rather than by default.
Why your fee is separate from profit
They are different things and conflating them hides the problem. Your fee is what the work is worth — you would pay someone else to do it. The profit on top is compensation for carrying the risk: the deposit you paid before anyone booked, the months of planning that produce nothing if it does not sell. A retreat that returns your fee and no profit paid you for the week but nothing for the risk.
Checking the answer against the market
Only once the price is calculated is it worth looking at comparable retreats. If your number lands far above the market, the answer is not to discount into a loss — it is that your cost structure needs to change. A cheaper venue, a smaller group, or a co-teacher on profit share moves the price down honestly.
The full sequence, with the phases either side of this decision, is in the retreat planning guide.
Check it survives a smaller house
Once you have a price, the break-even calculator tells you how many guests it needs before it stops losing money.
Break-even calculator