Test whether laundry lockers pay for themselves at your business. Every input below is yours to change, and each default is explained underneath. The calculator runs in your browser, needs no sign-up, and sends nothing unless you use the optional form at the end. To price the lockers themselves, use the instant estimate.
Your estimate
- Locker revenue per week
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- Contribution per week
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- Profit per month (after software)
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- Upfront cost
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- Payback
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- 3-year net
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- Orders per door per week
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- Break-even orders per week
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How the calculation works
| Step | Formula |
|---|---|
| Revenue per week | orders × average weight × price per lb |
| Contribution per week | revenue − (orders × weight × processing cost per lb) − (revenue × card fee %) − driver cost |
| Profit per month | contribution × 52 ÷ 12 − software per month |
| Upfront cost | doors × price per door + other upfront cost |
| Payback (months) | upfront cost ÷ profit per month |
| 3-year net | profit per month × 36 − upfront cost |
| Break-even orders | orders per week at which profit per month is zero |
| Orders per door | orders per week ÷ doors |
Capacity check. Each door holds one order on the way in and one on the way back. With an overnight collection and a next-day return, a door can turn several orders a week, but not dozens. If orders per door per week climbs above about 3 to 4, plan more doors, a separate clean-return bank or a second collection run. That threshold is a planning rule of thumb, not a measured figure. It depends on how fast your customers collect.
What the calculator leaves out
Some things vary too much to default honestly: rent or a host fee for an off-site locker, the marketing it takes to fill a new bank, rush and extras revenue, and the customers who start using your counter or delivery service after trying the locker. If a property charges you to host the lockers, add it to the driver cost per week. Weigh-at-drop-off doesn’t change this arithmetic directly. It shows the customer a price range up front and you the load before the run. See weigh-at-drop-off laundry lockers.
Frequently asked questions
How is laundry locker payback calculated?
Weekly revenue is locker orders per week times average order weight times your price per pound. Weekly contribution is that revenue less processing cost per pound times the weight, less card fees as a percentage of revenue, less your weekly driver or route cost. Monthly profit is weekly contribution times 52 divided by 12, less the monthly software fee. Payback in months is the upfront cost of the lockers divided by monthly profit. If monthly profit is zero or negative, the lockers never pay back and the calculator says so.
How many orders a week should I expect from a laundry locker?
Nobody can tell you honestly before the lockers are at your site, because it depends on your neighbourhood, your price and how well you promote them. Start from orders you turn away or lose today, such as customers who come after closing, buildings without in-unit laundry near your store and people who ask for pickup, and test low, middle and high cases. The capacity line shows orders per door per week so you can see whether the bank is too small for the number you entered.
What processing cost per pound should I use?
Use your own: labour minutes per pound, water, energy, detergent and bags, divided by the pounds you processed in the same period. The default of USD 1.05 per pound follows the illustrative build-up in our wash and fold pricing guide, which uses an assumed wage and throughput rather than an industry statistic. Operators who already run wash and fold usually know this number. If you outsource processing to another laundry, put their wholesale price per pound here.
Does this include freight and installation?
Only if you add them. The upfront cost field defaults to the lockers alone at our indicative price. Put your freight, duties, installation and any payment kiosk into the other upfront cost field, or use the firm quote figure once you have one.
Is my data stored or sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser and nothing is sent unless you choose to send the result to our team with the optional form at the bottom of the page.
Optional · talk to an engineer
Want a quote for these numbers?
Send this estimate to the engineers who design and build KioskForce laundry lockers. We reply with a door mix, a drawing and a firm price for your site.
Related: Laundry lockers · Instant estimate · How to price wash and fold · How much do laundromats make?
