Researched profile. The figures here are modelled by us from public information, published with the sources they were drawn from. How we research.
Read Sep 2026. Figures here are a reading taken then, not a live feed.
Of a $26.76 average sale, close to three fifths is left once Amazon’s two fees, the cost to make it, a tariff and advertising are paid — on a cost to make two Alibaba factories quoted for openers they already make, and a tariff that assumes it is made in China.
There is one product to cost, because the Lift is every measured sale in September: seven colours of one tool from one factory. Amazon’s fees and the advertising are read or modelled for the Lift itself. The cost to make is not. It is what two factories in China quoted through Alibaba in October 2026 — but for an opener each already makes, not for the Lift’s own design, so it prices a copy of the tool rather than the Lift itself. A copy also needs its own moulds, about $9,000 by one factory’s estimate; that is a one-time payment made before the first order, counted in Test it first, not in the per-unit margin. The founders gave a figure too, on Shark Tank in February 2021: “$4.13 to make it. It’s 100% American made” — for the Draft Top 3.0, the design the Lift replaced, and three times the quotes. The tariff is an assumption: they say it is made in America, but this page assumes China, as one of their own listing titles does.
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| Supplier | Track record | Buyer rating | Sold on Alibaba | MOQ | Unit price | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yangjiang Keyhome Hardware Factory | — | — | — | 1,000 pieces (lowest tier) | $1.66–1.96 | — |
| Huizhou Yongli Industrial Co., Ltd | — | — | — | 5,000 pieces (lowest tier) | $0.86–0.99 | 15 working days |
| Average — the cost to make used below | $1.37 |
Two factories in China quoted, and neither priced the Lift’s own design: each quoted a can opener it already makes. Keyhome, boxed, EXW: $1.96 at 1,000, $1.84 at 10,000 and $1.66 at 50,000. Yongli, a 45 g two-in-1 rotary opener in a plain white box — lighter than the 80–90 g a custom design was specified at — FOB Shenzhen: $0.99 at 5,000, $0.95 at 10,000, $0.90 at 30,000 and $0.86 at 50,000. Each at its largest tier below the brand’s yearly sales of about 47,000 — $1.84 and $0.90 — and averaged; the two are twice apart. Tooling, not in the unit price: for a custom design Yongli estimated three to four mould sets at $3,000–5,000 each — $9,000 to $20,000 — refundable on terms still to be agreed, and said the reference design appears to be patented; Keyhome has not priced tooling. The moulds are a one-time payment of about $9,000, the low end, made before the first order: Test it first counts them, the per-unit margin does not. Yongli’s samples are $5 and take 3 days. Three more factories did not reply. Track record, buyer ratings and sales on Alibaba were not read. Requested through Alibaba’s sourcing agent (Accio) and checked against its screenshots of the replies.
| Line | Said on Shark Tank (Feb 2021) | Used here | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to make, per unit | “$4.13 to make it” | Not used: the factory quotes above are | Self-reported, for the Draft Top 3.0 — the design before the Lift — and five years old. Make cost only; freight not stated. Three times the quotes |
| Where it is made | “100% American made” | Not used: a 20% China tariff is assumed | What they say, and drafttop.com says “Built in USA” today; but the Ghost White listing’s title reads “Made In china”, and nothing read settles it. This page assumes China |
| Price then | $24.99 | $26.76, September’s average sale | At the price they gave, $4.13 was 16.5% of a sale |
| Net margin | “50% net margin” | Not used | A margin for the whole company, Kickstarter and their own store included, not a cost |
The founders’ words, from the Season 12 episode as a reaction video replays it; the original ABC clip was not found. Their $4.13 was this page’s cost to make until the factory quotes above came back.
| Input | Figure | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Carton | 16.4 × 8.8 × 2.7 cm, 0.09 kg | Keepa’s package for B0FS8PXTX3, the black Lift; the other colours pack within a few millimetres of it |
| Volume | 0.00039 cbm | The carton, in cubic metres |
| Rate | $497 / cbm | Less-than-container-load, China → US West Coast, door to door |
| Shipping, per unit | $0.19 | 0.00039 cbm × $497 |
The rate is the low end of Freightos’ door-to-door band, customs clearance and delivery included and duty excluded. The lane follows the China origin this page assumes. If the Lift is made in the USA, as Draft Top says, its inbound is a truck, not a ship, and at 19 cents the difference cannot move the margin.
| Line | Per unit | From |
|---|---|---|
| Production | $1.37 | Two Alibaba suppliers’ quotes, averaged — COGS table above |
| Tariff | $0.27 | 20% of the cost to make, assuming China origin — the tariff line below |
| Shipping | $0.19 | The hero’s carton at $497/cbm — shipping table above |
| Landed cost | $1.83 | What one opener costs to reach Amazon’s door, before it sells |
The first three cost lines of the breakdown below, added up: $1.83 is 6.9% of the $26.76 average sale ($1.8375 unrounded). It covers making the tool and bringing it in, not Amazon’s fees, which are their own lines. The moulds are not in it: about $9,000, paid once before the first order. “Test it first” prices its first order on this same figure and adds the moulds once, up front.
Amazon takes far more of a sale than making it does: the referral fee and the pick-and-pack fee together are nearly six times the cost to make. That is the shape of a $27 tool in a Large Standard box. The founders also told the Sharks they ran a 50% net margin — a figure for the whole company in 2021, mostly direct and Kickstarter sales, which this page does not use; the lines above leave more than that, on a cost to make about a third of the $4.13 they gave.
The one line that could move this margin is the cost to make. It rests on two factories’ prices for openers they already make, twice apart; at the founders’ own $4.13 the margin would be 46.3%. Every dollar it is off moves the margin by about four and a half points, its tariff included. The moulds, about $9,000 once, are not in it: they are paid before the first order and counted in Test it first.