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The Daily Insight

What are variable cost examples?

Author

Andrew Mclaughlin

Published Mar 18, 2026

Common examples of variable costs include costs of goods sold (COGS), raw materials and inputs to production, packaging, wages and commissions, and certain utilities (for example, electricity or gas that increases with production capacity).

Is raw materials a variable cost?

Variable costs may include labor, commissions, and raw materials. Fixed costs remain the same regardless of production output.

Is rent of premises a variable cost?

Variable costs associated with the production of goods or services include the cost of raw materials, labour costs, staff welfare costs, and other operating office expenses. Fixed costs include rent for the factory or other building in occupation, insurance for machinery or building, and security costs.

What are three examples of variable costs?

What are Examples of Variable Costs?

  • Direct materials. The most purely variable cost of all, these are the raw materials that go into a product.
  • Piece rate labor.
  • Production supplies.
  • Billable staff wages.
  • Commissions.
  • Credit card fees.
  • Freight out.

What are examples of fixed cost?

Examples of fixed costs include rental lease payments, salaries, insurance, property taxes, interest expenses, depreciation, and potentially some utilities.

Why raw materials is a variable cost?

Thus, the materials used as the components in a product are considered variable costs, because they vary directly with the number of units of product manufactured. The most purely variable cost of all, these are the raw materials that go into a product. Piece rate labor.

Is executive salaries a fixed or variable cost?

Other examples of fixed costs include executives’ salaries, interest expenses, depreciation, and insurance expenses. Examples of variable costs include direct labor and direct materials costs.

What are the types of fixed cost?

Here are several examples of fixed costs:

  • Amortization. This is the gradual charging to expense of the cost of an intangible asset (such as a purchased patent) over the useful life of the asset.
  • Depreciation.
  • Insurance.
  • Interest expense.
  • Property taxes.
  • Rent.
  • Salaries.
  • Utilities.

How do you separate mixed costs?

There are three methods for separating a mixed cost into its fixed and variable components:

  1. High-low method.
  2. Scatter-graph method.
  3. Method of least squares.