A while ago there was a post about how much to charge for embroidering items. I just found an article that discusses this topic. I will try to do an executive summary and I will put the link at the bottom. This article is about children’s clothing., it is in a magazine called Stitches(not the Australian – I don’t think). The first thing of note was the commercial companies use a product called Soft Touch as a backing to keep from irritating the skin. they use polyester thread because it is flame retardant, rayon will burn. Polyester thread will melt at high temperatures but not catch fire. There is info on hooping with a smaller hoop. The next item to note is not to put first or last names on toddler or small children’s clothing. They really push for initials if someone really wants it personalized. They do put names on infant and baby items.
They are using blanks for embroidery, not making the clothes. They kept the designs under 13,000 stitches and their goal was a markup of of four times the wholesale cost of the item. They used a focus group which came up with a markup price of 350% to 600% of the wholesale cost of the blank item. They also came up with what they call their “B” price – which is double the wholesale cost and adding $1.00 per 1,000 stitches to that price. The prices are geared for Wildwood, New Jersey, which is a popular resort town on the ocean with very expensive rentals and homes there.
It is an interesting article and there is more information: http://stitches.com/mag/apparel_pintsize_embroidery/
I must say I was surprised at amount of the markup although this is a commercial shop.
jane
Replies
The markup does seem like a lot, until you think about everything that goes into the price structure. Of course the markup isn't pure profit - they have to pay rent, perhaps salaries of employees, maybe pay off a loan on the equipment they're using. Then they have to pay themselves - including things like health insurance. They must have to produce a lot of articles to make this business profitable.
I was just looking into quilt finishing lately. One of the prices I came across was about $67.00 to finish a king-size quilt! In order to make $100,000 a year you'd have to finish over 1400 quilts! And out of that $100,000 you'd have to pay all your business and living expenses. I don't know how anyone makes any money at this.
Valerie
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