# Subcontracting embroidery: how to estimate stitchcount to give my customers a price?



## blockgear (May 24, 2008)

So I am looking to open my store front next month. I currently offer screen print, sublimation, transfers, but I have customers looking for embroidery. I have to find a subcontractor in southern cali. But here is my issue. I have no idea how to estimate embroidery. 

If a customer comes and request an estimate how do I know what to estimate and be realistic. Some customers may just say ok here is what I want and pay. I then may go to the embroider and say here you go this is the work and he says this is 6,000 stitches not 3,000. 

Plus how much is contract embroidery? I know I should charge like $1.00 per 1000 stitches, but how do I know how many stitches are in a design. Is it estimated by inch, sq. in., colors?


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Estimating stitch count is no easy feat. I've been embroidering for years and I still can underestimate by half sometimes!

It's more based on design than size. Depending on how it is digitized, identical designs could be 2500 stitches or 5000.

Best to not throw out prices without first having your digitizer look at it. There are flat rate digitizers out there. So if you do want to offer instant prices, you may want to stick with one of those.


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## ChameleonPrints (Apr 7, 2007)

Find an embroiderer who is used to doing contract work and knows the situation you will be in. Some contract embroiderers will give you a standard price based on size of the artwork so you will be able to add your markup plus price of digitizing and give the customer a standard price. 

Before I entered into embroidery myself, I used a contractor that would charge a flat fee for pocket logos up to 4in x 4in and another flat fee for caps. Jacket backs and things that large would still need to be estimated by the embroiderer, but pockets and logos took care of the majority of what was requested of me. 

If you find the right embroiderer who truly does contract work, then it won't be difficult to give customers in your shop a good estimate without you having to try and figure out stitch count.


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