# Trying to come up with pricing sheet



## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

Okay, so I am wanting to purchase an embroidery machine in the very near future to add to my screen printing business.

I am trying to decide on how I want to price my embroidery. I want to make money at doing embroidery, but it will not be my only source of income. My main focus is screen printing. 

However, I want to be very competitive in my area, and here is what my main competitor is charging just for stitching.

Digitizing charge: $5.00/1,000 stitches
Embroidery application charges/item: $.40/1,000 stitches
Individual names or initials: $6.00

The $.40/1,000 stitches comes when you order like 12 items I think. It cost more per stitch the fewer items you order. Are these reasonable and doable charges?

So I was wondering where you have price breaks and how much you charge for the apparel item that you stitch on.

Like, do you add $3 to your cost of a wholesale item or do you add a certain % to the cost of the item?

When I price my screen printing apparel, I have a set number that I increase the item that I purchase.

Any input is welcome


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## hawaiianphatboy (Apr 28, 2008)

I am in almost the exact same boat as you except I had just purchased and starting to learn my embroidery machine (Brother PR1000). I to am interested in how I should be pricing these items. Looking forward to any input. Aloha


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## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

Anyone have any input? 
Any info or input is welcome!


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## AndTees (Jul 6, 2009)

We do margin based pricing, which means you calculate/estimate your costs as near as you can, then mark up your price to yield something greater than 35%. The type of business you do makes a lot of difference; short runs with lots of different designs versus fewer designs for instance. 

We never charge for digitizing. That implies a purchase by the customer, and therefore rights to it.

$5-$6 for a normal name is an average price.

If you embroider on customer's garments, have them sign a disclaimer that you can't replace what gets ruined in production... it's theirs no matter what happens to it.

The more heads you have, the less you have to factor in labor as a cost.

Most shops charge embroidery per 1,000 stitches. What you are really charging for is time, so measure a reasonable/doable production rate per hour, add burdened labor, equipment, supplies and digitizing... reduce that to a price per thousand.

You should be selling garments and making some mark-up off those too.

Hope a few rambling thoughts are helpful.


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## Riph (Jan 11, 2011)

Caveat: I am new at this too. But I have sold a few jobs and learned a few things about pricing.

I echo the comment about customer owned garments. I have already ruined a few shirts and caps... luckily they were mine. If it had been someone's $100 jacket... well, needless to say, I try not to take jobs where the customer is providing the garment.

$0.40/1000 stitches seems a bit low, based on several other of these discussions I have read. It seemed like $1.00 was more the norm, some lower and some higher. I base my prices on something like $1.50 per 1000, but I have a volume discount schedule. I am small, I doubt that it would be worth it to me to charge much less than $1 per thousand. I prefer not compete on price if at all possible. Luckily, my competition wants to make money too, and none of us are massive shops with 15 head machines.

Some will say that "per stitch" pricing is the wrong way to go, and in some ways I agree. I try to price according to the market. For example, a retailer I have sold to say that they can sell a hat for $22-23 and that they need 100% markup. So, my price is $11.00 for an embroidered hat. Obviously, if the hat gets too complex I can't make money, so I have to manage that. 

For other customers, I am developing a flat rate pricing scheme, but it only works when the quantities are over about 20 units. Under that, and the fixed costs (digitizing, shipping, etc) represent too large of a component of the cost, and the model doesn't work that well. Above 20 units, and it seems to work fairly well.

For digitizing, I charge $20.00 for text only jobs, which I do myself. For graphics/logos, I ask for $50.00. If they are easy, I do them myself as well. I am willing to send them out if I have to, but so far I have not needed to. I have one I am working on now, that if I had to actually charge for my time on it, it would be a total loser. But, I am willing to eat a few like that because I'm new at this and it's all part of the learning curve.

Random thoughts, I hope they help.


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## ClassicEmb (Feb 25, 2011)

WOW.... 13 years in business and we have been very competitive on our pricing base. But have never sold anything lower than .60/1000

Our pricing as follows

1-11pc--- 1.25/1000
12-49pc---.90/1000
50-99pc---.75/1000
100+-----.60/1000

We have figured our 'concrete' costs @ .38/1000. This does not include incidentals that may happen.

Hope this helps.


Edited to add......

We embroidery 90 % OUR own garments. Obviously make profit (approx 60% margin) on these as well.

If a client brings in any piece to get embroidered.... an additional 5.00/item Customer provided goods charge... NO EXCEPTIONS!


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## selzler (Apr 4, 2007)

Here is what I charge retail in our store.
5k $9.00
8k $10.00
11k $12.00
13k $13.00
16k $14.00
18k $16.00
21k $18.00
23k $20.00
26k $23.00
28k $25.00
32k $27.00
37k $29.00
42k $32.00
47k $35.00
50k plus $.75 per 1000 added to the above price
Names on chest $6.50
second line on chest $3.00

one line on back $15 second line $7.50

Caps add 15%

12 qty 10% off
24 qty 15% off
48 qty 20% off
144 qty 30% off

setup is min $35 for 10k stitches and $3 per 1000 after that.


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## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

ClassicEmb

That was why I was asking about increasing the cost of apparel. Maybe that is how they make money.

Thanks for the great feedback. Keep it coming!


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

Chance, you will not be able (in my Opinion) to charge those prices (.60/K) using only one head. Think about it for a second and calculate how many garments you could do per hour at about 650 stitches per minute. Calculate what you need to make per hour, now shove those numbers together and you'll see a conflict. You might be able to make that number work on a 6 head machine(or larger) but only be keeping it scheduled humming all day every day with a dedicated operator. If you are operating this yourself you need to do the margin based on your time and costs. A one head operation generally will need to bill out in the dollars per K not dimes. If you make this a part of your markup on the garments that's good, but if you compete against a guy that has more heads, and can do the multiples per run, and you try to compete on a percieved "quantity cost" It cannot sustain itself.

Pat's prices are pretty close to real world and if you factor in markup in the garment... well you see where on longer run(stitchier design) you have more opportunity to multi task.


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## selzler (Apr 4, 2007)

Hey I gave you what we are charging right now we have been talking about uping the price do to every thing else is going up freight for thread and stab is begining to add to the cost. Most of my embroidery business is the customer bring in the items to be embroidered or printed. This is not all bad it really can keep the inventory down so the space needed is less (means rent is less) right now my store front is 1800 sq ft looking at moving to a larger mall and doing a koisk of around 200 sq ft rent for that is going to be around 2k a month but no heat no air bills. That means my rent would be $66.67 per day and 12 hr per day is $5.56 per hour and $.10 per min. electric bill about $125 a month about $.01 per min. I pay emplyee $12 per hr. thats $.20 per min add this up thats $.31 per min so to pay tax matches I can't go less then $.75 per min. Thats why I looking at uping the price. to no less then $1 per thousand stitches and a min of $7.50 for chest names this is so I have money to replace the equipment down the road. I can always order items for the customers that want somthing special.


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

selzler said:


> Most of my embroidery business is the customer bring in the items to be embroidered or printed....... .


If you do this, you need to price for the risk. If you ruin a garment that you bought wholesale and you replace it, you break even. If you ruin a customers garment you will be doing multiples for free to make up the cost.


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## selzler (Apr 4, 2007)

zoom_monster said:


> If you do this, you need to price for the risk. If you ruin a garment that you bought wholesale and you replace it, you break even. If you ruin a customers garment you will be doing multiples for free to make up the cost.


right now we embroider about 90% customer owned items. And thats the reason to increace the price of the embroidery


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