How to Price Embroidery Work, Part 2

Always a tricky subject, determining the right price for materials and labor is crucial when customers are shrinking budgets.
Feb 2, 2009

By Steven Batts, Contributing Writer

Last issue we looked at the numbers side of setting your price. Now let’s examine some of the human issues involved.

Sometimes pricing problems stem from factors that are not just about the numbers. I have taught seminars in which I explained how to calculate price based on your actual expenses and factoring in your time. Seminar participants do their own calculations, and some people have told me they couldn’t possibly charge the price based on their total cost of doing business.

I tell them they can charge whatever price they want to charge, but that I simply recommend getting compensated for the time put into producing the work. This is the key element and one that people tend to marginalize as embroidery continues to become more of a cottage industry. Many people are just scared or embarrassed to ask to be paid what they need to be paid. Some just don’t value their time as they should or underestimate how much time it will take to do a job. They fail to see the value of what they are doing.

Pay Yourself
I know how this goes. I still find myself underestimating how long it will take to do a job or just flat out not charging enough. Even my customers occasionally recognize this and give me “tips.”  As time passed and I wasn’t banking profits, I became bolder and now I ask a fair price and stick to it. I have come to the conclusion that if a customer won’t pay a fair price based on my costs, then it is not worth my time to do the job.

So how do you figure out what you need to be paid? Well, if you had a job before you became a business owner, what did you make there? If you are still employed and work at embroidery part time, what do you get paid at your full time job? Just decide what the reasonable salary is for doing what you do.

The median annual income for an American household is around $40,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. If nothing else, use that for your annual salary basis. That is fair to your customers. If they complain — which they won’t — you can just let them know you just make an average salary.

Refer to the checklist below and you’ll find it’s easy to calculate a fair price based on your costs. The hard part is sticking with it.



I personally wouldn’t pay $10 to have my name sewn on something. My mind is thinking, “Well, it only takes me a couple of minutes to pop that on the shirt.” You have to snap out of this type of thinking. First of all, it is inaccurate.

In reality, I can’t do anything in less than 15 minutes. By the time I prepare the name, tweak the settings, send it to the machine, frame the shirt, wait for it to sew, un-hoop the shirt, remove the backing, fold it up and deal with the customer for the transaction, I have probably invested more like 30 minutes. Even if I only want to make the “average income” of $40,000 per year — which is $20 per hour based on a 40-hour week — this job works out to about $10 worth of time.

This is why it is good for smaller shops to have minimum charges. When you have many jobs of smaller quantity pieces per job, you have to factor in extra set up time between jobs. It is smart to charge by the placement rather than by the stitch count. This way the set up time can be factored into the price and you don’t get bit by small stitch counts that take less time to sew than they do to set up.

To succeed in this business, or in any business for that matter, you need to charge for your time. Don’t be embarrassed to charge what you are worth. And here’s a hint; if your customers give you tips, you probably aren’t charging enough.

Steven Batts, a 14-year veteran of the embroidery industry, is a regular speaker at the Imprinted Sportswear Shows. He owns Righteous Threads Embroidery, Greensboro, N.C., which offers digitizing, embroidery, machine maintenance and repair, and consulting. Call him at (336) 379-9380 or e-mail righteousthreads@gmail.com.