help with prices

[Shelley]

I am really new at this. I am starting to get requests to do projects for other people. So far I haven't charged because I don't have a clue how much to charge. For instance what is an acceptable price to charge for putting names on bath towels? Do most people charge by the stitch or by the project? Can anyone give me some advice?

[la_cole]

I think you will find as many suggestions as there are people here, Shelley. Many commercial embroidery houses charge $1.00/1,000 stitches for customized work. I would think that $5.00 to $7.50 would not be unreasonable for a simple name drop. You do need to take into consideration the cost of your time, thread, and other supplies. If your customers asking that you digitize a special font, increase the cost to cover the expense of software and computer use. Are customers supplying the goods or will you be making the purchase. If you purchase the blanks, don't forget to the mark-up on the goods.

Call various places in your area to see what they would charge. You don't have to tell them that you are doing research.

Hope this helps give you a start on a booming business, Shelley. Good luck!

[ginny1960]

Shelley,

Please do be careful alot of people try to get it for almost nothing and when it comes to future orders they will expect the same low price. Our time supplies and wear and tear on the machine, just to name a few things.

[Cutiepie]

I think that La Cole has given some very sound advice. Follow that and you won't be sorry. Good luck with your new business, and I hope you never lack for customers!

[tndenim]

Shelley - I know around here - they charge $10 for a monogram on things. IT is a good idea to check out what others are charging. A good place to start is to talk to the place where you got your machine - most of those folks will offer some good advice .

Check out craft shows - flea markets - those kind of places too.

[gartner]

Some embroiderers charge a one time hooping fee that would cover the cost of thread and stabilizer and the time for hooping.
They also charge so much for the embroidery.

If the thread is metallic they will charge more!

Check around at some of the professional embroidery places.

Don't ask your machine dealer incase using your machine for commercial purposes voids your warrantee on the machine.

You could check with some of the digitizers that have their own websites and do commercial embroidery also.

Denise in Calgary

[ScreenBags]

I am really new at this. I am starting to get requests to do projects for other people. So far I haven't charged because I don't have a clue how much to charge. For instance what is an acceptable price to charge for putting names on bath towels? Do most people charge by the stitch or by the project? Can anyone give me some advice?

You've rec'd some great advice. One question I have is: what's your objective? Do you just want to recover your costs or are you interested in building a business?

If you're just doing a few things for friends and family, then you may just want to cover your own expenses. If you're starting a business, then you'll want to start by finding out what others in your area are charging.

Susan

P.S. The Reply about embroidering on items supplied by customers vs. items supplied by you is critical. Embroidery machines will "eat" an item once in a while. When that happens, sometimes you can salvage it; sometimes you can't.

If you've supplied the item, then you can get another one off your shelf (which means you're carrying lots of inventory and the associated costs of hats, shirts, towels, etc.). The upside is you can make money on that inventory; especially if you have rapid turnover. The other upside is no one knows when you or the machine have had a "hiccup".

If the customer supplied the item, well, all I can recommend to someone who's 'really new at this' is to minimize how many one-of-a-kind items you accept from customers. Many professional shops have customers sign a waiver saying they (the shop) are not responsible for machine-related damages to customer-supplied items.

[motoandnutty]

I have great difficulty with the $1.00 per 1000sts. charge. At that rate the last set of tee shirts I did (the hen night eighteen) would have been aprox $907.00 (that does not include the cost of the tees as my son bought them). (Lucky for them - the embroidery was my gift to them!) but I could not in all conscience see myself charging that sort of money for this sort of job.
For this reason (and the fact that my nerves would not stand up to much of the sort of pressure - albeit self imposed - I feel when embroidering on someone else's goods) I would steer well clear of that type of work.
My joy is in making one-of-a-kind items where how they turn out is entirely up to me. That way I can charge what the item feels worth to me - and if someone buys it - it is because it was also worth that to them.

[ScreenBags]

I have great difficulty with the $1.00 per 1000sts. charge. At that rate the last set of tee shirts I did (the hen night eighteen) would have been aprox $907.00 (that does not include the cost of the tees as my son bought them). (Lucky for them - the embroidery was my gift to them!) but I could not in all conscience see myself charging that sort of money for this sort of job.
For this reason (and the fact that my nerves would not stand up to much of the sort of pressure - albeit self imposed - I feel when embroidering on someone else's goods) I would steer well clear of that type of work.
My joy is in making one-of-a-kind items where how they turn out is entirely up to me. That way I can charge what the item feels worth to me - and if someone buys it - it is because it was also worth that to them.

Wow! I am impressed! 907,000 stitches! My biggest machine will not accept an individual design with that many stitches. I have to separate it into part A and part B because the largest design it can stitch is 500,000 stitches.

I sure do hope they appreciate that set of tee shirts. How many did you stitch? And how long did it take?

They really are "priceless"!

Susan

[motoandnutty]

Wow! I am impressed! 907,000 stitches! My biggest machine will not accept an individual design with that many stitches. I have to separate it into part A and part B because the largest design it can stitch is 500,000 stitches.
I sure do hope they appreciate that set of tee shirts. How many did you stitch? And how long did it take?
They really are "priceless"!
Susan

LOL - that was the total stitches for the eighteen tee shirts (it may have been a few more stitches as some initials took more than others)! (I posted pictures in the thread titled 'Hen Night Tee Shirts' in 'Your Projects'.)
I have no idea what the capacity of my machine is, as I haven't had a problem with any of the designs I've asked of it so far - I will have to see if it says anything in the user guide (if I can find it LOL) It is a Brother PR600II six needle machine.
Each shirt took something over an hour to stitch, but I spread it over a week to make it easier on my nerves.