Copying the shop down the road is the usual way to set prices, and it has a flaw. You are copying their rent, their wages and their mistakes. On one sewing forum, a member with alteration experience put the trouble in a line: "The biggest problem with this business is underpricing".
This guide has no country price tables, because a figure from another city tells you nothing about your costs. The method works in any currency. All the numbers below are made up to show the sums.
Work out your shop rate
Everything on the list rests on one figure: what an hour of work has to bring in.
- Add up a normal month: rent, power, machine repairs, thread and needles, wages, and a fair wage for yourself.
- Count the hours that can really be charged. An eight-hour day is never eight hours of sewing. Take out serving customers, pressing the next job, chasing thread and cleaning machines.
- Divide the first number by the second.
Example only: monthly costs of 9,000 divided by 300 chargeable hours gives a shop rate of 30 an hour. This is the floor for labour. Profit comes on top of it, so decide how much you want to add and be honest with yourself about it.
Set out the list in three parts
A customer should find their job in seconds. A staff member should be able to quote it without calling you. Three parts usually do it.
Stitching, by garment
Give one starting price per garment: shirt, trousers, jacket, suit, kandura, abaya, sherwani, bridal gown. State what it includes, such as one fitting and a plain finish. "From" is an honest word here, as long as the add-ons are written down.
Alterations, by job
Time each common job a few times, then price it at your shop rate. Round to figures that are easy to say out loud.
| Job (example) | Minutes | At 30 an hour | List price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trouser hem | 30 | 15.00 | 15 |
| Shorten shirt sleeves | 45 | 22.50 | 25 |
| Replace a zip, zip charged on top | 60 | 30.00 | 30 |
| Take in a jacket at the sides | 90 | 45.00 | 45 |
Your minutes will differ. A lined jacket hem and a plain trouser hem are different jobs, so list them apart.
Add-ons
This part protects your margin. List each extra with its own price: lining, hand finishing, embroidery, beadwork, pattern matching on checks, extra fittings, larger sizes that need more cloth. If a customer asks why the quote went up, you can point to the line.
Set a minimum charge
A loose button looks like a two-minute job. By the time you have written the ticket, found the thread, sewn it, pressed the area and handed it back, far more time has gone. A minimum charge covers that handling.
In the example above, a minimum of 15 equals 30 minutes at the shop rate. Pick a figure you can say with a straight face, and print it on the list. You can still sew a button for a good customer for free. That is then your decision, and the staff know the normal rule.
Price rush work so it pays for the disruption
A rush job pushes another job back, or it means late hours. So define rush by the calendar, which leaves nothing to debate. For example: anything wanted in less than your normal lead time, by a set number of days, is rush.
Then choose how to charge. A percentage on top of the job works for most shops. Example only: a rush charge of 50% on a 30 job makes it 45. Also decide:
- Which work you will never rush, such as hand beading or anything that needs a fitting to settle.
- Who may accept a rush job. Ask the workshop before you promise the date.
- How many rush jobs a week the workshop can take before normal promises slip.
Decide how you handle customer's fabric
Most counter disputes start here, so give it its own short section on the list.
Price. Show two prices or one stitching price plus a fabric line. Example only: three hours at 30 is 90, plus 12 of lining and trims, makes a stitching price of 102, listed at 105. With shop fabric, 2.5 metres at 16 is 40. Add 10% for buying and holding it, which is 4, and the cost reaches 146, listed at 150.
Checks at drop-off. Measure the length in front of the customer. Look for flaws and shade differences. Ask whether it has been washed. Write the result on the ticket and get a signature.
Terms. State in plain words what happens if the cloth is too short, shrinks, or marks under the iron. Slippery or very fine cloth takes longer to cut and sew, so give it an add-on. If you need the wording on liability to hold up, ask a local adviser.
Write the rules beside the prices
A short block at the bottom saves many arguments:
- Deposit: how much, and when it is due.
- Fittings: how many are included, and the price of another.
- Changes after cutting: charged at the shop rate.
- Tax: whether prices include it. Say so clearly.
- Uncollected work: how long you hold a garment.
Keep it current
Put a date on every list. Review it when rent, wages or a main material moves, and at set times in the year even when nothing seems to have changed. Costs creep up quietly. Check a few real jobs against the list as well. If a job listed at 30 keeps taking 90 minutes, fix the list or fix the method.
Once the list is ready, your invoice should match its lines. Our printable tailor invoice has room for deposits and balances.
Batch work needs a closer look than an hourly rate. Our guide to calculating garment cost walks through it. Tailoq can help with the checking part: it builds cost per piece from material, labour and outside work, so you can see which list prices still hold.
