Pricing guide for embroidery shops
Most underpricing comes from a cost that leaves something out: the packaging, the minutes, the hats that did not come out right. Here is the formula, then one real example worked from start to finish: embroidered trucker cap, which costs $22.85 per hat and sells at $45.69.
Updated . Example prices checked on supplier sites the same month.
Margin is the share of the price you keep. A 50% margin means the price is twice the cost. A 60% margin means 2.5 times.
Small embroidery shops often run orders of 12 to 48 pieces. This example stitches a 3 color, 8,000 stitch logo on 24 trucker caps, about 15 minutes each on a single head machine.
| Material | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Polyester embroidery thread cone$9.99 for 5,029 m | 960 m | $1.91 |
| Cap tearaway backing roll$62.69 for 5,400 in | 144 in | $1.67 |
| Prewound bobbin$26.43 for 144 pieces | 3 | $0.55 |
| Embroidery needle$19.50 for 100 pieces | 1 | $0.20 |
| Trucker cap blank$13.50 for 1 piece | 24 | $324.00 |
| Labour: 2 h at $20.00/hr | $40.00 | |
| Time on the embroidery machine: 6 h at $30.00/hr | $180.00 | |
| Total for 24 hats | $548.32 | |
| Cost per hat | $22.85 | |
Prices change and shipping is extra. They are here to make the example real, not as a quote. Put your own prices in the calculator.
Shops that buy wholesale usually pay about half of the shop price. Half of $45.69 is $22.85. That still covers the $22.85 cost, with $0.00 left per hat.
The embroidery cost calculator starts with this example. Change the prices and amounts to yours and you have your cost and price in a minute. Save it as a recipe in Stockria and the cost stays right when a supplier changes a price.
Add the blank, thread, backing, machine minutes and your minutes for one hat. That is your cost. Divide by 1 minus your margin. A hat that costs $20 sells at $40 for a 50% margin.
Stitch count is a good guide to machine time, but price from your full cost: the blank, your time and the machine minutes the stitches take.
Setup and digitizing are paid once, so they shrink per hat as the order grows. Bulk blanks are often cheaper too.