How much to charge for swim suits & corsets

If you can make the pattern, alter it for fit, AND make the sample ALL in __under an hour__, you are just barely breaking even, and even then you are likely holding down the price curve for all the professional people who sew in your area. However I very much doubt you can do all that in four hours let alone one. Which means you are giving your skills away. STOP!

You let THEM tell YOU how much they would pay? That is not the way to do business. You set your price, if they are interested, fine. If not, let them make them themselves. Say to them "I have been UNDERCAHARGING you at $25.00 per item. My base price is X dollars per hour, it takes X hours to accomplish your job, I now will be charging $$$ for this work." Take it or leave it. End of story.

What they charge is not YOUR problem. If they cannot sell the garments for enough to make a profit AND pay you a decent amount for creating the stuff then they are in the wrong business. As are you.

$20.00 to $40.00 per hour PLUS the cost all notions and fabric (unless they provide them). And that includes all travel time, all drafting time, all alteration time, all fitting time, all construction time. Keep a log, then price your work according to how much time it takes YOU. You might need to remind them that you are not Wal-Mart, nor do you work for third-world pay scales. They are getting CUSTOM work, not off the rack ready to wear.

Very Good Plan...

WHAT SHE SAID - IN SPADES!

Good grief, girl, you ain't their slave! A decent 'proper' corset costs HUNDREDS! I can buy a cheap, doesn't-fit-anywhere-much swimsuit nailed together in China at Asda supermarket for £10 or less. If I want one that actually FITS and is still mass-produced, I need to pay £40-£60. For a tailor maid one to my own design, I'm gonna be paying £150+. Good job I can sew...

I charge about £60 for drafting a simple pattern, £25 per hour for hand finishing/beading/crystal fixing and complex corset making, £15-£20 for the rest...

Hah! I have to chime in here! REally, folks don't seem to know what the work of other people's hands is worth these days. My DH is a painter and has a scaffolding business, too. So in Winter, he's mainly doing indoor painting and wallpapering jobs (if he can get them). Yesterday, he went out to a possible client (or would that be customer?) to look at and take the measurements of the place. Well, that guy was sitting in this nicotine-yellow den, waving another company's estimate in front of Edgar's nose and telling him to underprice it if he wanted the job. DH took one look at the place, calculating the price for the special paint and stuff to get rid of that nicotine on the walls and then kindly refused, saying something like he'd go and do up other folk's places for nothing and going bankrupt in the process. Thanks a lot, but, no thanks. That bastard stood there grinning.

I bet those exotic dancers (isn't that the PC term for stripper?) have no idea what hard work means, getting the bills shoved up their cute little featherweight bums just for waving them in front of the imbecile part of mankind. End of my 2c! ;-)

U.

I agree with all of the above. The price of $25 is laughable for a designer suit, even if it is from their sketches. Double the price, and maybe you'll come closer. If not, let them find someone else. You're giving away your talent and your work.

Teri

Sorry, but.... Are you nuts?

$25 for a custom designed swimsuit?! And they want it cheaper?!

What Nanci said, and again, sorry, but grow a spine, girl!

OK. First off let me tell you that I've sewn professionally, as in for pay, for oh....off and on more than 15 years. Started off in a fairly large city, moved to a really teeny rural town, and now I live in a small city. I've made swim suits from patterns before. I've drafted and draped patterns before for other garments. (not swim suits, but I know what would need to happen to draft one.) I never got a whole lot of call for custom swim suits because they are so expensive to have made.

So, rough estimate, I'm going to say 2 hours to draft the pattern. Then I'll say 4 hours to construct the sample. That's probably on the low side, but it will work for a rough estimate. I charge by the hour for my work. If your clients came to me for the same thing you've been doing for them, the cost, for one suit based on my rough estimate, would be $120. I can also tell you what it would be, based on my time estimate for either of two of my friends to do it. First friend would be $150, and the other would be $210. Did you fall off your chair? ;)

Now corsets........TRIPLE the cost for the swimsuits. At least.

Too, those prices do Not include any materials. That's just labor cost.

I think you've probably figured out by now that none of us here would do this work for what you've been allowing your "clients" (I wanted to say "thieves") to get away with. And now they want you to cut your already give away price more and increase your output to 10 suits a week? That's two a day. ummmmmmmm.......let me think. I would give that a big PASS!!

When you go to get your car repaired, do you tell the mechanic what you will pay for the job? Sure you can ask for a discount. Sure you can say "wow, that's a lot. Could you do it for a little less??" But we both know it's not going to work 9 times out of 10. Why should you be any different??

Bottom line. You are not getting paid anything close to a living wage to make these suits, and you won't come close to anything like that for the corsets. YOU decide what your pricing should be, not your clients. And it really doesn't matter if they want 1 or 20. The price is the price. If they don't like the price, that's tough. They can pay it or they can walk away.

Please, please, please stop giving away your work. What you've been doing is insane. You are worth more than that. I don't want you to think I'm yelling at you, or being nasty. I'm really not. I want you to be successful, and you're not going to get there charging what you're charging.

Sharon

I haven't seen anyone mention a pricing chart to always have on hand to show clients. IMHO, it should be in a loose-leaf binder in a plastic cover, with everything clearly listed, ie: #1. Draft one pattern for top------$xxx #2. Draft one pattern for bottom-$xxx etc and so on, listing each job till garment is completed. Anytime you do any purchasing, add $xxx for the shopping trip, cost of fabric and tax, plus thread & other incidentals.

My DM kept her list and when I took over her clients, some 60+ years ago, I used the same. The prices increased with the economy, usually annually. She taught me a great lesson, which was on the front of the binder: "This is a business, not a charitable organization."

Just my 2-cents. Emily

Amen, Emily!!! That is something so many folks who sew for a living need to take to heart.

Sharon

That and "Lack of planning on your part does NOT constitute and emergency on my part!".

Beverly

Not only people who sew for a living, but anybody who is a sole proprietor of a service-oriented business (I do medical transcription and the same thing could apply to doctors who expect us to cut our rates so they can save money).

Speaking of charitable institutions: She might consider sewing for one since she's donating her time anyway. And if she itemizes, she would be ahead financially. There are many places who would accept items: Hospitals for oncology care and premie blankets, etc.

I once supported some Catholic Sisters who supplied a shelter for battered women, many of whom took in women in emergencies with little more than the clothes on their backs and belongings in plastic trash bags. As a practical matter and to provide a small measure of dignity, they were supplied sturdy twill drawstring laundry bags at the center in a variety of colors, depending on the donated fabrics,with the Nuns doing the labor.

That's how I learned how to control my Industrial machine: In making the bags; requirements weren't to strict for seam straightness, just load up with Tex 40 to 69 and turn it loose.

To those hung up on having ANY part of ORGANIZED religions, you don't need Sisters, just contact your local shelter. In my case they provided the idea, motive, and opportunity. JPBill

I live in New Orleans, which is pretty much a low-wage area. After reading this thread for several days, I remembered that a neighbor of mine is a dancer, so I showed her the picture and asked her. She tells me that the pictured costume, RTW, would be at least $100 and probably more - particularly if those are rhinestones or crystals on it. Made to measure it would be $200 or more. Custom made corsets are double that.

Her comment was "She's giving that stuff away, no wonder they want more! Wish I could buy stuff for that price!"

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Imbecile part of mankind?? Imbecile?? A little strong, nicht wahr?

Whatsamatta Ursula? Sounds like you lost your own "cute little featherweight bum" and Edgar won't climb down off his scaffold as quickly as he used to have a peek. JPBill

I've resisted comment thus far but that comment was uncalled for, and not inkeeping with my perception of the ethos of this group.

FWIW, I like and admire the female form as a thing of beauty - I have a delightful Russell-Flint looking down on me as I type, partnered by some quite enchanting and delightfully naive Victorian and Edwardian nudes. That does not make me an imbecile!

One thing I like about this NG, people have strongly held opinions and will voice them, without sliding into ad hominem attacks. Let's keep it that way, eh?

:-)

I lurk here from time to time. you need to:

1. know how much material for each outfit and the thread and any trim.
2. How long it takes to do the pattern, sew the garment and make any adjustments.
3. Expenses in getting the fabric.

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'>src=''> border='0' alt='corset' title='corset' />>> EXOTIC WEAR (LOTS OF DESIGNS MOST MORE DETAILED THAN THIS ONE)> href=''>src=''> border='0' alt='Black 1 piece' title='Black 1 piece' />>> -------------------------------------> Rae Howell

raehowell had written this in response to

:THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE HELP.... These girls (both under 25) are crazy. They have decided to buy their own sewing machine and sew for themselves.

YEAH!!! ONE Headache gone...I sorta feel sorry for them because they lack an overall sense for how a business should be run. You need to make a profit.

Frankly, I used all of your suggestions and adjusted my rates. I am getting more customers everyday at higher rates!!! I don't have their annoying swimsuit material and tedious designs to sew anymore.

They really do not have any concept of what it is like to sew all day long...12 + hours. I could not even piece the work out for what they wanted to pay me.

THANKS AGAIN...

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:> THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE HELP....>

Fabulous!! I wish them well, but doesn't sound too hopeful for them. Perhaps they will learn. ;) I'm so proud of you for raising your rates. It will be so much easier for you to see a profit. And it's really wonderful when you can charge more, work less and still make the same (or more) amount of money. Good job all the way around.

Sharon