What to charge?

Just a thought, Beverly. Be sure to set your fee high enough that it will make you smile when you're making one of the items for your remodeling guy. If you sell yourself short, the doing of it will become a burden and life has burdens enough. OTOH, if you make a nice little profit, you can get a happy for Beverly. Maybe some yummy thread or a pedicure? Polly

"BEI Design" <

You must also realise that you can't always get materials at sale price. If you underprice at the beginning, it's extremely hard to make people pay more later; I learned that the hard way!

Sorry, I can't help with actual pricing because I live in another country.

Joyce in RSA.

$1 per 1000 stitches. Larger quantities get 10 , 20 or 40 % off this rate. Think about the costly apparel you may wreck and replace out of your pocket or the one time you don't wreck anything due to luck or your expertise.

Either charge well or do it fo free but once you establish a rate, as another poster said, it is very hard to go up. The corporate people do not care as long as it is not ridiculous. It's all petty cash slush money, anyway. Business people respect you more when you charge.

But...he was so delighted with the pillow that he asked if I would be interested in making similar items for him to give to valued customers. Since I would not be costing out the digitizing (it's already done as a gift to him), all I really need is to quote him a price for embroidering small pillow covers (which I would then make up) and/or maybe tote bags. The 9.25" X 3.24" design, with his name included, contains 10,798 stitches. If I delete his name, 8,314, and if I re-size it to 6" X 1.38" it's 6,500+/-.

I bought the small practice pillow form at JoAnn's for under $6.00, the zipper on a coupon for $2.38, and used less than a yard of faux suede I had in my stash, which was maybe $6.00/yard on sale. I know pretty well how to price my construction work if he decides that's how he wants to go, but I'm at a loss for pricing the embroidery. It takes about 35 minutes start to finish, including marking, hooping, and stitching. I think I recall that folks who do this for profit charge $1.00 per 1,000 stitches. I would not want to undercut others in my area, (Pacific NW U.S.A.) but I don't really want to give away my time and effort either.

So, for those who do machine embroider for profit, what is your price scale?

TIA,

Thanks! I would be pretty happy just breaking even, his shop is struggling in this economic downturn and he cut his cost to the bone for me. I could certainly include a caveat, that as things pick up, so will my prices. ;-)

Indeed! I just sent him an estimate for *my* time and work, with links to a couple of sites with embroidery blanks, and letting him know I would add a 12% contractor's fees if *I* order them. ;-)

Thank you! I hadn't really thought about offering a bulk discount, but that makes perfect sense. Once the design is loaded, one can churn out multiple items faster.

This man is not "corporate" and I'm pretty sure he has no petty cash slush fund, he is just trying to keep his head above water and his crew together until the economy turns around. I would like to help him with that as I have additional work for him down the line.

I would not be working on costly apparel: at most tote bags, and/aprons, which I would buy in bulk and add a mark-up. I would charge my going rate for constructing custom pillow covers.

I have been through it and when you wreck that bag that you bought, or worse, the one he supplied and you have to sneak around to find out where it was purchased from, travel across town and pay for it from your own pocket, to avoid the embarrasment, you will be glad you are an established, large embroidery business that can easily pay for this out of...

your slush fund.

Sorry about the snark but I am trying to make a point.

Best of luck with your backbone. If it was so easy they wouldn't call it a "job"...LOL

Thank you! I hadn't really thought about offering a bulk discount, but that makes perfect sense. Once the design is loaded, one can churn out multiple items faster.

This man is not "corporate" and I'm pretty sure he has no petty cash slush fund, he is just trying to keep his head above water and his crew together until the economy turns around. I would like to help him with that as I have additional work for him down the line.

I would not be working on costly apparel: at most tote bags, and/aprons, which I would buy in bulk and add a mark-up. I would charge my going rate for constructing custom pillow covers.