My Pricing Guide, Part 1

So one thing I have never really done before is write up how I go about pricing my products, especially my cosplay costumes. I've been working, though, on getting a definitive list of the costumes I've made, how I make them, how long it should take, what materials I'll need to make the outfit (and how I can substitute different materials if the commissioner requests them), and any special notes I need to be aware of.

I thought I'd share this with you, what I do, and some theory about my views on pricing, in the hopes that it can help you all out, if you ever want to sell something you've created!

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This is the first of at least two parts, I think. This one deals with pricing your products, with lots of rambling (and hopefully useful information as well). The next… well, I'll show you my template for keeping everything straight in your head~

First, here is my magic formula on pricing products:

(hourly rate x hours worked on) + (materials + 20% material cost) = rough estimate on asking price

Hourly rate: This is something that I've had some discussions with people about, but I truly feel that you should be pricing your hourly rate based on a few things. First, your experience doing what you're selling. If you are new to sewing, and want to sell some bits and pieces you've been working on, I recommend starting out at a lower price range.

This does a couple of things for you. First, it allows you to be competitive with people who have more experience/equipment (I'll get to that in a second). Second, it does give your customer a fair expectation on what to expect; I can promise that a customer who buys an outfit from someone who was just starting out sewing, for $50, is going to expect a lower quality than something I charge $200 to make (by lower quality, I mean maybe you don't have a serger to finish the raw edges, or you don't know how to do a welted pocket so you just tack bias on, etc). If they don't, they're dumb customers.

So, what I usually suggest is that if you are new to something, start your hourly rate out at $5 an hour, and see how that works for you.

After a few years, or some specialized education, or lots and lots of practice refining a pattern/process/product, then start raising it up. Remember, the more experience you have, the more you have a right to charge. When I make a costume that takes me nine hours to do, in reality, it took nine hours plus eight years to create that, because that's how long I've dedicated solely to costume production and sewing.

The next big thing to consider in this part of the equation (as it most definitely is the hardest part about selling product, period) is the difficulty. This is kind of a piece I've added in on my own, I never really saw anyone say anything about it, but I found it to come in very handy when pricing out cosplay pieces, which can sometimes be easy to make, and sometimes be really, really, really hard.

Generally, I charge a flat rate of $10 an hour*. When I break down a costume, I break it down into "easy" "medium" or "hard" (with a few "insane" thrown in for confetti) for each individual piece of the garment. So, a Bleach uniform has a main black kimono top, an under kimono top in white, hakama and a white sash. I tag each piece as "easy," "medium," or "hard." I also estimate how long it'll take me to make it (which is kind of covered in the next point, but will definitely be easier to explain in the next part, showing you my templates. It is still worth considering here, too, now... because I don't know any better way to explain it ^^).

So, the main black kimono top is the tricky one, because it has to be patterned and sewn in such a way as to leave the whole underarm triangle visible, showing the white top underneath. I estimate it'll take me 3 hours to make, and it's a "medium" on difficulty.

The rest of the outfit is tagged as "easy," since I order the hakama from a supplier, and the other kimono top is just a plain kimono top, built off of the same pattern as the black one.

Thinking things through this way, I usually charge around $15 an hour for "medium" difficulty pieces, while I stick with my base of $10 for the easy pieces.

So, in theory, I charge 50% more for "medium" difficulty pieces, and usually double for "hard" pieces (or for things with hard details, like full welt pockets, I'll charge at least an hour at the "hard" price, even if the rest of the time is "easy").

If you're following my pricing idea mentioned earlier, then, and you're new to sewing, for example, and something is moderately hard for you to do, then perhaps you should be charging $8 or even $10-$12 instead of $5 an hour...

* a disclaimer here: I may charge $10 an hour in my estimates, but what I've come to realize recently is that I'm actually making an average of $4-$6 an hour, so not even minimum wage. This is because I'm still trying to break out of a personal problem I have, which is devaluing myself and my work so far that I don't feel I'm worth much of anything, even though I'm turning out phenomenal work. I'm getting over it slowly, but be aware of this trap, and try to avoid it - you are worth it. You deserve to make at least as much as the guy taking your order at the drive thru. You work just as hard at creating what you create as that guy, too, and sometimes harder. You deserve what you deserve, art is work, and can be such, even if you do it just for fun. Remember that! You are worth it.

Hours worked on: This is something to definitely keep track of. I have a notebook that I write everything in - just a little, spiral bound one that I carry with me all the time, that I jot notes and ideas down in, and customers measurements or questions or requests in, and keep with me so I know what I should be working on at any given time. I just write down when I start, and then just work. After I'm all done, I go in and write when I ended, and generally what I worked on for how long. I used to try complex systems using a calendar program online and the like to keep track of everything, but it was too much of a burden. Simple is better, and easier.

An average entry for me is something along the lines of:

Mon 7-19: 9:00 - 6:00
- 9-10 : emails
- 10-12:30 : Namine outfit
- 12:30-1:30 : Lunch
- 1:30-2 : emails
- 2-6 : Namine outfit + wig (1hr)

That way, I can kind of keep track of it. Even more rough is "Mon 7-19 9-6, Namine outfit" - anything like that will really help you out in the long run, to see how long something really took you, versus how long you thought it would take you. And, if you're remaking the same thing again and again, consider revising future prices for it taking more or less time.

Now, in the last bit on hourly rate, I said starting with a lower price would make you more competitive, and I'm going to explain that as best I can. For example, I have a lot of equipment. And it's all set up, all the time. My iron is on whenever I'm down in the studio sewing, I have four different machines with different functions at my fingertips, and most of them are industrial machines, so they're really fast.

Something that may take even an experienced sewer 8 hours to do, I can usually do in three or four. I don't know why, I'm just a speed freak. I spend more time up front figuring out the order to do everything to be the most efficient, and I just go, go, GO, once I start. I draft my patterns right on the fabric, I don't waste my time with paper in most cases. I cut out all the extra "bits" that take up time (like putting a machine away, clearing room at the table to do cutting, and then pulling the machine back out to start sewing, and then pulling out the ironing board when I need it… I think you get the idea!) and just keep banging through things.

So, in the above example, a dress a new person is making takes them 8 hours to do. They're new to it, so afraid of making mistakes, have to check the instructions on the pattern to see that it's going together right, and figure out what piece is what. Cutting is time consuming because you have to pin the pattern down, cut it out, blah blah blah. So, 8 hours later, they have their dress, and they decide to charge $5 an hour to do it, coming up with a time cost of $40.

Now, that same dress, I do in three. I just go for it, don't read directions, and don't have to zig-zag raw edges because I have a machine that does that, plus the stitching, all in one for me. It's an easy-ish dress for me to make, so I charge $15 an hour for my work. That comes out to 3 hours at $15 an hour, or $45.

See how the pricing structure makes us competitive?

(Again, I know that not everyone will agree with me, but this is just what I've learned. I know that a lot of people seem to think that you should always charge the high end price for your time, but, in my experience as a customer, when I feel gipped if I pay as much for a novice to make me something versus someone who has been doing it for ages. Or, more often than not, I can recognize someone who is perhaps newer to their craft, and charging what a professional would charge, and I just go find that professional if I was going to slap down the money for something.


Whatever your view is, that is fine. I'm just sharing my opinion with you. Think it through, and we'll come back to it again later.)


Materials: I see a lot of people who charge just for the materials to make something, plus a bit, and then I see just as many people who seem to negate materials all together. I used to be in the second category when I started out, I'm not ashamed to admit it. It was a mistake, too, because it held me back, and it's a mentality I'm still fighting to get over.

Now, when I say material cost, I mean the full price of the material. Not the cost of it on sale, not the cost you can sometimes find on clearance or as a special buy. This is the full price, as if you had to run out and pick it up right now, and get something made from it. If you find it on sale, all the better for you, because, odds are, you're like me and not charging for your shopping time in your hourly rate, so consider the "sale" price a bonus for you for being the smart shopper.

What I consider materials are things like the fabric yardage (obviously), major notions (a zipper, a package of snaps, cards of buttons, etc), and trims/details (fabric paint, special colors of embroidery floss, etc).


20% of Material Cost: I take my material cost, and multiply it by .20 (20%). This is for all of those "intangibles" that you wind up using. For me, I never know when I'm going to break a needle - sometimes, I can do four or five pieces before changing a needle, and sometimes I break four of them on one! So, I don't add in the cost of an average of one needle per outfit - that's kinda too much to think in detail about, once you start thinking that you'd then have to do that with thread, too, right? I mean, you use up thread with each outfit, and each spool of thread costs so much, etc, etc. How about interfacing? I just keep a couple of bolts of the main types I use on hand, and cut what I need, but do I need to keep track of that? No way. Too crazy for me!

That is what this 20% additional cost means. It's consumables, or disposables, that you use when making something. Like, with jewelry stuffs, it may be thread and seed beads, or crimps, or headpins. With scrapbooking, it's glue and tape.

It's also a good padding to have in case something takes more materials than you expect. Like, what if you find out that you don't have enough fabric to make the cuffs and collar out of, or you just found out that there are eight more buttons on the outfit in the back than you thought there was? Those are the other things this extra comes in to cover.

Here is something else it covers that most people don't think about until the bill is handed over - it covers machine repairs. Like it or not, you should keep your machines working well with your own maintenance, but if something happens, you need to be able to get it fixed to keep working (especially if this becomes your sole income!). I just had to have a gear in my motor replaced on my regular, home sewing machine that cost me $600 when I bought it two years ago. Someone yanked on the fabric, ground out a gear, and it cost me $250 to fix. Scary! But, when you think about it, I should have been including that extra 20% material and stashing it away for just this occasion, so it wouldn't completely bankrupt me (which this would have, had it not been through someone's fault who borrowed the machine *phew*). This is why I'm going through and revising my pricing, too, as I never took this into account until recently.

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Take it all in. Think about it. Write it out, keep it on hand. Take all that, add it together, and take a look at it.

This all gives you an idea at what to price your piece at. I, personally, don't ever just use that as it is. I "tweak" it a bit. I go online. I look at similar pieces (you have no idea how many times I've Google'd "Bleach captain division 4 cosplay" to see what other Chinese manufacturers are charging…). I think critically about it. I see where I can cut corners to save a customer some cash, or possible alternatives to share with them to either make the outfit more accurate, or more affordable. Those I always lay out to my customers, to give them the choice, since, in the end, it is their outfit.

After this all, I settle on my final price. So… lets say all in all, one of these outfits comes out to being around $235 after doing all of that math and comparing it with similar pieces out there, but I think that's rather on the high end of things. I decide that maybe I can lower my hourly rate to keep it a little more affordable, and take the hourly rate hit in order to possibly sell this faster or easier. So, I decide that an even $200 is what I'm going to charge for this outfit.

Here is your last reality check to do. Take that number, and reverse-engineer it:

Your selling price - (material cost + 20%) / hours to create = hourly rate

This basically does everything you just did, in reverse. And can sometimes be an eye opener. I do that with my costume I've just lowered to $200, for example:

$200 - (85 + 15) / 16 hours = $6.25 an hour

I think it's Wisconsin minimum wage, or less. Maybe it's not worth my time to create that outfit at that price… considering that I could get a job taking orders in a drive thru for more money than that, and it would be less intensive/specialized work, and I wouldn't have to provide all of the equipment to boot… It's when I do this backwards-comparison that I realize maybe I should just get a regular job, and keep sewing for the heck of it, when I have the time on the weekends. Only, I don't want to be burnt out and too tired to do anything else, and I don't want to give up on my dream. But, I do need to rethink my pricing… maybe that $235 was the right place to be at, in the first place:

$235 - (85 + 15) / 16 hours = $8.40 an hour

That's more reasonable, especially if it's a relatively easier costume. Not the best deal in the world for me, but at least I can afford to eat (assuming I sell one, that is!)

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So, I hope that all of this information hasn't overloaded you too badly. Come back to it, think back on it, and consider it. See where it gets you, and how it may help you out. And, if you ever want or need unbiased, truthful thoughts or critiques on your pieces, prices, and all that good stuff, I'm always willing to help how I can. Just tell me what you're thinking of (asking "Are my prices fair?" will start a good dialogue, and we can see what we find out).

Again, I'm not a retail pro, or an expert with these things. This is just my formula that I've come up with after… wow, eight or nine years now of doing cosplay commissions and trying to make a living off of selling online. Once you add in all the fun owning a retail location, and employees, well, that's currently out of my range to help you with, but if you're thinking about selling online, and have no idea where to start, I hope that this has given you some good ideas and pointers!

My ramblings may be long, but I want to be sure to remember everything ^^ If you made it through all of this without your brain melting into a puddle of goo, congrats are indeed in order! Lets share a pot of tea!