Six Tips for Pricing Upcycled Clothing and Sewing
Lately I’ve been sewing again! Finally, sitting in front of my sewing machine feels similar to driving in my convertible with the top down. It is incredible to have my machine humming away on projects again! It is a great workout to sew, not to mention feels incredible to be using up some of my yardage and scraps again.
I am gearing up to roll out a small selection of upcycles next year. I’m getting so excited planning and creating and just really having a blast sewing. It’s got me pondering a lot of elements of business, so I want to share something I’ve been thinking about with you.
Let’s talk pricing for your upcycles! I’ve been researching a lot of shops on Etsy! While I sew upcycled clothes, I also buy them sometimes. Reality is though, many of them are so overpriced. Even if I wanted to buy those clothes I couldn’t afford it right now. Cuz truth is EVERYTHING is overpriced right now! And my budget doesn’t go a long ways like it used to.
Here are Five Tips for Pricing Upcycled Clothes and Sewing Projects when the economy is bad!
First off, add up the cost of the materials you are working with. And be fair! Let’s say you are upcycling one of your old t shirts, along with some fabric and trims that only cost like $15 total. How are people turning around and expecting to get $80-$100 for a piece like that? I know personally as a consumer, I won’t pay that much for someone else’s work. I have in the past and then I felt completely taken advantage of. So be honest about the starting point. That old t shirt in your closet, after being worn and then washed 100 times, is probably only really worth about $5 now. Which means the total cost of materials is only $20.
Next, factor in the amount of time it took to make the item. If you worked for ten hours on an item, it makes sense to factor in the amount of effort that went in! You might want to charge minimum wage per hour, and sometimes when you do that math the item becomes super expensive and out of your customer’s price point. If you want to get serious about charging a fair price, set a timer when you work on the project. It all depends on how fast you want to sell the items vs. how much money you want to make. Items that are cheaper sell faster, but if you aren’t in a rush to make money then you can charge a bit more and wait for your customers to find you. Use your best judgement!
When I first joined Etsy, they used to have seller forums and a seller handbook! They may or may not still have that. So much has changed on the platform, it’s hard to say if anything remains the same. But the old seller handbook said to price things at a 2.5 ratio. So take the cost of materials plus time spent, then multiply that by 2.5. That will make you enough money to create another item, and then you will make slightly more than that to put in your bank account. I feel like that is a fair price to start at. You might want to run sales periodically and discount things at times. So this is a good starting point. It is always better to start slightly higher so you can work your way a little lower once you figure out where production meets demand. Using this ratio is also great because it will cover overages in shipping. Another tip is to do the math and figure out how much Etsy is going to take from the sale. Currently that is 6.5%, I’m fairly certain. Add that into the price at the start so you won’t lose money.
Which brings me to the third thing I wanted to point out! Every. Single. Time. I have sold handmade goods, I’ve lost a lot of proceeds on shipping. Etsy often encourages makers to ship for free. But then you lose your earnings! USPS has flat rate boxes which you can order for free. Then look up the shipping rate of the box, and charge that for your items. Or, get a scale and measure the cost on your own. Also, don’t ship UPS like I did. I only recommend shipping UPS if you are shipping a high cost good, like a quilt. I would go with USPS for pretty much everything else because it is more cost effective.
Don’t rip people off! It can be tempting to charge $100 for your handmade dress, but then very few people will be able to buy it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve discovered upcycled clothes that I desperately wanted to buy. But they were too expensive, so I couldn’t afford it. As a seamstress, I can look at something and tell approximately what went into making the item. Typically upcycles are way overpriced on Etsy. If you want to be making sales every single week, then lower your prices to make sense. People just don’t have much money right now, and buying upcycled clothes is kind of a splurge item, especially when fast fashion is so cheap. Make your upcycles and sewn goods incredible, and then price them so people can actually afford to buy them. You will sell a lot more stuff that way.
My last bit of advice, is don’t feel pressured to drop your prices so low that you don’t make money. Let’s say you are working toward making a specific amount of money. Like if you are trying to pay off a debt, save up a down payment for a car or vacation, or just trying to make a set amount each month. You can price your goods to total the amount you are trying to make! So if your goal is to make an extra $5K, you would have to sell 100 items at a price point of $50. Ideally though, you will want some less expensive items and some more expensive items in your shop. That gives the consumer a choice. They might only have $30, and really want some of your sewing. Give them something to choose from!
I hope these tips give you an idea on pricing for your upcycling and sewing business. If you aren’t selling many items, try out some of these ideas and see if it makes a difference!
