Embroidery pricing calculator

How embroidery pricing works

Four numbers decide the price of an embroidery job:

• Stitch count. Your machine charges you time, and time is stitches. Most shops quote a rate per 1,000 stitches that falls as quantity rises. A left chest logo is typically 4,000–8,000 stitches; a full back can run 25,000+.
• A per-piece minimum. This is the number new shops forget. A 2,000-stitch design at $0.75/1,000 is $1.50 — which does not cover hooping, trimming, and handling that piece. A minimum run charge protects you on small, simple designs.
• Digitizing.Converting artwork into a stitch file is a one-time cost per design, usually $20–$75 depending on complexity. Charge it separately; don't bury it in the per-piece price, or you lose money on reorders you quoted cheaply.
• The garment. Marked up from your blank cost — most shops use roughly 2×. Caps, jackets and polos carry different handling difficulty than tees; some shops add a surcharge for caps because they hoop slower.

Common mistakes

• Quoting before you know the stitch count. Never price from a picture. Get the design digitized (or estimated) first — the same logo can double in stitches depending on fill density.
• Eating the digitizing on small orders.On a 6-piece order, a free $40 digitizing fee can wipe out the entire job's profit.
• Forgetting thread breaks and re-hooping. Build a realistic run time into your rate, not a best-case one.