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Writer's pictureJessica Sweeney

Why it's best to work backwards

I always ask people what they want their retail price to be when developing new product and the answer is usually something along the lines of "I'll decide that once the sample is made and I know how much that costs". Let me help you solve this one up front because it's so important. In order to source the right materials and manufacturers, we need to know which price point the end product will sell for within a retail price range.


Envision your final product and the website or the shops it's selling at. What brands is it hanging with on the racks? Or what other styles pop up in a Google search when you look for your own type of product? Modeling after similar existing products is a good place to start. Where do you want to make your garments? Is Made in the USA important to you? Do you want higher volume at a lower price point? Or are you OK with the high price of low volume? All these points are key to have in mind up front before starting.


You may have heard the old saying that you can’t hit a goal if you don’t have one. If you have a general idea of what retail price you want your product to sell for and we can help you figure it out from there. Developing custom product is very different from buying off an existing line. Cost is primarily driven by volume, labor, and the price of raw materials. Manufacturers will ask me how many pieces we want to make. This determines which factory or sewing facility they will place the product at if they have more than one. The second question is always "What retail price point are you targeting?". This determines what quality of components we'll get and if the more skilled sewers will be working on the product or if it will be passed to the newer workers to handle. Both will likely do a good job but more complex styles sometimes require more skill.


Simply fill out the form on the contact page, include a target retail price range, and we can get started on making your vision a reality.

Price tags on fabric
Photo by Henry & Co. - Price tags on fabric

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