Pricing and selling
How much to charge for machine embroidery: a pricing guide
How to price machine embroidery jobs: per 1,000 stitches, minimums, thread changes, materials and setup fees, with worked examples and a free calculator.
· 4 min read
Charge too little and every order costs you time and thread. Charge too much and customers go elsewhere. Most home and small-shop embroiderers price the same way: a rate per 1,000 stitches, a minimum per piece, and a few extras. This guide walks through each part, with worked examples you can copy.
The usual embroidery pricing formula
| Part | What it covers | How it’s charged |
|---|---|---|
| Stitch charge | Machine time and wear | A rate per 1,000 stitches |
| Minimum per piece | Hooping and handling, however small the design | The lowest stitch charge for one piece |
| Thread changes | Rethreading on a single-needle machine | A small fee per change |
| Materials | Stabilizer, thread, bobbin, and the blank if you supply it | Per piece |
| Setup fee | Test stitch-out, digitizing, preparing the file | Once per order |
Per piece = stitch charge (or the minimum, whichever is higher) + thread changes + materials. Order = per piece × quantity + setup fee.
How much to charge per 1,000 stitches
Rates vary a lot by region, machine and market. Many home businesses charge somewhere around $0.50 to $1.50 per 1,000 stitches, and more for small orders, hard-to-hoop items or rush jobs. Rather than copying someone else’s number, work out what your time is worth:
- Decide what you want to earn per hour of machine time.
- Check your machine’s speed. Many home machines sew around 650 stitches a minute.
- Add time for hooping, thread changes and trimming. At 650 stitches a minute, 1,000 stitches take about a minute and a half of sewing, but each piece also needs hooping and finishing.
Then test the result against what local shops and online sellers charge for similar work.
Why you need a minimum per piece
A 3,000-stitch logo only takes a few minutes to sew, but hooping, threading and trimming take just as long as for a bigger design. A minimum per piece (for example $8) covers that. The minimum replaces the stitch charge when the design is small; it isn’t added on top.
Thread changes, materials and setup
- Thread changes: on a single-needle machine, each color means stopping and rethreading. A small fee per change, such as $0.50, covers it. On a multi-needle machine you may skip this.
- Materials: stabilizer, thread and bobbin thread cost a dollar or two per piece. Add the blank separately if you supply it.
- Setup fee: charged once per order for the test stitch-out and preparing the file. If you digitize a customer’s logo, price the digitizing separately, as a one-time fee.
Worked examples
These use $1 per 1,000 stitches, an $8 minimum, $0.50 per thread change and $2 materials:
| Job | Stitches | Thread changes | Per piece | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small chest logo, 1 piece | 5,000 | 2 | $11.00 (the $8 minimum applies) | $11.00 |
| Same logo, 24 pieces, $25 setup | 5,000 | 2 | $11.00 | $289.00 |
| Name on a towel ($8 materials with the towel) | 12,000 | 3 | $21.50 | $21.50 |
| Large jacket back ($3 materials) | 40,000 | 5 | $45.50 | $45.50 |
The jacket back takes over an hour of machine time (about 67 minutes at 650 stitches a minute, plus thread changes), which is why large designs are priced by stitches and not by piece.
How to price a job, step by step
- Get the stitch count. Open the design in the embroidery viewer: it shows the stitch count, colors, size and an estimated run time.
- Count the thread changes. On a single-needle machine, that’s usually the number of colors minus one.
- Enter both in the embroidery price calculator, with your rates. It saves your rates in your browser, so next time you only enter the design.
- Add the quantity and any setup fee. You get the price per piece, the order total and the machine time.
- Round to a clean price and write it on the quote, with what’s included (blank or not).
Quantity discounts and extras
- Quantity: setup is shared across the order, so larger orders already cost less per piece. Some shops also lower the rate per 1,000 stitches for big orders.
- Hard items: caps, bags, thick towels and items that need special hooping take longer. Add a fee per piece or raise the minimum.
- Customer-supplied blanks: say up front that you can’t replace a blank that gets damaged, or charge a little more to cover the risk.
- Rush orders: charge extra when a job jumps the queue.
Price check before you send a quote
- Does the price cover your time, including hooping and trimming?
- Is the minimum per piece high enough for very small designs?
- Did you include the blank, or say clearly that it’s not included?
- Would you be happy to sew this order again at this price?