Pricing custom logo embroidery services can be a very daunting and confusing adventure.
So you are ready to purchase some embroidered logo apparel. You go a Google search and find a number of companies from which can meet your needs. You find a shirt that will work for your company so now you want to know the price. But as you try and figure out how much it will cost to have your logo embroidered onto a polo shirt, you discover the pricing for custom logo embroidery can be a process in itself.
There are basically two different methods to price custom logo embroidery.
Stitch Count
In this method, the price is determined by the number of stitches it takes to create an image in embroidery. The theory is the more stitches it takes, the longer it is on the embroidery machine and therefore it would cost more.
You would see this pricing method referred to usually as “$1 per thousand stitches” for example. In this formula, a logo with 10,000 stitches would cost $10 to embroider on a shirt.
Part of the buying decision for customers is figuring out the price of an item. Some companies make this very complicated. For example, this is the embroidery pricing found on a competitor’s website.
Custom embroidered apparel or cap prices include up to 6 colors per logo, up to 10,000 stitches for the 1st logo, and up to 5,000 stitches for additional embroidery locations.$0.35 for every 1,000 stitches exceeding 10,000 stitches, per piece* (regardless of quantity purchased)
What happens if my design has 7 colors in it? Then what is the price?
I am in the business and I am not sure I understand how that pricing would work. I can’t imagine if I were a customer just wanting a few polo shirts for my company this would make any since.
Pricing by stitch count has its advantages. For the embroidery shop, it is a very accurate way to cover the costs of production.
But there are two very distinct disadvantages with a stitch count pricing method. The only way to actually know the stitch count, and therefore the price, is to have the logo set-up or digitized. That can be a time consuming process-it may even take a day or two. How does that pricing method make is easy for a customer to make a buying decision?
Secondly, the customer really has no idea of how many stitches it takes to create their logo. Only the embroidery shop knows the true number so this method is less than transparent. Information is power and in this case the customer has no information or power in this transaction.
Flat Pricing Method
The other pricing method is one that we at Thread Logic have employed since the start of our company. It is a flat pricing method.
Under this method, the cost for the custom embroidery of a logo is a flat fee and it not determine by stitch count. This makes it much easier for the customer to understand when making a decision about logo embroidered apparel.
In fact, we take it one step further; we include the cost of logo embroidery right in with the cost of the item that is to be embroidered. That way it is very easy and transparent way for customers to make a quick and educated buying decision.
Every item on our website includes the embroidery of the logo. It’s that simple. No need for a quote. No need to figure out stitch counts.
Flat pricing for custom logo apparel takes away all the disadvantages of pricing by stitch count.
So why don’t more embroidery shops use this method? That is a good question. The answer lies in the old traditions and practices of the industry. Pricing by stitch count has been around for decades and is a commonly accepted practice within the industry. It is driven by a cost account philosophy of pricing and not a customer friendly philosophy.
The flat pricing model is something we have used at Thread Logic from the time we started the company. The feedback we get from customers on it has been very positive for the reasons stated above. I would dare say it is one of the best marketing decisions we have ever made.
