Pricing Your Baby Dresses

Pricing your baby dresses.

I sell at a local mom and pop store.
She buys everything I make.
We both have input
I sell cheap for two reasons.  My shop sells cheap.  And, having never done this before, I accepted the prices she set.  We are beginning to do a little negotiating but I think the owner is wonderful and I will stay within her budget!

If she buys the fabric, she pays me $6 per dress -- dresses that have less than 20 steps (less than an hour to make).  This is way too low and I will not let her buy fabric again unless she also buys the ribbon and the thread and it is a special project.  We are making Christmas dresses for the Junior League Christmas Shop.  I did not want to get caught with 10 yards of Christmas fabric so I made an exception to my new rule.  For her store, $7.50 is probably the best I can get per dress with her shop buying all the supplies.  Time to renegotiate.

To make $7.50 work, make matching "purses" or "gift bags" and sell to shop for $3, she sells for $6.  These bags take less than 30 minutes to make--about 7 seams.

Or make a hair bow or headband to match--another quick project.

When I make the dresses from my supplies, I get $10.50 per dress--any size.  My cost is about $2.50 if I shop sales.

We just renegotiated dresses made from LSU  fabric.  This is more expensive.  So I am getting $12.50 per dress and she had to raise her prices from $20 to $25 or thereabouts.

When I take this show on the road--market to new shops, I will raise my prices.  High end baby boutiques sell their simple play clothes for $30 to $70.  For my simple dresses, I hope to get $15.  For a two piece set, $20.

I use all Hobby Lobby fabrics--high end for our area.  I live in the south, no celebrities, mostly middle class.  You have to price for your market, the community you are selling in, and this is what will work for me.

My ultimate goal is to earn about $2000 a month.

You have to know your goal!

If I get a little more ambitious, I may try to find some more "home sewers" to make my dresses.  My goal will be to add $5 to the price I pay them as my profit.

Why this works!

I do not make a large line--sinking money into supplies, labor, etc., on speculation that I will be able to sell them.  In researching how to start a baby design business, people invested thousands of dollars in setting up an LLC, creating a business plan, ordering bolts of fabric and supplies, hiring manufacturers to make dresses, etc.  This is risky business.  Unless you have an established business with established clients--you could lose big.