Would you buy this

[littlemissrose]

Hey everyone,

At the moment I work as a mailwoman but that is about to change in a months time. I lost my job because I got sick too often. Because off mental issues I become stressed very easily and that stress causes migraines, headaches, eczema and other issues. Because of this I decided to try and start my own little clothing company.

The idea is to make simple clothes. Not fashion but timeless, fitted, durable, clothing. By choosing a small range off cuts and fabrics I would be able to keep costs down. I would make all clothes myself and seeing as I don't own a car or a drivers licence it'll be very local.

My question for you is:
Say someone in your neighborhood would offer it would you be interested in the concept? What would you be willing to pay for a T-shirt, or for a pair of pants?

Any comment would be appreciated.

[BernardSmith]

I think the answer is what price are the folk you are looking to sell to buy their pants and t-shirts for and the answer to that is perhaps to look at the local stores in your neck of the woods and see what they sell t-shirts and pants for? You will need to make your t-s and pants for the same price and make them with some difference that will attract the locals in your neck of the wood.. Either that or see if you can find a store that might agree to carry your clothes and sell them for you (for a cut of the price)...

[diggernotdreamer]

I would not make cheap a starting point. you have to earn a living, make some clothes, work out how much they cost you to make. If you are making one off pieces, they will take time, if you are going into manufacturing the same item, the costs then come down a bit. When you have figured out how much the materials have cost and how long it takes you to make a each garment, you will have more of an idea of what you need to charge. Say you need to make 40 pounds a day to live and you can make 2 garments per day, then you have to charge 20 pounds plus material costs per item. What is your demographic? My friend does a lot of alterations for people, zips, hems, takes in clothes, some women don't fit into the normal size range and end up buying clothes that fit badly and she alters them so as they look better. I had a shop and we were trying very hard to keep prices down, but what was happening was that we were working hard for very little and it was looking as if we would go bankrupt, so we put up our prices to what we needed to charge to stay afloat and people still paid because it was not too expensive and we gave good service

[Green Aura]

I couldn't answer your question specifically without knowing age range and gender you're aiming at as well as cost of material materials, energy, extras (anything you can't do yourself or need to buy in) etc.

The above advice is all good - work out how much you need to live on, divide that by the number you can make in a given period of time and add all your other costs, plus postage, transport etc. Then add enough to cover buying in everything you need to make another, taxes etc and a little extra (maybe 10% or more) as a contingency to cover anything you haven't considered, trialing new items or just plain wear and tear on your tools, which will need mending/replacing over time. Judge that price against a product of similar quality and see if you're anywhere near a reasonable price. Don't forget selling costs too - ebay, Etsy and all the other online marketplaces have fees as do proper market places. Shops will charge commission or you may decide to set up your own website - all these things have a cost. It sounds hugely expensive but remember it will only be a fraction of each item, which is why you need a realistic idea of how many you can make.

You may find (considering all the above) you're able to make a better living out of making just one item e.g. t-shirts, rather than spreading yourself thin trying to make different items - that can get very boring, so try to make it more interesting by doing different styles or patterns or whatever to keep up the momentum. It doesn't mean you can only make t-shirts forever, just start with what is most likely to sell easily and will give you the best chance of success, then expand your range.