There are several components that factor into a projects pricing. All components are directly related to costs incurred during the production life-cycle. Costs include blank garments, setting up machines, preparing screens, ink, etc. The main components that apply to every order and weigh most heavily on pricing are Product Customization and Blank Garment Procurement.
The information below describes each component and the variables that effect their pricing. This information is intended to help customers better understand a projects production life-cycle from a pricing perspective. See the Value Engineering page for common strategies used to decrease a project's price while maintaining the overall quality and look.
This component carries the most weight when it comes to a projects pricing due in most part to the material and labor intensive tasks associated with product customization. A common customer misconception is that upon approval of artwork, all that is required to fulfill the order is for a Row Apparel representative to push the “magic button” and the project will be created in an automated fashion. This is unfortunately not the case...yet. Each project is manufactured specifically for the customer. The steps within a production life-cycle determine which variables will be applied to the pricing and to what degree.
Set-up Pricing: This pricing is associated with preparing printing and embroidery machines for production and is dependent on the graphics and printing methods being used, not the quantity of products being printed. The total set-up pricing does not change when adding products; however, as the quantity increases, the total set-up pricing can be distributed over the products which decrease the effective per unit set-up price.
Set-up pricing is fixed when you view it from the projects total pricing standpoint and variable when assessing the per unit pricing.
Run-Charge Pricing: This pricing is associated with printing and embroidering individual products. The total run charge will increase as the quantity of products being customized increases.
Run-charge pricing is variable when viewed from the projects total pricing standpoint and fixed when assessing the per unit pricing. The caveat is that there are certain pre-determined price break thresholds that when exceeded will reduce the per unit run-charge price.
The following table helps illustrate how quantity, set-up pricing, and run-charge pricing are related as well as puts the total cost and per unit cost views into perspective.
Scenario 1 (Total/ Per Unit) | Scenario 2 (Total/ Per Unit) | Scenario 3 (Total/ Per Unit) | |
---|---|---|---|
Quantity | 20 units | 45 units | 100 units |
Set-up Pricing | $90/ $4.50 | $90/ $2.00 | $90/ $0.90 |
Run-charge Pricing | $70/ $3.50 | $157.50/ $3.50 | $200/ $2.00 |
Total Production Pricing | $160/ $8.00 | $247.50/ $5.50 | $290/ $2.90 |
* Note: prices shown above are for example purposes only and may or may not be actual prices extended to a customer.
As seen in the above example, from a per unit cost standpoint it is more cost friendly to go with Scenario 3 ($2.90/ unit), not only because costs are better distributed across more units, but also because of the decreased per unit run-charge that occurs when going from 45 units to 100 units ($3.50/ unit to $2.00/ unit). This example is intended to help illustrate how production pricing is assessed. Customers quantity needs and/ or budgets typically define how a project is structured.
Number of Graphics: The more graphics, the higher the set-up and per unit run-charge pricing. Each graphic requires its own set of screens, thus the more graphics the higher the set-up price. After a graphic is printed, it will require the product to be removed from the machine, the ink cured in a dryer, then put back on the machine to receive the next graphic. The more graphics you have, the more times the product has to go through this process, thus the higher run-charge pricing.
Number of Colors As noted above, each graphic requires a set of screens. The number of screens per graphic is determined by the amount of colors within the graphic (every color gets its own screen). The more colors, the more screens, and thus a higher set-up price. As the amount of colors increases, the amount of time it takes to print a graphic increases which is reflected in the higher run-charge pricing.