About Embroidery Cost Lab

What this site does

Embroidery Cost Lab helps embroidery shop owners, side-hustle Etsy sellers, and end buyers estimate a fair price for custom embroidery jobs. The main tool is a pricing calculator that breaks every job into six visible cost layers: thread, stabilizer, needle wear, machine depreciation, labor, and digitizing amortization. A second tool estimates stitch count from design dimensions when the user doesn't know it going in.

Every guide on the site includes worked examples, cited price ranges, and internal cross-links to related jobs (hat vs snapback, left chest vs full back, per-stitch vs flat-rate digitizing).

How we source numbers

Thread costs come from Madeira, Isacord, and generic-brand retail pricing per 1,000 metres. Stabilizer costs come from Sulky and Pellon per-sheet retail. Operator hourly rates default to the US industry mid-point ($22) with a note that the full range is $20–$30 per Craftybase and MaggieFrames survey data. Per-1,000-stitch benchmarks come from MaggieFrames' pricing guides and Ricoma's decorator blog. Digitizing service rates come from published pricing at Digitizing Ninjas, Impact Digitizing, and Unique Digitize.

When we can't cite a number, we don't publish it. If a figure looks invented, please tell us — the calculator is only as useful as the honesty of its defaults.

What we won't do

We do not run affiliate links until we can honestly disclose them. We do not claim shop ownership or hands-on production experience. We do not sell customer data. We do not gate calculators behind email signup. We do not guarantee that a suggested price will win a job in your specific market — the calculator is a planning tool, not a market oracle.

Who runs this

Embroidery Cost Lab is an independent research and tooling project. It is not affiliated with any embroidery machine manufacturer, thread brand, stabilizer supplier, or digitizing service named on the site. All product mentions are for reference and citation, not endorsement.

For corrections, source additions, or feedback, use the contact information on the disclosure page.