Guide · Alterations
How to price bridal alterations
Most alteration prices are set by habit: what the previous seamstress charged, what the shop down the road asks, a round number that felt right. The price that keeps a workroom profitable starts somewhere else, with how long each job really takes and what an hour of that work costs you.
Why do alterations lose money?
Because the price is fixed and the time is not. A hem on a plain crepe dress and a hem on a three-layer skirt with a lace edge are both called “hem”, but one takes an hour and the other a day. When both have the same price, the second one is paid for by the profit of the first, or by nobody.
Small jobs hide the problem. An extra fitting that was not in the quote, a bustle redone because the bride changed her mind, ten minutes of steaming that nobody charges for: each is small, together they are a large part of the workroom's week.
What hourly rate should the price be built on?
Not the seamstress's wage. The rate you charge must cover:
- The wage of the person doing the work, plus the employer's costs on top of it.
- Overhead: rent, machines, electricity, software, the hours spent at the counter and on the phone.
- Time that is not sold: fittings, consultations, unpicking a mistake, waiting for the bride.
- Profit, so the workroom can survive a slow month and pay for a new machine.
Add up a normal month of these costs and divide by the hours of alteration work you really sell in that month, not the hours the workroom is open. The result is often much higher than shops expect, and that is the point: it is the rate the work actually costs. The costing guide uses the same logic for a whole gown.
How do I find out how long each job takes?
Time it for a few weeks. For every alteration, write down the job, the gown (fabric, layers, lace or beading) and the minutes it took from start to finish, including pinning and pressing. After twenty or thirty jobs you have your own numbers: how long a simple hem takes, how much longer a layered one takes, what a lace hem adds.
Your numbers beat any table from elsewhere, because they include your machines, your seamstresses and the gowns your brides actually buy. Time them again when the team or the kind of gowns you sell changes.
What belongs on the price list?
The jobs you do every week, priced from your measured time and your hourly rate, each with what changes the price:
- Hem, priced by the number of layers, with a separate line for lace or beaded edges and for a train.
- Taking in or letting out at the sides or bodice, more when the seams are boned, lined or beaded.
- Straps and sleeves: adding, shortening or removing.
- Bustle, priced by the number of points.
- Small work: a zip, buttons, a loop, cups sewn in, pressing and steaming.
Anything that depends on the gown (moving lace, rebuilding a corset, reshaping a skirt) is not on the list. It is quoted after the first fitting, when the dress is on the bride and pinned.
How do I quote a complex alteration?
- Pin the dress on the bride first. Never quote a complex job from a photo or from the hanger.
- Write each job as its own line with its time and price, so the bride sees what she is paying for and can drop a line.
- Add the fittings the work needs. A big change needs a second fitting; put it in the quote.
- Agree it in writing before you cut, with a deposit for jobs where you buy materials or unpick lace.
How do I handle changes and extra fittings?
Say at the start what the quote includes: which jobs, how many fittings, and pressing at the end. Anything the bride adds later is a new line with its own price, agreed before you do it. A bride rarely objects to paying for a change she asked for; she objects to a total that grew without her knowing.
How does SewingERP help?
In SewingERP each alteration is a job on the bride's card, optionally linked to her dress, with a description, a price, a due date, the seamstress it is assigned to, notes and attached photos. Quick-fill buttons write the usual descriptions (shortening, taking in the waist or bust, zip, lace, stones). The job moves from open to in progress, ready and delivered, its price is added to the bride's balance, and late alterations appear in the dashboard's “What's stuck today” list.
SewingERP does not time alterations: the hours per stage it records belong to the dresses that go through your workroom stages. For alterations, time a few weeks of jobs by hand as described above and turn the results into your price list. Alterations are included in every plan, Salon included.
Questions
How much should I charge for wedding dress alterations?
Start from the time the job really takes in your workroom, multiply it by an hourly rate that covers wages, employer costs, overhead and profit, and add any materials. That gives a price that pays for itself. Market prices differ a lot between countries and cities, so use local prices as a check on your number, not as the number.
Should alterations have a price list or be quoted per dress?
Both. A price list for the common jobs (hem, taking in the sides, straps, bustle) makes the counter quick and consistent. Lace, beading, layered skirts and corsets vary too much from gown to gown, so they are quoted after the dress is pinned at the first fitting.
Is a bridal hem more expensive than a normal hem?
Usually, because it is a different job: several layers, often lace or beading along the edge that has to be taken off and put back by hand, and a train. Price it by the layers and the edge finish, not as one line called hem.
Should alterations be paid in advance?
Take part of the price when the work is agreed, especially for jobs where you buy materials or unpick lace, and the rest before the dress is handed back. Write the quote down and have the bride confirm it before you cut.