Garment Costing Calculator: The Short Answer
A brand costs a hoodie from the bottom up. It uses 0.6 kilograms of fabric at an illustrative £6.00 a kilogram, which is £3.60, then adds £0.80 for trims and labels, £2.20 to cut and make, £0.60 of print or wash and £0.30 of packing. A 10 per cent factory margin takes the FOB price to £8.25. Freight of £0.35, duty at an illustrative 10 per cent and £0.25 of UK costs bring the landed cost to £9.71. The garment costing calculator does the sum for any set of inputs, and shows how much each line contributes.
Every number here is a placeholder to show the method. Your own fabric price, make charge and duty rate will differ, and the point of a cost sheet is to put them in one place and see how they interact.
Used well, a garment costing calculator replaces the scattered notes that most small brands keep. Instead of one number from a quote in an email, another from a forwarder and a duty rate remembered from last year, you have one sheet that shows how they add up. That makes it much easier to see why a repeat order costs more than the first, and which line changed.
Use the Garment Costing Calculator
Enter the fabric used per piece, including wastage, and the fabric price per kilogram. Add trims, cut and make, finishing and packing, then the factory margin if your quote separates it. For landed cost, add freight, the import duty rate and UK costs. Add a target margin to see the price needed, and the order quantity for totals. The garment costing calculator then builds the cost sheet line by line.
Garment costing calculator
Cost sheet to landed cost
All figures are placeholders for illustration, not market prices or duty rates. Replace them with your quote, and check the duty rate on the UK Trade Tariff.
Start with the quote you have and fill in what the garment costing calculator needs from it. Where it gives a single FOB price, put that as the cut and make line and leave the others at zero, then use the other boxes to explore what sits inside the number. Our explanation of what an FOB price includes sets out which lines a factory normally prices.
What a Garment Cost Sheet Contains
A cost sheet is a sequence of lines, each with a clear meaning. Knowing what each line should hold makes quotes easier to compare, because a quote that omits a line has not made the cost disappear, only moved it to your side.
The lines of a garment cost sheet
| Line | What it holds | Who usually prices it |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric | Fabric used per piece, including wastage, at the price per kg or metre | Factory, from the fabric supplier |
| Trims and labels | Zips, drawcords, buttons, woven and care labels, hang tags | Factory or brand |
| Cut and make | Cutting, sewing, finishing and the factory's overhead on them | Factory |
| Print, embroidery or wash | Decoration and garment treatments | Factory or specialist |
| Packing | Polybags, cartons, stickers, tissue | Factory |
| Freight and insurance | Moving goods to the UK and covering them in transit | Forwarder |
| Duty and UK costs | Import duty, clearance, handling to your warehouse | Customs and forwarder |
A general structure. The split varies between factories, and some quotes combine lines. Ask what is included.
The last three lines belong to landed cost rather than FOB, which is why a factory quote on FOB terms is not the full cost of the garment. Our landed cost calculator works from an FOB price and adds the UK side in more detail.
The Example Cost Sheet in Full
The table lays out the example hoodie, with each line in pounds and as a share of the landed cost. Fabric is the largest, and the last row shows how much of the final cost arrives after the factory.
Example cost sheet for one hoodie
| Line | Per piece | Share of landed cost |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric | £3.60 | 37.1% |
| Trims and labels | £0.80 | 8.2% |
| Cut and make | £2.20 | 22.7% |
| Print and packing | £0.90 | 9.3% |
| Factory margin | £0.75 | 7.7% |
| Freight, duty and UK costs | £1.46 | 15.0% |
| Landed cost | £9.71 | 100.0% |
Arithmetic from the placeholder inputs in the calculator: 0.6 kg at £6.00 per kg, 10% factory margin, 10% duty on FOB plus freight. Not market prices or duty rates.
The factory margin is applied here to the cost lines before it, which is one convention among several; some quotes include margin inside each line. Whatever the convention, make sure the total is the number you are comparing.
A useful exercise is to price the same garment twice, once on your own cost sheet and once from the factory quote, and compare the two line by line. Gaps tend to show up in trims, packing and decoration, which are the lines most often left vague. A garment costing calculator makes the exercise quick enough to repeat for every style in a range.
Where the Money Goes: Landed Cost Shares
The pie shows the same example as shares of the landed cost. Fabric and cut and make together are more than half, so the biggest savings usually come from them, not from the small lines.
Share of the example landed cost by cost line
- Fabric (£3.60)37.1%
- Trims (£0.80)8.2%
- Cut and make (£2.20)22.7%
- Print and packing (£0.90)9.3%
- Factory margin (£0.75)7.7%
- Freight, duty and UK costs (£1.46)15%
Arithmetic from the example cost sheet: total landed cost £9.71. Placeholder inputs, not market figures.
The two small lines at the bottom still matter because they are easy to forget. Freight, duty and UK costs together are about 15 per cent of the landed cost in the example, a sum that a brand using only the FOB price would miss. Our guide to clothing manufacturing cost goes through each driver.
Which Lines Move the Cost Most?
A cost sheet is also a sensitivity tool. Raise each line by 10 per cent in turn and see what happens to the landed cost. The table and chart do that for five lines.
Effect on landed cost of a 10% rise in one line
| Line raised by 10% | Landed cost rises by (£) | Landed cost rises by (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric price | +0.44 | +4.5% |
| Fabric used | +0.44 | +4.5% |
| Cut and make | +0.27 | +2.7% |
| Trims | +0.10 | +1.0% |
| Freight | +0.04 | +0.4% |
Arithmetic: each line raised 10% in turn, all others held at the example values; duty recalculated. Illustrative inputs.
Rise in landed cost from a 10% increase in each line, in pence
Pence per piece
Arithmetic from the example cost sheet. Illustrative inputs.
Fabric price and fabric used move the cost most, while freight barely registers. That tells you where to spend negotiating effort. Our guide to negotiating an FOB price without reducing quality looks at what is realistic.
From Cost to Price
A cost sheet ends at the landed cost, and pricing starts there. A 50 per cent gross margin on a £9.71 landed cost needs a price of £19.42, because the price is the cost divided by one minus the margin. A 100 per cent markup gives the same result, which is why the two are so often confused. Use the clothing markup calculator to move between them.
From cost lines to a selling price
- 1List the cost linesFabric, trims, cut and make, finishing, packing.
- 2Add factory marginTo reach the FOB price.
- 3Add the UK sideFreight, insurance, duty and handling.
- 4Divide by one minus the marginPrice = landed cost ÷ (1 − margin).
- 5Test the resultAfter VAT, discounts and returns.
A cost-plus price is only a starting point. It tells you the minimum the garment needs to earn, not what the market will pay. If the answer is higher than your price point, the cost sheet shows which lines to challenge.
Common Gaps in a First Cost Sheet
First cost sheets tend to leave out the same few things. Wastage is the commonest: fabric used per piece should include it, and a net figure from a pattern understates the cost. Sampling and development charges are next, because they are paid once but belong to the style. Testing and inspection come third, since they are paid to a third party and rarely appear on the factory quote.
Currency is another quiet gap. If fabric is bought in one currency, the factory quotes in another and you sell in a third, the cost sheet needs a stated exchange rate and a date. Record both beside the figures so that a change in the rate shows up as a change in the landed cost, not as an unexplained drift in margin.
Returns, discounts and marketing sit beyond the cost sheet, but they affect whether the price covers the cost. Keep the sheet to what it takes to put the garment in your warehouse, and test the selling price separately against everything that happens afterwards.
Habits for a Reliable Cost Sheet
A cost sheet is only useful if it is complete and current. A few habits keep it honest.
Keeping a garment cost sheet reliable
- Use the same lines for every style, so sheets compare
- Record the date, the quantity and the source of each figure
- Include wastage in the fabric used, not as a separate guess
- Check duty on the UK Trade Tariff rather than assuming
- Update the sheet when a quote changes, and keep the old one
- Re-test the price after VAT, discounts and returns
Check current duty rates on the UK Trade Tariff. Trade terms decide which costs fall on which side; the ICC Incoterms rules rules set out the usual divisions.
Our jeans costing sheet guide for buyers shows a version of the same idea for denim, and the hoodie cost calculator and T-shirt cost calculator apply it to two common styles.
How Ruhrose Helps You Understand a Quote
Ruhrose develops hoodies, fleece, jersey, denim and woven casualwear for UK buyers, with production in Bangladesh. We explain what the lines of a quote cover, sample before bulk and help you see which choices move the cost per piece, so your own cost sheet reflects what is really being priced. Ruhrose's clothing manufacturing pages show what we make.
Before you accept a price, ask yourself one question: could you write the cost sheet behind it?