Hoodie Cost Calculator: The Short Answer
A brand costs a pullover hoodie from the bottom up. Body fabric of 0.6 kilograms at an illustrative £6.00 a kilogram is £3.60, rib adds £0.42, and the drawcord, labels, cut and make, print and packing add £4.25 more. A 10 per cent factory margin takes the FOB price to £9.10. Freight, duty at an illustrative 10 per cent and UK costs bring the landed cost to £10.70. This hoodie cost calculator shows the same build-up for any inputs, with each part of the hoodie on its own line.
Every figure in this hoodie cost calculator is a placeholder chosen to show the method. A real hoodie quote will differ in each line, which is exactly what the calculator is for: put the quote in, and see which line is carrying the cost.
Use the Hoodie Cost Calculator
Enter the body fabric per hoodie in kilograms and its price per kilogram, then the rib, which is usually a separate and pricier fabric. Add the drawcord and eyelets, a zip if the style has one, labels and other trims, cut and make, decoration and packing. Then add the factory margin, freight, duty and UK costs. The hoodie cost calculator returns the FOB and landed cost per hoodie, the share fabric takes, and the order total.
Hoodie cost calculator
FOB and landed cost per hoodie
All figures are placeholders for illustration, not market prices or duty rates. Replace them with your own quote, and check the duty rate on the UK Trade Tariff.
For a zip hoodie, enter the zip cost and expect the cut and make to rise as well, since a zip takes more sewing than a pullover. Ask your factory how it prices the difference, and rerun the hoodie cost calculator with each option so that the cost of a feature is visible before it is chosen. Our guide to the cost of making a hoodie explains what moves each line.
Why a Hoodie Costs More Than a T-Shirt
A hoodie uses more and heavier fabric, has more components and takes longer to sew. The extra parts are the hood, the pocket, the rib at three edges, the drawcord and eyelets and often a lining. Each adds material, labour or both, and the result is that a hoodie usually costs noticeably more than a T-shirt to make. Compare with the T-shirt cost calculator to see the difference line by line.
What a hoodie adds to the cost sheet
| Part | Line it changes | What to ask the factory |
|---|---|---|
| Heavier body fabric | Body fabric | Fabric weight in gsm and price per kg |
| Rib cuffs and hem | Rib | Rib fabric, weight and usage per piece |
| Hood and hood lining | Body fabric, cut and make | Single or double layer, and the extra fabric |
| Drawcord and eyelets | Trims | Material, length and finish of cord and metal or plastic eyelets |
| Zip | Trims, cut and make | Zip type, brand and the extra sewing charge |
| Pockets | Body fabric, cut and make | Kangaroo or side pockets and any lining |
A qualitative guide to where hoodie features appear on a cost sheet. Prices vary by factory and specification.
The trims that look small, such as drawcord and eyelets, are often quoted as a single figure. Ask for it to be split, because it makes a comparison between two factories much fairer.
The Example Hoodie Cost Sheet
The table lays out the example hoodie line by line. Fabric and make are the large lines, and the rest are small but numerous, which is why a hoodie quote is easy to misread.
Example cost sheet for one pullover hoodie
| Line | Per hoodie |
|---|---|
| Body fabric | £3.60 |
| Rib | £0.42 |
| Drawcord and eyelets | £0.35 |
| Labels and trims | £0.30 |
| Cut and make | £2.60 |
| Print, embroidery or wash | £0.70 |
| Packing | £0.30 |
| Factory margin (10%) | £0.83 |
| FOB per hoodie | £9.10 |
| Freight, duty and UK costs | £1.60 |
| Landed cost per hoodie | £10.70 |
Arithmetic from the placeholder inputs in the calculator: 0.6 kg body fabric at £6.00 per kg, 0.06 kg rib at £7.00 per kg, 10% factory margin, 10% duty on FOB plus freight. Not market prices or duty rates.
Compare the FOB line with a quote you have received. If a quote comes in well below the sum of reasonable lines, ask what has been left out, or which quality has been reduced. Our guide to reducing hoodie FOB cost by 5 per cent looks at the choices that really move it.
Where the Money Goes in a Hoodie
The pie shows the example as shares of the landed cost. Fabric and cut and make are the two big slices, and the freight, duty and UK costs together form a slice that is easy to overlook.
Share of the example landed cost by line
- Body fabric and rib (£4.02)37.6%
- Drawcord and trims (£0.65)6.1%
- Cut and make (£2.60)24.3%
- Decoration and packing (£1.00)9.3%
- Factory margin (£0.83)7.7%
- Freight, duty and UK costs (£1.60)15%
Arithmetic from the example cost sheet: landed cost £10.70 per hoodie. Placeholder inputs, not market figures.
A brand that works only from the FOB price misses about 15 per cent of the landed cost. Our landed cost calculator adds the UK side in more detail.
What Fabric Weight Does to the Cost
Fabric weight is the biggest design decision for hoodie cost. The table scales the example body fabric in proportion to gsm, holding the pattern and the price per kilogram constant. Real prices per kilogram differ by fabric and weight, so treat it as a first approximation.
Body fabric and landed cost at four fabric weights
| Fabric weight (gsm) | Body fabric (kg) | Body fabric cost | Landed cost per hoodie |
|---|---|---|---|
| 280 | 0.525 | £3.15 | £10.15 |
| 320 | 0.600 | £3.60 | £10.70 |
| 400 | 0.750 | £4.50 | £11.79 |
| 450 | 0.844 | £5.06 | £12.47 |
Body fabric scaled from 0.6 kg at 320 gsm in proportion to gsm; price per kg held at £6.00 for illustration. Other lines unchanged.
Moving from 320 to 450 gsm adds about £1.80 to the landed cost in this simplified model, more than the whole cost of the drawcord, trims and packing together. Our guide to the true cost of a 400 gsm hoodie works through it in full.
Which Lines Move a Hoodie's Cost Most?
Raising each line by 10 per cent in turn shows where negotiating effort pays. The chart does it for five lines in the example.
Rise in landed cost from a 10% increase in each line, in pence
Pence per hoodie
Arithmetic from the example cost sheet; duty recalculated. Illustrative inputs.
Body fabric moves the cost most, in price and in quantity used. Decoration and freight barely register. That does not mean decoration is unimportant, only that a saving there will be small. For the choices behind the numbers, see our guide to hoodie fabric GSM, French terry and fleece.
Using the Calculator to Compare Two Quotes
The most practical use of a hoodie cost calculator is comparing two quotes for what looks like the same garment. Enter each quote's figures, line by line, and see where they diverge. One factory may quote cheaper body fabric but charge more for rib, or quote a low cut and make but leave decoration and packing off. A difference that is hard to see in two totals is plain when the lines sit side by side.
Where a quote gives only a single FOB figure, ask for a breakdown. A factory that is confident in its price will usually provide one, and the exercise often surfaces differences in fabric weight or trims that explain the gap. Our guide to comparing two hoodie suppliers with different FOBs goes through the process in more detail.
Quantity, Decoration and the Cost of Small Runs
Many costs in the calculator are per piece, but some are set-up costs spread across the order. Print screens, embroidery digitising and sampling are paid once, so a small order carries them heavily and a large one hardly notices. If you are weighing a first run against a repeat, add the set-up costs to the decoration line as a total divided by the quantity.
A repeat order is usually cheaper per piece than a first run for the same reason, since sampling and tooling are already paid for. If you expect to reorder, ask the factory whether a first-run quote can show set-up charges separately, so you can see what a repeat will cost without them.
Fabric minimums matter too. A mill may require a minimum quantity of a dyed fabric, and if your order is smaller, the price per kilogram may rise or the fabric may have to come from stock in a limited colour range. Ask early, since it changes the first line of the cost sheet more than anything else.
Checks Before You Accept a Hoodie Price
A hoodie quote is easy to compare when it lists the same lines. A short checklist helps.
What to confirm on a hoodie quote
- Fabric type, weight in gsm and finish, and its price basis
- Rib fabric and whether it matches the body shade
- Drawcord, eyelet and zip specification, written out
- Decoration method, size and number of colours
- Packing method, and pieces per carton
- Which costs are FOB and which fall on you after loading
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.
Once the hoodie cost is clear, turn it into a price with the clothing markup calculator, and use the more general garment costing calculator for other styles.
How Ruhrose Helps You Cost a Hoodie
Ruhrose develops hoodies, fleece, jersey, denim and woven casualwear for UK buyers, with production in Bangladesh. We explain what the lines of a hoodie quote cover, sample before bulk, and help you see which choices, such as fabric weight, rib and decoration, move the cost per piece. Ruhrose's clothing manufacturing pages show what we make.
Before you accept a hoodie price, ask yourself one question: do you know how much of it is fabric?