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> Education Resources > FAQs > Embroidery Production & Operations > Should I charge my customer for sample sewouts

Should I charge my customer for sample sewouts?
In reality, it makes sense to provide the customer with a sample at no charge so he can give his approval. However, if the customer starts asking for multiple samples, then your costs are going to escalate quickly. Sew-outs take time to produce, and if you are a single-head shop, they monopolize your equipment.

If this is happening to you, take a closer look at the situation. Are the endless sew-out requests due to a problem with the design, or is it just the customer trying out different looks? Consider setting a policy to limit how many “free” sew-outs you will provide. Typically the limit should be one, unless there is a real problem with the logo. After that, the customer should be charged for each additional sew-out and of course any editing that is not the result of a design problem.

If you are a Digitizer, then you need to keep in mind, that producing a sew-out is part of the cost of doing a job, and you should incorporate that cost into the price. For example, if you were charging $40.00/hour for digitizing services and you spent one hour creating a design for a customer, then another thirty minutes producing a sew-out, you should have charged $60.00 for the job. That extra thirty minutes was not free! This job was 1 ½ hours in length, not 1 hour.

As a final thought, anytime a machine is “tied up” running a sample, it results in revenue producing work being put on hold. So not only are you losing money by not charging for the sew-out, you are also losing money by delaying the jobs that pay your