How to price clothing for your online store
Published by: Fashion Dropshipping · Research method
To price clothing for an online store, calculate the full cost of serving an order, decide what you need to retain, compare relevant customer alternatives and check discounts before publishing the price. Doubling the supplier price does not automatically cover shipping, fees, returns and marketing.
This guide helps you choose a selling price for a product. Use the startup-budget guide for bills and cash reserves, and the existing order-cost calculator to review a broader order, including any shipping charged to a customer. For the whole setup journey, start with how to start an online clothing store.
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Five steps to price clothing for an online store
1. Define the product, customer and delivery market
Price a specific garment and destination. A supplier’s starting price for one variant does not establish the cost of every size, color or shipping route. Record the product reference, selected variant and check date. If you are still choosing your audience, use the clothing-store niche guide first.
Compare similar products on fit information, materials, care, delivered price and return terms. Your price needs to make sense to a customer as well as cover your model. A calculation cannot establish willingness to pay, and a high listed price at another store is not proof that it sells.
2. List costs that follow the order
Start with the garment and shipping, then add applicable fees and your assumptions for acquisition and unrecovered return costs. If you allocate subscriptions or other overhead per order, count that allocation once. Keep money reserved for paying suppliers or refunds separate: a cash reserve is not automatically another expense on every order.
Use the same currency and a consistent tax basis. A price that includes tax collected for an authority is not all revenue you retain. Review the fee base and tax treatment for the actual market before using a simplified model.
3. Work back from the amount you want to retain
Choose a target amount after the costs you included. It is a planning decision, not an industry benchmark. A target of zero only covers the listed assumptions; it does not compensate you for excluded work or expenses.
Planning price floor = (costs excluding the percentage fee + target amount remaining) ÷ (1 − percentage fee as a decimal).
Include any fixed transaction fee in costs. This formula assumes the percentage fee applies to the selling price used in the calculation.
If the resulting price is not plausible for your customer, revisit the product, sourcing or cost assumptions. Raising the target or applying a standard markup does not create a market for the garment.
4. Check the price after a discount
A percentage discount reduces revenue while many order costs stay the same. Recalculate the fee and remaining amount at the discounted price. Also check what happens when a shipping promotion, a different variant or a higher acquisition cost changes the order.
5. Record the decision and review it
Keep the proposed price, supplier reference, delivery market, cost sources, discount rule and next review date together. After launch, replace assumptions with actual retained revenue and costs. Use the launch checklist to review the wider buying and fulfillment journey before accepting orders.
Clothing markup versus margin: know the denominator
In a simplified example with $20 of cost of goods and a $40 selling price, the product’s gross spread is $20. Markup is $20 ÷ $20 = 100%. Gross margin is $20 ÷ $40 = 50%. A 100% markup is therefore not a 100% margin.
These figures do not mean $20 of take-home profit. Additional fulfillment, operating, acquisition and return costs can reduce what remains. Be explicit about what is included in the cost of goods and what you subtract separately. The worksheet below shows the amount after its listed costs rather than labeling it net profit.
A fictional clothing-pricing example
These are invented USD inputs for a one-shirt order with delivery included in the price. They are not a Trendsi quote, a Shopify processing rate, a tested return rate or a record of our store performance. Tax collected for authorities is excluded.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Product | $16.00 |
| Shipping paid by the store | $7.00 |
| Return-cost allowance | $3.00 |
| Other allocated costs | $2.00 |
| Acquisition | $8.00 |
| Fixed fee | $0.20 |
| Costs before percentage fee | $36.20 |
| Percentage fee assumption | 3% |
| Chosen target amount remaining | $2.00 |
($36.20 + $2.00) ÷ 0.97 = $39.3814…, rounded upward to a $39.39 planning price floor. At a proposed $40 price, the percentage fee is $1.20 and $2.60 remains after the listed costs.
The existing order calculator starts with a flat $2 fee assumption; this example instead models a fictional 3% plus $0.20 fee. The fee models differ intentionally. When comparing results, align the inputs and count each expense once.
What happens when you discount the shirt?
| Discount from $40 | Selling price | Amount remaining after listed costs |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $40.00 | $2.60 |
| 5% | $38.00 | $0.66 |
| 10% | $36.00 | −$1.28 |
| 20% | $32.00 | −$5.16 |
The 10% discount removes $4 of selling price while reducing the percentage fee by only $0.12. What remains falls by $3.88, from $2.60 to −$1.28. More orders with these same assumptions would add modeled losses rather than fix the price.
Free worksheet · No email or account
Check a clothing price and discount
Replace the fictional example to see a planning price floor and what remains at your proposed regular and discounted prices.
Use a single-item order, one currency, delivery included in the selling price and amounts excluding tax collected for authorities. All ten number fields are required; use 0 for a cost that does not apply. Percentage fees apply only to that selling price. Costs and the target use up to two decimal places. Amounts can be 0–1,000,000; selling price must be positive. Your entries are not submitted, stored by this worksheet or sent to custom analytics. Calculate again after editing.
This model does not calculate tax, currency conversion, bundles, additional shipping revenue or discount combinations. It keeps the percentage fee unrounded until the final result; provider rounding can differ. The discounted price is rounded to cents first, and the planning floor is rounded upward. The fixed fee remains included even for a zero-revenue example. Results are after listed assumptions, before any excluded expenses or income taxes.
Download the blank pricing worksheet (.txt)
Your modeled price check
Based only on the inputs below; this is not verified profit or a recommended retail price.
- Planning price floor for your target
- Remaining at proposed regular price
- Discounted selling price
- Remaining at discounted price
Inputs used in this check
Keep this input record with your product sources and check date. Print or save to PDF before refreshing or leaving; this worksheet does not save your inputs.
Apply the decision in your Shopify product draft
- Choose one product or variant and record its verified cost information.
- Enter the selling price you decided to investigate. Review each variant when its cost differs.
- Use the cost-per-item field consistently; a product-level margin display does not replace your complete order-cost sheet.
- If showing a sale, use a supportable original price in the compare-at field and the actual sale price in the price field. Do not invent an inflated original price to make a discount look larger.
- Preview the product and checkout in your intended market. Check currency, delivery charges, discounts and tax treatment against the price decision you recorded.
Compare-at pricing and discount codes are different mechanisms. Review the final checkout amount and any allowed combinations instead of assuming a displayed sale price is the last possible reduction.
For the words around your chosen price, use our clothing-description examples and template. Clear copy explains the actual garment without inventing features to justify a price.
Clothing-pricing questions for beginners
What markup should I use for clothing dropshipping?
There is no universal markup that covers every store. Start with your actual order costs, customer market and target amount remaining. A fixed multiple of the garment price ignores differences in delivery, fees and acquisition costs.
Is a 50% gross margin enough?
That depends on what it still needs to cover. A product-level margin can look large while an order loses money after shipping, returns and marketing. Compare the same cost definitions when reviewing products.
Can I offer free shipping?
You can include delivery in the customer’s price, but the shipping bill still belongs in your cost model. The worksheet follows that arrangement. If you charge shipping separately, use the broader order calculator and include that revenue and its applicable fees.
Should I copy a supplier’s suggested retail price?
Treat it as a starting reference. Check your destination costs, terms and customer alternatives. A suggested price does not establish your own margins or demand.
Plan your first clothing product
Use these optional guides to choose a niche, work out a price and prepare your product information. Open the task you need, then continue with the store build-along.
Links in this section open in a new tab so your worksheet stays here. Save or print your work before closing this tab or refreshing.
Next guide: prepare the size chart (new tab)
Need a different task? Browse all free clothing-store tools (new tab).
Developing your own clothing collection? Use the clothing-brand budget guide (new tab) to record development costs, batch commitments and cash reserves separately from this one-product calculation. Your calculator values stay here.
Sources and model limits
Sources checked 13 October 2026. The shirt example and worksheet are our original planning illustrations. We have not placed sample orders or tested the fictional store. Recheck provider terms and your own costs before committing to a price.
- Shopify: pricing dropshipped products and accounting for fees (affiliate reference link).
- Shopify: markup versus margin (affiliate reference link).
- Shopify: sale and compare-at prices (affiliate reference link).
- Our research method and limitations.