Tailor Pricing and Bookkeeping for Fashion Designers in Nigeria

🌍 Nigeria & Africa · By Fincaly Team · 2026-10-26 · 8 min read

Tailor pricing starts with the full cost of one outfit: fabric, lining and notions, the labour of everyone who works on it, and a share of your running costs, with a profit on top. Record the deposit and balance for every order so you always know what is paid, what is owed and what each outfit earned.

For tailors and fashion designers, money gets confusing quickly. Customers pay deposits, fabric comes from different suppliers, helpers are paid per piece, and rush orders squeeze the week. This guide gives you a system that keeps prices fair and profit visible.

Tailor pricing: what goes into the price of an outfit

• Materials: fabric, lining, zips, buttons, thread, interfacing and any embellishment
• Labour: your time, plus the pay of tailors, seamstresses, cutters and finishers
• Overheads: rent, power, data, machine repairs, transport, packaging
• Profit: the amount you want to keep after everything

Example (illustrative): materials ₦18,000, labour ₦12,000 and an overhead share of ₦5,000 come to ₦35,000. At a 30% margin, divide by 0.70 to get about ₦50,000. Learn the calculation in how to calculate profit margin.

Cost your fabric properly

Fabric is usually the biggest cost, so measure it carefully:

• Record the price per yard or per bundle, and the delivery cost
• Allow for wastage, since cutting always leaves offcuts
• Cost lining and interfacing separately
• Track leftover fabric, which can become another item, or a loss if unused
• Update your cost when a supplier changes the price

If you buy fabric for a client, note that clearly, because the cost belongs to the order and is repaid by the deposit.

Deposits and balances

Take a deposit before you buy fabric or start cutting. Many tailors ask for half. Record each order with:

• Customer, outfit and delivery date
• Total price, deposit paid, balance owed
• Materials cost and labour cost
• Date the balance was received

Never treat a deposit as profit. It is money received for work still to do. This protects you when a customer cancels and keeps your cash flow honest. See how to track sales from cash, transfers and POS.

An order record you can copy

Profit here is price minus materials and labour, before overheads. At month end, subtract overheads to see your real profit.

Paying helpers and apprentices

If you pay per piece, record each piece against the order so you know the true labour cost. If you pay a salary, divide it across orders. Agree rates in advance and write them down. Underestimating labour is a common reason a busy workshop earns little.

Rush jobs and changes

Rush jobs cost more because they displace other work and often need overtime. Price them higher and state this up front, for example a rush fee of 25% to 50%. Charge for changes requested after the final fitting, or record the extra time as a cost. Set a clear policy and share it with every customer.

Track profit per order

At the end of each month, list your orders and the profit on each. You will see:

• Which styles earn the most for the time they take
• Which customers are slow to pay
• Which materials cost more than you charged for
• Where to raise prices

Use the results to adjust. Read pricing products in Naira when costs rise for a routine.

Plan around busy seasons

Orders cluster around weddings, festivals, graduations and year end. Save in busy months to cover the quiet ones, and take bookings early with deposits. See how to manage cash flow in the slow season. Avoid taking more orders than you can finish, because late deliveries lose customers.

Keep business and personal money apart

Use a business account and pay yourself a set amount. Do not use customer deposits for personal needs, because you will owe fabric or labour later. See separating business and personal money.

Pricing by garment type

Different garments need different pricing logic:

• Simple items, such as shirts and skirts, are fast to make, so volume and consistent quality matter most.
• Structured items, such as suits, corsets and agbada, take far more time and skill, so price them on hours as much as materials.
• Heavily embellished items, such as beaded or hand-embroidered pieces, need a separate line for the extra labour and materials.
• Bridal and event sets carry more risk and pressure, so build in a larger buffer and stricter deadlines.

Keep a price list for common styles and a quote method for custom ones. Update the list whenever fabric or labour costs move.

Fittings, pickup and unclaimed outfits

Agree fitting dates when you take the order, and record them. Set a clear pickup policy, for example that outfits not collected within a set number of weeks may incur a storage fee. Unclaimed outfits with balances unpaid tie up your fabric and cash. Chase early, and never release a finished outfit until the balance is paid, unless you have a written arrangement.

Common mistakes

• Underpricing because a competitor is cheaper
• Not including your own time
• Forgetting offcuts and wastage
• Buying fabric before receiving the deposit
• Mixing customers' money with your own
• Not recording alterations and free fixes

Next steps

Cost your five most common outfits this week, using real receipts. Compare the result with your price and adjust the one that earns least. Fincaly can track orders and profit in Naira; see pricing.

Cover photo by Ali Mkumbwa on Unsplash.

Frequently asked questions

Should I take a deposit for every outfit?

Yes. A deposit covers your materials and shows the customer is committed. Record it separately from the final payment.

How do I price rush orders?

Charge more than the normal price and state it in advance, because rush work displaces other jobs and often means overtime.

How do I know which styles are most profitable?

Record materials and labour for each order, then compare profit per order and per hour of work.