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Nobody starts a fashion brand and deliberately decides to underprice their work. It does not happen like that. What actually happens is a lot quieter and a lot more emotional than most people admit.You are new, you are excited, you want people to buy and the easiest way to make that happen feels like keeping the prices low. So you do. And for a while it even seems to be working. The orders come in, the clients are happy, the page is growing. But somewhere around month four or five something starts to feel off. You price low to get people in. And it works, until it really does not.
- The First Order and Where It All Goes Wrong
- What You Are Actually Selling Yourself Short On
- The Client Who Only Came Because You Were Cheap
- The Raise Your Prices Advice That Nobody Explains Properly
- How to Know If You Are Underpricing Right Now
- A Simple Way to Start Fixing It
- What Happens When You Start Charging Properly
The First Order and Where It All Goes Wrong
Think back to your very first order or even your first few. Someone asked for a piece, you quoted a price and somewhere in your head you were calculating what you thought they would agree to pay rather than what the work was actually worth. Maybe you even felt a little embarrassed to say a higher number. Maybe you told yourself you would charge more once you got more known.
That moment right there is where the pricing mistake begins. Not in the fabric market. Not in the sewing room. It begins in your head before you even send the quote.
A lot of new Nigerian fashion brands start from a place of seeking approval through affordability. And it makes sense emotionally. You are new, you want to prove yourself and low prices feel like a way to remove the barrier for people to give you a chance. But what it actually does is set a standard that becomes very hard to move away from later.
What You Are Actually Selling Yourself Short On
Here is a real breakdown of what goes into one custom piece that most new designers forget to account for when pricing.
You have the fabric cost which most people remember. Then you have the lining, the zipper, the thread, the interfacing, the buttons or hooks, all the small things that quietly add up. Then there is the cost of getting to the market and back. The cost of the electricity your machine runs on. The cost of your packaging because you are not handing over a garbage bag. The cost of the delivery whether you are going yourself or sending a rider.
And then there is your time. The hours you spent sketching or discussing with the client. The time at the market sourcing. The hours cutting, pinning, sewing, finishing, steaming and packaging. If you added all of that up and paid yourself even a modest hourly rate, the number would probably shock you.
Most new brands add up only the fabric cost, add a small amount on top and call it a price. Everything else just disappears into their own pocket without them realising it. That is not a business. That is volunteering with extra steps.
The Client Who Only Came Because You Were Cheap
This is the part nobody wants to talk about but it is so important. When you price too low, you attract clients who are primarily motivated by the low price. Not by your skill. Not by your aesthetic. Not by what your brand represents. Just the price. And that client is usually the most stressful one to work with.
They negotiate further after you have already given them a low price. They ask for additions that were not in the original brief. They compare you to whoever is cheapest at any given time. They do not refer their friends in a way that helps your brand grow because they are sending people to you with the message that you are the affordable option.
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Meanwhile the client who is willing to pay properly is out there right now looking for a designer whose prices signal that the work is worth something. If your prices do not say that, they will keep scrolling.
The Raise Your Prices Advice That Nobody Explains Properly
You have probably heard people say just raise your prices. And while that is true it is also incomplete advice because the question is always how. You cannot just wake up tomorrow and double your prices without anything else changing and expect it to go smoothly. Raising your prices has to come with something. Better presentation. More consistent quality. A clearer brand identity. Professional communication. Packaging that feels intentional. These things are what make a higher price feel justified to the client.
Think about it this way. Two designers are selling a similar midi dress. One sends you a voice note with the price after keeping you waiting two days. The other has a clean page, responds professionally, sends you a proper quote and delivers in branded packaging. Same dress. But one of them can charge significantly more and people will pay it without flinching.
The price is connected to the entire experience. So when you are working on raising your prices, work on the full experience at the same time.
How to Know If You Are Underpricing Right Now
Ask yourself these questions honestly. After completing an order and covering all your costs, are you left with an amount that actually feels worth the time and energy you put in? When a client pays you, does it feel like fair exchange or does it feel like you did them a favour? Are you ever relieved when a client cancels because the price you gave them was not really worth the stress of completing the order?
If you answered yes to any of those, your prices are probably not where they need to be.
Another honest check is to look at how you feel when someone asks your price. If you feel a little embarrassed or you automatically brace for them to say it is too expensive before they have even responded, that feeling is telling you something important about how you actually see the value of your own work.
A Simple Way to Start Fixing It
You do not have to overhaul everything at once. Start with your next order. Write down every single cost that goes into that piece. Every material, every transport cost, your time broken down by hours, your packaging, a portion of your monthly overheads like data and electricity. Add it all up. That is your actual cost. Now decide on a profit margin that makes the work worth doing and add that on top.
Look at the final number. If it feels high to you, sit with that feeling for a moment and ask yourself honestly whether the discomfort is coming from the market or from your own belief about what you deserve to earn. Most of the time it is the second one.
What Happens When You Start Charging Properly
The first thing that happens is some people will say no and that is okay. Not everyone is your client and the sooner you make peace with that the better. But the people who say yes will be a different quality of client. More respectful of your time. More trusting of your process. More likely to come back and send their friends.
The second thing that happens is you will start to actually enjoy your work again. When you are being paid properly you are not resentful of the process. You show up to each order with more energy, more creativity and more pride in the finished result. And that shows in the work.
The third thing is your business starts to feel like a real business. Not a passion project that is quietly draining you. Something with actual margins, actual sustainability and actual potential to grow.
That is what fair pricing does. It does not just change your account balance. It changes the entire energy of how you run your brand.
Are you a fashion brand owner who has been struggling with pricing? Drop a comment or share this with someone who needs to read it today.
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