How much should clothes sell for?

[Sugarplum Faerye]

I see a lot of variation in prices for clothing on the market. Some clothing pieces can be found priced at 700L, while others are around 100L, 200L, 300L. Occasionally you see some items for less than that. So I ask, how much should clothing be priced at? For say, a jacket, a dress, a top, a pair of shoes, etc.  

Should it be based on how much time and thought designers put into their work? There's also the factor of what people want to pay, but everyone loves freebies.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

In large part it is up to the consumer as to how much they will pay for clothes as well as what marketing strategy the designer chooses.

A designer can elect to set her prices low and sell more, thus making her profit in quantity sold.  Alternatively they can set their prices high and sell less but make as much if not more.  Obviously which startegy to choose has a lot to do with the time a desgner puts into something, the quality and the style.

As a consumer I am willing to pay more for the following

• original design - no templates used
• high quality in both technical execution and in the design itself
• fine details and realistic folds and shading
• versatility - can i mix and match various pieces in the pack to make more than one outfit, or mix and match with other clothing i own.

As for freebies, they have their place.  They are good for rewarding customer loyalty, for helping new people to start out with or as a loss leader.  However I think they should be offered very sparingly.  A designer that gives too much away tells me they don't value their work and if they don't why should I?

Some freebies do have drawbacks.  You are liable to see a number of people wearing what you are, they are can be older dated designs, designs that didn't sell or items that the designer didn't think were good enough to charge for.

 

[Sassy Romano]

A merchant can price as they wish. Just as in RL, how much is a T shirt? You can get a free one at a trade show or a designer one for what some may consider a ridiculous price.

 

Out of curiousity, how do you think clothes should be priced (ignoring free items since nobody sells freebies)?

[Suki Hirano]

These are what is considered acceptible for high quality items. Stuff that looks like they were made in 2007 (non sculpt/mesh hairs and jackets, non sculpt/mesh structures with no baked textures, etc) excluded. Stuff made from templates/kits are also excluded because they're worth much less since everyone is retexturing these.

Jacket (mesh or high quality sculpt): 250-400L

Top: too much variation in style. Something like a long-sleeve shirt for maybe 100-250L

Jeans/pants: cheapest I've seen with quality that matches above criteria is 50L. Most expensive (1 bad pixel shop) I've seen is 400L

Non-formal dress: 150-350L

Formal dress like a gown: if it's cloth layer + sculpt, then around 500L. If it's 100% rigged mesh original, then not over 800L

Heels/sandals/boots: 150-500L. Vary greatly. Generally HoC has the cheapest high quality footwear, if it doesn't have what you want then look elsewhere. Note HoC has the only rigged mesh thigh boots that is not ridiculously priced in SL. 195L for a fatpack of 16 colors, original mesh creation. You cannot possibly get a better deal than this, period. Most places sell a single color for like 600L.

[Jade Nova]

It really depends on the quality of the work. I'll gladly pay $500L for a pair of boots that make me gawk in awe at the amount of detail they have and how much hard work and effort it looks like the designer put into them. But I won't even pay $200L for a pair that look like they were hastily thrown together, or look like they may have come from a prefab kit unless they were insanely awesome and a demo were available.

Something is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Quality work = higher price. Even for a high-end designer who has exceptionally good quality work, freebies are great for business. As long as the customer feels the price is justified for the item they are getting you can charge whatever you want for it. 

For example, a small face tattoo by the eye I wouldn't charge more than maybe $25L for. If it took you little time/effort to make, don't charge someone a lot for it. If you hand-drew a full body tattoo including full sleeves and they are very detailed, I would pay about $500L for them, possibly up to $100 if they are completely seamless and accentuate the curves of my avatars body (of course provided that they are my style in the first place). 

[Morgaine Christensen]

Like others have said, it depends on the creator and the creator's philosophy.  Generally, my clothing  items are from 99L to 199L for a full outfit, which generally includes shoes and multiple pieces.  I don't believe you should  have to pay a small fortune for a set of virtual clothing.  Actually, my items are probably very underpriced in comparison to other clothing creators.   But,  I am not here to make a fortune off people.  Then again,I am also not going to devalue my hard work by giving it away for "free" either. I do this cause I like to create things.

I am a small creator, who creators a variety of things besides clothing.  I don't expect to sell much more than an item every once in awhile...would probably sell much more if I promoted...LOL...but  I create what I like.  I don't try to cash in on fashion trends.  I am not out to mass produce clothing in multiple colors.  I work at my own pace.  I am not here to make a  fortune off other residents...I create for the love of creating. I create what I like for myself...I don't have one particular style  nor do I mass produce clothing in multiple colors.  For the most part, I don't create slutwear, I create what feels right  and looks nice as the moods strikes me.

A better question for clothing designers might be, what motivates you to charge what you do.  Or, what is your pricing strategy for selling your clothing items.  It might give a better idea of what they think of their work and why they charge what they do.

 

[Kembri Tomsen]

Greetings,

This question always opens a can of worms!  When I first started in 2007, my gowns were not like they are today.  As the quality of my work rose and my experience, then my prices rose, but not to elitist heights.  I've had customers tell me I should charge more, and others tell me I should charge less.  It really just depends on the customer and the designer.  It also depends on the customer base you build and what they are used to from you.

My outfits are just that, outfits from undergarments to mesh and sculpt pieces.  Depends on the outfit and the time frame, since I deal with vintage clothing from 1830 to 1930, as to what I use.  You cannot base a price on an all mesh piece or all prim, because it's ALL about the texture work.  Slapping a quick repeating texture on a piece of mesh purchased all perms from the Marketplace doesn't warrant a high price.  However, that same piece of mesh with an excellent bit of texture work applied becomes a canvas for a designer to work on.  That texture work also takes time if you want to produce quality work.

So how much should clothing sell for?  How good do you want to look and how much do you want to spend would be better questions, and that is totally up to the buyer. 

:matte-motes-sunglasses-3: 

Cordially yours,

Kembri Tomsen