How to Price a Fabric Collection that Sells

Creating a cohesive and compelling fabric collection is one of the best ways to elevate and build your brand. As creatives, we love the entire design process. From planning, to developing artwork, to seeing our fabrics come to life, there’s nothing more exciting than watching our ideas come to fruition.

Then, reality hits and we realize that a price point has to be assigned to the final product in order to sell it. There’s nothing more deflating to a creative than thinking about the value of what we’ve designed. Even more upsetting is completing an entire line only to realize that we’re too heavy in one price structure, and totally lacking in another.

Once a collection is ready for market is not the time to decide on pricing structures.   That strategy needs to happen even before the first piece of artwork is developed. Thankfully, there’s an easy method we’ve used for decades that can be translated into any sized line.

Let’s Plan

An engaging collection needs a minimum of 10 fabrics to keep customers interested and offer enough variety. How you structure those 10 fabrics in terms of pricing is just as important as the designs you create for each of them. In fact, not being strategic in your pricing can cause your customer to undervalue your overall collection, and stifle their ability to choose multiple items because they don’t understand the difference.

Let’s look at breaking those 10 fabrics down into price points to ensure that you cover both your customer's needs, and their wants. 

Value

While value may sound cringe-worthy to some, it’s important to offer your customers a starting price point that allows them to pair fabrics within all of your categories. When choosing fabrics for a room, some items are splurge-worthy, while others need to be staples. You want your customer to pair multiple designs from your line, rather than going to another offering. 

In a collection of 10 fabrics, at least 2 need to fall into the value price range. One should be a classic basic that can pair with everything else in your line. The other can be more distinct or trend-focused, while still appealing to your target. Often, these fabrics add subtle visual interest to your line without overwhelming the overall aesthetic of it.  

Moderate

The mid-level price range is the bread and butter of your collection, making up roughly 60% of your fabric offering. Since the vast majority of your customers will purchase from within this range, you should offer a variety of looks and styles. From up-leveled basics to fabrics that feature current trends, this tier of pricing allows your customers to experiment with new looks at a price point they are familiar with.

Within this price category, you need at least 6 fabrics. Within those 6, a variety of styles and looks should be covered. In general, we try to offer a range of looks from transitional (a combination of classic and modern that speaks to the largest range of customers), classics (think designs with longevity that everyone loves, like stripes or herringbone), on-trend (items that speak to current trends) and trend-forward (items that speak to trends that are pushing the envelope). In addition, we uplevel our color stories in this category, making sure that every color is upscaled and on-trend, with at least one color being trend-forward.

High end

Fabrics at the high end are known for their extravagance and should leave an impression. Whether that extravagance comes from the materials used, or the intricacy of the artwork, fabrics in this grouping should push the boundaries. Often, this category is used to create show-stoppers that grab the customer’s attention, knowing that most will purchase from the other categories. Use this category as an opportunity to really show your brand’s personality and upleveled skill set.

Within this price point, you need at least 2 fabrics. One should be a more “neutral” feeling fabric, in that it should work in a wide variety of settings, not necessarily a neutral color. This is the one most would choose for the splurge. The other should really push the limits of style and make the customer stop and take note. This one could be extravagant in detail, an incredible piece of art that has unique elements of surprise not seen in the rest of your collection, or a color story that really stands out. These two are where your creativity and expression really get to play, so enjoy!

Covering a varied price range in your product line is a great strategy at any level. Keep in mind that all pricing, of course, is relative to the overall pricing strategy of your brand. If your average price point is $125, the value price point may be $95, and your high may be $250. Whereas another brand's average price point of $45 might make their value price point $25, and their high $95. Make sure that your range makes sense, and honors the work that has gone into your offering. There are customers for every price point. Customers who see a range in pricing are more likely to pause and consider the items you are presenting, knowing that the pricing structure is meaningful.

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