For bridal and wedding shops
Price gowns and accessories with alterations and fittings counted
A gown means fittings, alterations and a long sales cycle. Add the real hours and cleaning so a sale pays for all of it.
Quick answer: how should bridal and wedding shops price a product?
Add every cost, then the fees that take a share of the price, then choose your margin. For lace wedding gown that works out at $1189.62, leaving $475.85 profit. Skip a cost and the profit shrinks without you noticing.
Check your best seller in two minutes
Take the product you sell most. If its price was set by adding a mark-up to the buy-in or fabric cost and you have never counted sample gown allowance or cancellation allowance, card fees and monthly costs, it may earn less than you think. Some items may even lose money. You will not see it in your till, only in the end-of-month result.
The mark-up trap, worked through
Marking up only the buy-in or fabric cost by 40% gives a price of $672.00. After the other costs and the fees taken from that price, the sale leaves $9.47, not the $475.85 you planned. The same costs priced properly give $1189.62.
Illustration with the example costs below. Your numbers will differ.
Where bridal and wedding shops usually lose money
Alterations and fittings
Add tailoring time per gown so the price covers it.
Sample gowns
Floor samples are sold at a discount. Add an allowance for them.
Cancellations
Add an allowance for orders that fall through.
Example: Lace wedding gown
These costs go in. The price comes out of the same engine the app uses.
- Buy-in or fabric cost$480.00
- Alterations and fittings$90.00
- Cleaning and pressing$20.00
- Garment bag and box$6.00
- Card terminal fee2.9% of price
- Sample gown allowance5% of price
- Cancellation allowance2% of price
- Profit you want40% margin
Sell it for
$1189.62
Profit per sale $475.85 on a total cost of $713.77.
What bridal and wedding shops see in the app
Real screens. Your own costs and products go in, the same kind of answers come out.
A ready cost list
Pick bridal and wedding shops and the usual cost lines appear. You fill in the amounts.
The exact price
Fees that depend on the price are solved exactly, so the profit you ask for is the profit you get.
Products that lose money
Check a whole price list at once and see which items run thin or below cost.
Already set up for bridal and wedding shops
Choose this business type in the calculator and these cost lines appear. You only fill in the amounts.
- Buy-in or fabric cost
- Alterations and fittings
- Cleaning and pressing
- Garment bag and box
- Steaming and sizing
- Rush alteration surcharge
- Card terminal fee
- Sample gown allowance
- Cancellation allowance
- Deposit refund allowance
- Showroom rent (monthly)
- Staff wages (monthly)
- Insurance (monthly)
- Ads and bridal fairs (monthly)
- Fitting-room mirrors (monthly)
- Gown storage (monthly)
What bridal and wedding shops get with CostCal Pro
The pricing maths is free. Paid plans add bulk tools and store connections.
Exact selling price
FreeEnter the buy-in or fabric cost, other costs and fees, choose a margin, and get the price that keeps it.
Catalog check
FreeUpload a product export and see which products lose money or run on a thin margin.
Discount simulator
FreeSee the largest discount that still leaves a profit before you run a sale.
Break-even
FreeAdd monthly costs and see how many sales cover them.
Branded PDF report
FreeSend a clear cost and price breakdown to a customer or partner.
CSV import and typical costs
StarterBring in many products at once and start from ready cost templates.
Store connection
StarterLink calculations to products in your online store by SKU.
Weekly below-cost email
PremiumGet an email when a store product is selling below cost.
Apply prices to your store
PremiumPush approved prices to a connected WooCommerce store.
See plans and prices, all features or a sample report.
Questions bridal and wedding shops ask about pricing
How do I price lace wedding gown?
Add every cost (buy-in or fabric cost, alterations and fittings, cleaning and pressing, garment bag and box, card terminal fee, sample gown allowance, cancellation allowance), then choose the profit margin you want. With these example costs and a 40% margin, lace wedding gown should sell for $1189.62, which leaves $475.85 profit on a total cost of $713.77. Your own costs will differ, so enter yours in the calculator.
What is the formula for a selling price that keeps your margin?
Price = fixed costs divided by (1 minus the percentage fees minus your margin). Here the fixed costs are $596.00, the percentage fees are 9.9% of the price and the margin is 40%. Percentage fees must be taken from the selling price, not from the cost, which is why a simple mark-up on cost usually leaves less profit than planned.
What costs do bridal and wedding shops often forget?
The easiest to miss are sample gown allowance, cancellation allowance, deposit refund allowance, your own time, and monthly costs such as showroom rent, staff wages, insurance. Each one is a row in the Bridal / wedding shop preset, so you only fill in the amounts.
How do I know if a product is losing money?
Compare the selling price with the total cost, including the share of the price taken by fees. If the price is lower than that total, the product loses money. Catalog check does this for a whole product export and marks every item that loses money or has a thin margin.
Can I add a deposit?
The price is the same. Deposits are a payment term, not a cost.
Can I quote a full outfit?
Add the dress, veil and accessories as cost lines.
Is the CostCal Pro calculator free for bridal and wedding shops?
Yes. The Free plan never expires and needs no card. It includes the exact price calculation, 5 saved calculations, 5 PDF reports and a catalog check of up to 50 products. Paid plans start at $49 a year and add more saved calculations, CSV import, store connection and API keys.
Last reviewed 2026-11-11. Example figures are illustrations, not advice.
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