Is Target hiring?

So here's the thing about custom-made boutique clothing- it's 'expensive'.



Yup. I've said it. Go ahead. Start the rioting now.



Is it worth the price? Should you really pay 3 or 4 or even 5 times as much for an outfit as you would at Walmart or Target?



To help out a little, let me break it down for you.





Walmart and Target mass-produce their items. They are made in a factory somewhere in China or Vietnam or Singapore. Probably by an underage child who is getting paid half of minimum wage. It costs these retailers approximately 37 cents (27 cents in materials costs, and 10 cents in labor costs) to produce a single shirt, and the average child's shirt sells for about $8.



For argument's sake, let's say that the average Target store sells about 50 of one shirt design. There are over 4,700 Target stores currently operating in the US. That means that there are about 235,000 (give or take a few thousand) of that identical shirt sold in the US. Which means there 235,000 little boys or girls walking around wearing that shirt.



It cost Target $86,950 to produce those shirts, and they sold for $1,880,000. Subtract out the production costs, and Target makes almost 1.8 MILLION dollars JUST ON THAT SINGLE CHILD'S SHIRT!!! I'll let your mind wander about how many different shirt designs are offered in a single store, let alone the pants, skirts, dresses....



So, you could go to Walmart or Target and purchase a cute shirt and a cute skirt for about $25 total. We can subtract about $2 across the board for operating costs and employee pay, and it costs that store about $1 total to make it. That's a 730% markup you're paying. And you're supporting the economy of China or Vietnam or Singapore.

Go you.



Now let's think about a custom-made boutique-style shirt & skirt set.



First of all, they're made right here in the US. This particular boutique is located in Webster, NY.
I'm going to use an outfit I finished recently as an example for number purposes only.



The materials for that outfit cost me $26. Packaging materials and shipping costs will run me another $9. My total out-of-pocket costs are at $35 (and that does not include the gas to get to the stores to purchase the materials and to get to the post office to mail the final package).



I am selling the outfit for $85. No tax. No shipping. Just plain old $85.



Subtract my costs of $35, and that brings it down to $50.  So a $50 profit is a markup of 113%.


But wait!


It took me just over 7 hours to complete that outfit. No one else. I had no help (other than the occassional child running through the room dragging blankie on the floor and sweeping pieces away with him). Take that $50 'profit', divide it by those 7 hours, and I made about $7.14/hour.



What's minimum wage in NY?



Oh yeah, $7.25.



So I'm making LESS than minimum wage.





But when they wear the outfit I created, or any other custom-made outfit, your child will be the ONLY one wearing it. You won't send them in for school pictures, only to get the class photo back and see 2 other girls wearing the same dress. You won't wander down the street to the playground and see another child in the same outfit. It's yours, and yours alone.



Isn't that worth paying a work-at-home mom less than minimum wage?




I hope so.  Otherwise, we'll have to go get a job at Target.