Garment Cost Sheet Calculator
One combined cost sheet — from raw materials to a suggested retail price — in a single view.
Reviewed by the ToolNestr Editorial Team — July 2026
How the full cost sheet works
This tool chains together the full apparel cost build-up in one place: materials plus CM labor gives a base subtotal; factory overhead is applied to that subtotal; factory profit margin is applied on top to reach the FOB (factory-gate) price; freight per unit is added to reach a landed cost at the brand's warehouse or fulfillment center; and finally a retail markup is applied to the landed cost to reach a suggested shelf price.
Seeing every layer in one sheet makes it obvious how much distance there is between a garment's raw materials cost and its final retail price — and where the biggest opportunities are to reduce that gap, whether through better fabric sourcing, more efficient CM labor, consolidated freight, or a leaner retail markup for a direct-to-consumer channel.
Chained materials → CM → overhead → factory margin → freight → retail markup follows standard end-to-end apparel cost-sheet structure.
Worked example
$7.70 materials, $3.00 CM, 20% overhead, 12% factory margin, $0.70 freight, 150% retail markup.
Real-world context
Independent apparel brands doing early product planning use a quick cost sheet like this to sanity-check a product concept before committing to sampling and production — if the math produces a retail price well above what the target market will pay, it's far cheaper to catch that at the spreadsheet stage than after fabric has already been purchased.
Direct-to-consumer brands that skip a traditional wholesale-to-retailer chain can sometimes apply a lower retail markup at the very last step than a brand selling through department stores, since they don't have to also cover a separate retailer's margin on top of their own.
Common misconceptions
"The final retail price is a fixed multiple of materials cost." It's a chain of separate multipliers. Each layer (overhead, factory margin, retail markup) compounds on the running subtotal, not on the original materials cost alone, so the effective multiple on materials ends up higher than any single layer's percentage suggests.
"Freight should be included in the retail markup base." It should be added first. Freight is a real landed cost that needs to be covered before the retail markup is calculated, not folded into the markup percentage itself.
Related tools
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from the Garment Costing Calculator?
The Garment Costing Calculator focuses purely on reaching the factory-gate (FOB) price. This tool extends that same build-up one step further to a suggested retail price, adding freight-to-store cost and a retail markup on top of FOB — useful for a quick end-to-end sanity check.
What order should the cost sheet layers be applied in?
Materials (fabric + trims) first, then CM labor, then factory overhead applied to that subtotal, then factory profit margin to reach FOB, then landed freight cost added, then the retail markup applied on top of the landed cost.
Is the final number the exact price I should charge?
Treat it as a strong starting point — real pricing also considers competitor pricing, brand positioning, and psychological price points (like $49 instead of $50.12), which this calculator doesn't account for.
Should freight be added before or after the retail markup?
Freight should be added to the landed cost before the retail markup is applied, since the retailer's markup needs to cover their full cost of getting the product to the shelf, not just the factory price.