State of Embroidery Pricing 2026 Benchmark Report
The first industry-wide study of pricing practices across embroidery and decorated apparel businesses.
545 shops. Real data. The inaugural NNEP Pricing Index score: 7.54 out of 20. This report covers all five PRICE drivers and shows exactly where the gaps are across the industry.
Are you a member of NNEP currently, or did you complete the NNEP Pricing Diagnostic or Benchmark Survey by June 14, 2026? Check your email. Your copy was sent to you free as a thank-you for contributing to the dataset, or it was sent as one of your NNEP membership benefits.
Get the 2026 Report — $95 →
NNEP Industry Briefing 2 is Wednesday, June 24th at 8pm Eastern. We’ll present the findings live and price real orders on screen. Register free at nnep.com/briefing2 →
Complete the Benchmark Survey
Takes 2-3 minutes total. All responses are anonymous.
National Embroidery Pricing Benchmark™ — 2026 Founding Edition
What Are Embroidery Shops Charging?
Nobody knows. There's no industry standard. No reference point. Just shops guessing in the dark — and pricing accordingly.
NNEP is changing that with the first National Embroidery Pricing Benchmark — a real data study, contributed anonymously by embroidery shops across the country.
The findings publish June 21, 2026 as the State of Embroidery Pricing — 2026 Benchmark Report. More than 90% of shop owners who have already completed the Diagnostic have requested to receive the Report.
If you'd like your business recognized by name, shops that provide their company name will be listed as Founding Contributors in the report, a permanent record of the shops that helped build the industry's first pricing benchmark. [UPDATE: The 2026 Founding Contributor window is now closed. The Benchmark Survey remains open — your responses will contribute to the next State of Embroidery Pricing report. The 2026 report publishes June 21, 2026]
Every shop that completed the study by publication deadline (June 14, 2026) receives the full report on publication day. Data received after the publication deadline will contribute to the next report, to be published June 21, 2027.
Nine straight forward questions. Q1 is what do you charge for a 5-8,000 stitches design, not including the garment. Q2 is what do you charge for that design on a hat, not including the hat? Q3 is what do you charge for digitizing a standard left chest logo?
Two to three minutes total time from start to finish. Your responses remain anonymous. Findings will be presented by geographic region, not by business names.
Contribute to the Benchmark →What the Study Measures
Nine questions. Three areas. All anonymous.
The benchmark is structured in three short steps. Here's exactly what you'll be asked:
Step 1 — Your Core Embroidery Pricing
- What you charge per piece for a standard left chest embroidery
- What you charge for hat embroidery
- What you charge for digitizing a standard left chest logo
Step 2 — How Your Shop Handles Orders
- Whether you enforce a minimum order size
- Whether you charge a fee for small orders below your minimum
- Whether you charge a rush order fee
Step 3 — About Your Shop
- The pricing method your shop primarily uses
- How many embroidery heads you operate
- Your state or region (optional)
All pricing questions are based on the same standardized order: 12 pieces, one-location embroidery, 5,000–8,000 stitch design. Embroidery charge ONLY — no garment cost.
Why This Exists
The industry has never had this data. It needs to.
Right now, every embroidery shop is pricing in isolation. No benchmarks. No market reference. No way to know if your rates reflect the real cost of doing this work — or if you're undercutting yourself without realizing it.
When you contribute to the benchmark, you're helping build something the industry has never had:
- A real market reference for what shops actually charge
- Data that shows where pricing is consistent — and where it isn't
- An annual industry study that gets stronger every year
- A tool every shop can point to when holding their price
All responses are anonymous and aggregated. No shop name is required. No individual response is published. The report shows distribution ranges across the full dataset — not averages, not outliers.
This is the first time the industry has asked this question out loud.
People who completed the study by June 14, 2026 will receive the full State of Embroidery Pricing report on June 21 — the first industry benchmark of its kind, from NNEP.
Complete both the Benchmark and the Diagnostic today. Add My Data →