Can I make money selling authentic Brazilian bikinis online?

Have you ever wondered if you could make money selling authentic Brazilian bikinis online? Oh, and did we mention – with your name or logo appearing on the tags and labels. We thought so.

Here’s a step-by-step financial guide to help you better understand the amount of money required to launch your own private label swimwear business.

But first, let’s begin with your Story

You’ve always dreamt of turning your passion or hobby into a viable business. You love bikinis and the beach lifestyle. You know you’ll do well selling swimwear to your friends, customers online and to physical stores in your area.

Of course, one of the big questions running through your mind, is how much does it cost to create a swimsuit collection and how much money will I make in return for selling those bikinis? Students go to business school to learn how to answer this important question. Whether you decide to open a bakery, a brewery or a bikini store, you’ll need to know if the investment you make will make a profit. Some students will be familiar with the SWOT quadrant where you list your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and compare them with your competitor’s. For instance, you may consider your passion for modeling and ability to take great pictures as a strength.

“Students go to business school to learn how to answer this important question. Whether you decide to open a bakery, a brewery or a bikini store, you’ll need to know if the investment you make will make a profit.”

Starting your own business can be intimidating but especially rewarding when you see your dreams can actually turn into a profitable reality. We hope to shed some light on the numbers so you can decide if it’s worth creating your own private label swimsuit collection.

Private Labeling

We’ll begin by using our private label service offerings as an example. It’s a popular choice for many swimwear lovers because it’s accessible to those on a tight budget, especially when compared to others in the market. As far as we know, we’re the only swimwear manufacturer that requires an order of just 80 bikinis (in any mix of styles, sizes and colors). That’s right, with just 80 bikinis we can add your own personal brand or logo on the tags and labels of the bikinis. Unlike others, there’s absolutely no minimums on the number of styles, sizes and colors as long as the total number of bikinis add up to 80 bikini sets (top plus bottom count as one). It almost sounds too good to be true!

Tutorial: Case Study for a private label bikini order. Let’s break it down.

You browse through our bikini catalog and know that with just 80 bikinis in any mix of styles, sizes and colors, you can private label and promote your brand.
You select your favorite styles, colors and sizes. Since it’s your first order, and not certain of what would sell, you decide to offer a broad mix of styles and sizes. We produce them in xs, small, medium and large.
You then send us a list of your 80 favorite swimsuits so we can confirm availability and expected delivery date.
You would then send us a digital image of your logo and we would get back to you with an example of what your logo would look like on a label.
That’s it. It’s that easy. We take over production and deliver the bikinis within a few weeks.

Sample Proforma invoice

This is what your order could look like

So for about $2,000 you can expect to receive 80 private labeled bikinis.

You should also factor in possible taxes which can amount to nothing or as high as 13% depending on where you live. In the above example, Fedex Priority accounts for about 12.8% of the value of the order but if sent via Fedex Economy it may be closer to 10%. These are rough estimates and can vary from country to country.

Now let’s calculate the total cost of the order. Since the average price of the bikinis in the example above is $22.46, you would then add about 10% to have them expedited to your address and then add about 5% for taxes. Doing so the total cost per bikini averages to be $25.82.

So the total cost per private label bikini is $25.82 and total expenses for the entire order (including shipping and taxes) amount to $25.82 x 80 bikinis = US$ 2,065.

Other expenses to consider

Of course there can be expenses related to sales and marketing. If you’re selling on social media such as Facebook and Instagram, those expenses can be minimal, if not close to zero. Creating a website is also something you should consider. Depending on how sophisticated your e-shop is, it can cost anywhere from $500 to $2,000. We see no need in spending anything more than $750 for a simple clean website where you can promote your brand, communicate with your customers and sell online. It’s a one time investment. Even with little experience you can set up a webstore. Some recommended e-commerce platforms include: Shopify, Wix, and squarespace.

Income. What’s my profit?

Now for the exciting part. How much money will I make?

We recommend you mark-up your bikinis by at least 100% to 150%. The decision is yours depending on where you sell and how you feel about the market. If you want to make a profit margin of 100%, that means you have to sell the bikinis for at least twice the amount you paid for so that would be $25.82 x 2 = $51.64. In this case, you’d make a net profit of $25.82 for every bikini you sell ($51.61 – $25.82). Therefore, you would need to sell just 40 bikinis to break-even (to recover your expenses). $2,065 / $51.64 = 40. The remaining bikinis you sell would be your net profit so 40 bikinis left x $25.82 = $1,032. You could make less or more depending on the final selling price you decide to give your bikinis. Some clients sell them for 200% or even 3 times more than they paid for because they do an amazing job in emphasizing the uniqueness of their branded bikinis and even produce their own photoshoot.

Swimwear Features include

Authentic. 100% made in Brazil which are renowned worldwide.
World Class Sustainable Fabrics. UV 50+, Eco friendly and sun safe.
Swim fabrics that are glamorous and silk like in feel. They compare equally with the very best swim fabrics in the world.
Produced in ethical production facilities that are family owned.
Quality. Great prices and backed by you.

We hope this information provides you with a little more insight and helps you make an informed decision about starting your own branded bathing suit collection. We’re here to help answer any more questions you may have.

Download this expense and profit guide (pdf)