And just to show how significant a 20% price increase would be:
If he raised the price just $1k, that's $2k a month, or $24k a year. That would increase his take home income by almost 50%, as he claims his current income is around $50k.
You're forgetting to figure in withholding, self-employment tax, etc... that $24K/year increase would be to his gross income, not his take-home income.
The article said he averages 2 suits a month, or $8K in gross revenue, so that extra $1K per suit would increase his gross by 25%, and his take-home by less. As a sole proprietor craftsman, there's no math that can get you a 50% increase in profit with a 25% increase in gross revenue alone.
Still, not a bad deal, assuming his customers are willing to pay it (I'm willing to bet they are).
EDIT: I shouldn't do numbers while eating dinner :). His take-home increase could be more than 25%, but it's unlikely to be anything close to all of the gross increase, particularly if he wants health insurance, which, if he has it at all, is probably coming out of that $50K.
I don't think that whether or not he wants health insurance should matter when talking about his income. Won't his health insurance cost the same amount if he increases his pre-tax income by 25%(I'm a bit ignorant of health insurance costs, I still have TriCare through the Army). It seems to me that even if he paid about a third of the extra $24k in taxes, that he would still be adding $16k to his current take home income, which is still over 30% more than he was making.
If he raised the price just $1k, that's $2k a month, or $24k a year. That would increase his take home income by almost 50%, as he claims his current income is around $50k.