I am appaled!........or am I just cheap?
#122
I am upset with the Joannes around here. I went last week and nothing was on sale and had no coupon. When I got home I had the flyer with the 2 50% off so I went back this week to get the backing I need for my active quilt, and everything was on sale for 30% off. I think they do that when they know they have the coupons coming out. It is really the only place I can find material around here. Have been loking on line, but hard for me to buy it when I can't feel it. My sweet husband did buy me some 2 in squares from ebay. :-D
#123
I'm not a shop owner but I totall agree with you.. :-)
As a customer - I have confidence that when I shop at a LQS, here or in the U.S. - I am confident about what I purchase....
I don't feel the same on line - and have reason to think so :-)
It's not all the same!
Are you? Have you run a shop? Would you be willing to work all day, 6 days a week, 12 hours a day and pay to be there? See my first post. The cost of the fabric at the wholesale level is only one factor in getting it into the hands of the customer...
There are many good deals to be had online. Bear in mind though that what you are buying when you get that fabric for below what the shops have to pay for it, is manufacturers seconds, overstocks and lower quality goods. If this works for you, cool! Not everyone has to have the latest issues from the designers to be happy.
Keep in mind that many manufacturers, including most of the huge ones, manufacture two different levels of quality, one for the quilt shops and one for the mass merchandisers. Buying by brand isn't always a good indicator of what you're going to get. They also have seconds on premium goods, that they'll wholesale out at lower prices. BTW, the online shop that is selling at $4.99/yd is probably buying it for $1.75/yd as a second or closeout, or the fabric didn't meet the manufacturers quality standards. So they're more than doubling their markup. I don't know anyone who is buying first-line fabric for $5/yd and selling it for $4.99.
No offense taken by this online shop owner. :-D Everyone needs to do what they have to do to keep on doing this great hobby.
But please don't accuse shop owners of gouging. We're not.
Most of us are barely keeping our heads above water, and many of us have invested our life savings into this effort. If we can't charge what it takes to keep ahead of the bill collectors, we'll have to go out of business. If enough of us go out of business, who will buy the first-run fabrics that drive the market and make it possible for people to buy seconds, overstocks and old goods?
As a customer - I have confidence that when I shop at a LQS, here or in the U.S. - I am confident about what I purchase....
I don't feel the same on line - and have reason to think so :-)
It's not all the same!
Originally Posted by QKO
Originally Posted by OmaForFour
I am on a fixed income and cannot afford the prices that are being shown out there in the fabric shops either. I don't know why the price has to be DOUBLED from the wholesale price. I am sure that profit can be made on less.
I have been buying online lately because there are many places that have excellent fabric for much less. I just bought a bunch of Kona fabric for $4.79/yd for example. I also know that Thousands of Bolts has prices in that range or below and there are some good brands there.
I spend time searching around online. If you are careful about the brands select you should not have any trouble.
I am blessed in that I also have a dear friend in Georgia who is an experienced quilter and guides me in the right direction also. That is how I found Kona fabric.
I am blessed in that I also have a dear friend in Georgia who is an experienced quilter and guides me in the right direction also. That is how I found Kona fabric.
BE appalled and DON'T consider yourself cheap! We CANNOT be paying these high prices and we MUST NOT stop quilting. I apologize if this offends anyone on the board who has a shop, but this is how life is for some of us.
But please don't accuse shop owners of gouging. We're not.
Most of us are barely keeping our heads above water, and many of us have invested our life savings into this effort. If we can't charge what it takes to keep ahead of the bill collectors, we'll have to go out of business. If enough of us go out of business, who will buy the first-run fabrics that drive the market and make it possible for people to buy seconds, overstocks and old goods?
#125
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Champaign IL
Posts: 135
Yes, the economy is hurting everyone...you, me and the LQS. JoAnn's and Hancock's are corporations that can change prices on a whim. The 40% and 50% off sales here and there are still making $$ for the stores. The LQS is suffering, too. I'm sorry, ladies, but I feel the need to support the LQS, or it won't be here very long! I have a stash, and I 'shop' it for small projects, but if I'm going to make a quilt for my bed, I'm happier purchasing my fabrics from the LQS, as I know the quality and I want them to make it thru these bad times.
#126
Originally Posted by Quilter2B
I know it would take many years to enforce the rule of supply and demand in the fabric industry but if people stopped paying the high prices eventually they would come down because the manufacturers would have an over abdundance of high quality product that no one will pay their ransom for.
Manufacturers will make the goods that consumers demand; if the consumers demand low prices, manufacturers will make cheaper and lower-quality goods...
It's just economics, and math...
#127
I'm still unemplyed and really on a TIGHT budget. I am using my "stash" for the bags and totes I am making and really can't buy anything extra, so I can really relate... Things are so tight for everybody, and yet prices keep going up...
#128
Originally Posted by QKO
A more probable outcome is that, like the way so many other goods have gone, the only choices you'll have left is cheap, low-quality goods. Think of all the high-quality products that used to be manufactured here in the USA that you just plain can't get anymore.
Manufacturers will make the goods that consumers demand; if the consumers demand low prices, manufacturers will make cheaper and lower-quality goods...
It's just economics, and math...
#129
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 242
After my LQS owner got back from quilt market she told me all the new fabric she ordered would be about $1 more than what she currently had. That's about a 10% jump. Quite a bit all at once but then what isn't going up in price?
#130
I buy most fabrics on sale, with Joann's coupons, and when I can get to Lancaster PA. Nearest LQS is now owned by my Guild's President and thought it would be nice to buy there and support her. Fabic I bought was $11 a yd and no guild member discount, I probably will shop there for fabrics only for 'special' quilts. May in Jersey
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