citygirlsews

I think every one quilts for a different reason. To some it is a business and for others it is a hobby. If you want to be sucessful in selling your quilts you have to know all about marketing your product. One of the girls here hit the nail right on the head.....Do the best job you can possibly do and market to your own clientele that you have developed through the excelance of the product that you have put out there. Decide what your product is worth to you, and do not compromise on it. If it is really wonderful, it will sell and then the sold item will sell again for you. It is like a growing plant, but you do have to water it and take care of it. Do not worry about what other people are selling their product for. If your product isn't selling, ask the buyer what they are looking for. Keep up with the times. Know what quilt buyers want now and put it out there. I sell to a select group of people I have come to know over the years and I do not advertise to the public. I have never worked for cheap and have never needed more work. Trust me..this is the way to go!

nananurse

I know what you mean. I have non quilting friends that think it's ridiculous to pay $1000 for a hand appliqued and hand quilted quilt yet they have no idea of the hours it takes to do one. I have seen the same quilts sell for up to $3200 in a quilt shop so it can be either way.

Jakers1

I made a quilt for my brother for Christmas and had to mail it to him. When I was asked if I wanted to insure it, I said yes, then they asked for the amount. How do you value something that is really priceless (it is one of a kind, just for him). I insured it for $500, which is about the cost of fabric and quilting. I could not see insuring it for more, as I would not know how to value my time. Luckily, he got it without a problem and loves it.

Oregon Quilter

Quilting is an art! Look at what you have to pay for some art that doesn't even take the talent or time or material of quilting.

I have to agree if you would put an amount on hours put into it, the cost of fabric people that don't quilt would not pay. That would include shopping for the material which sometimes take a lot of time.

katieranch

I had never been on etsy, so I checked it out after your post...Crazy, some of the quilt prices do not seem to cover the price of material, alone. One of my cousins asked me if I would make her a quilt, I told her how much fabric it would take and for her to buy it and send it to me and I would charge a nominal fee to piece and quilt it...have not heard from her again!

KathyKat

I make and sell smaller items that I want to make for the fun of it. Mostly I used my fabric and batting scraps but
I do estimate the cost of those when i set a price because I did pay for them once. The shop I take them to is a small town very nice consignment shop where the owner artfully displays the antiques and collectibles along with hand made items. She charges 30% of sale price for her consignment fee. My prices aren't set too high because they wouldn't sell otherwise and I just need to get the cost of materials back and some extra for buying more fabric or tools for me. And I have gotten requests from customers who have bought my things to make them something else. A table runner of 16x32" costs me about $8-10(all my fabric and batting is bought for 30-40% off) and I sell for $25. So after commission I take away $17.50 which I'm happy with. It's not that I don't value my time, it's that I do value doing what I'm passionate about and that's sewing and creating beautiful things during my retirement. And I make too many to give all of them as gifts or keep for myself so some are donated for raffles and the rest go to be sold.

TX GMimi

One of my first quilts was a wall-handing for DH...24 x 36 ish...done in bargello style. His co-worker said she wanted one & asked what I would charge to make one for her. Since I really didn't want to make another - at that time - I gave a figure of $200, thinking that would make her stop asking. Nope! She kept on asking when I said $600. Would I have sold it for that much? Doubt it...just didn't want to make another THEN! Especially when I found out she is the one who took DH's quilt down and used it for a table cover at an office party - he was on vacation...spilled coffee on it and then washed it. All this without telling him what had happened! I wasn't about to make her a quilt! grrrr!!! Feel better now. I think I handled her request quite nicely, without telling her I really felt!

My time

It just doesn't add up to me either!

vickig626

I've wondered about this myself and what I think is that these quilts could be made with Walmart type fabric (not quilt shop quality fabric). Please don't attack me fellow quilters for saying Walmart fabric is cheap but I'm mainly referring to the price, not the quality.

However, I would never use Walmart fabric for a quilt I plan to sell unless the buyer knows where the fabric is coming from. If they truly wanted me to make one for a certain, inexpensive price, I let them know I "could" use less-quality fabric but it wouldn't hold up for many years. I also let buyers know how much fabric is per yard which usually shocks them right away.

My simple rule when approached for a quilt......minimum of $500 depending on size and type of quilt they want. That usually sends the potential buyer running. If their still interested, then we can "talk".

I've done several memory quilts (mostly lap size) for around $200-$300 and they supply the fabrics from the loved one. These seem to be the most popular.

Bottomline.....don't sell ourselves short.

Silvia75

I totally agree with you on that. It's the Walmart Effect on American consumerism. Low cost over quality.
A quilt from the store that is made in China looks and feels nothing like a real quilt. Perhaps many people have never really felt or seen a real quilt and just assume that all are the same.