Pricing quilts?
06-20-2007, 08:03 PM
#51
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 14
Some one mentioned already that they sell through someone who takes a commission. How do you decide what to charge - do they tack on a percentage or do they take a portion of the price you set? Does it make a difference in what you set or do you just say this is what the value of it is to me and this is what I have to have out of it for my time, work, and materials used? I understand that if someone is going to merchandise for you and put the effort into it that they need to be compensated. How do you decide what is fair or to find someone else to sell for you?
:?:
:?:
06-21-2007, 09:13 AM
#52
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 39
I THINK this is the way it goes. The shop gets a 30% share of what they sell the item for. So you set a price and add 30%. That way you get your price and the shop gets a share too.The 30% has been standard for a long time; so I guess it could have gone up. That percentage may well vary from area to another. That's one of the things I have to research. This system prevents the shop from marking the item up so high that it doesn't sell. The artist and shop usually have an agreement about the length of time the shop will have the item. This would protect the shop from an artist who brings in an item, and then takes it back to sell it cheaper to a customer who doesn't want to pay the shop. (In a small town like mine, where everyone knows everyone, the wouldn't be an unusual request from a customer.) The shop has to has some guarantees too. I think I would want all of the above in a written agreement, so there would be no uncetainly on either part about the terms.
Virginia
Virginia
06-21-2007, 12:02 PM
#53
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: San Francisco Bay area
Posts: 223
This is a great discussion...and has provided some good insight into "quilts as commodities".
It's amusing to me to see how much money people will spend on a piece of electronics ("It's the latest / greatest / fastest"). They forget or ignore that one of the "invisible" pieces of that component is "designed obsolesence". Within 6 months to a year, that latest / greatest/ fastest will be obsolete...and the cycle continues.
As for quilts and quilters, I'm reminded and encouraged, as confirmed by the passion, creativity, and effort shared on this site, that quilters are artistisans. They take raw materials (fabric), imbue those materials with their unique vision, nuture the process, and create a product that may not be the latest, greatest, or fastest, but it will always carry, in a manner of speaking, the DNA of the person who created it.
Echoing the tag line for the MasterCard commercials..."A quilt ? Priceless."
I agree that a quilter should never be shy about giving a price quote for their quilt. As noted in an earlier post, who argues with a gallery owner or artist about the price of a piece of "art" in their gallery? We should not be shy about quoting a price for the art in our galleries, either.
I doubt that the painter or sculptor sweats bullets about the cost of all the pieces and time that went into the creation. It's usually more like, "Think I'll put a $____ price tag on it." In my experience, I've never had the artist or the gallery owner back away from the price on the tag. Not that I've purchased, I'm usually "just looking".
A personal aside, I've never sold a quilt I've made, but I have been asked what I would charge. You see? The buyer is trying to establish a negotiation...and you know what that means. In that case, I'd quote a price higher than I would actually charge and we could go from there.
The caveat is that the buyer just may agree to your price on the first round. That's when the quilter would have to make a decision...and that's an entirely different reality.
A couple of years ago, I made a positively gorgeous flannel twin-size quilt for my Mother. It just "sang". I almost hated to give it up...but, she fell in love with it.
Last fall, she moved to an assisted living facility in St. Louis...and put that quilt on her bed. Everyone who saw it told her how lucky she was to have sucha beautiful artifact. Several of them asked her to check with me to see what I would charge to make one for them. Without blinking an eye, I told her to tell them that the price would be $350. Cash. 50% now and 50% upon completion.
Well, no one has asked me to make one, but that's just fine. I make no apologies for what it would cost to own a work of art created by me.
A quilt, unlike a piece of electronics, is never obsolete. An IPod or an HD TV, lots of dollars and "last year's version" within 6 months. A quilt, whenever it's made and for however long it lasts, priceless.
And besides, who can wrap up in an IPod for warmth and comfort? What's more, contrary to what the industrial designer wants us to believe, that HD TV doesn't give much warmth to a room when it's displayed on the wall.
Do all the research you need to get a sense of what the market is for your work of art. Take that into consideration, but remember it's your work, your time, and your creativity. Never be afraid to put a value on that. If you don't value it, then why should anyone else? Step up and stake the claim.
It's amusing to me to see how much money people will spend on a piece of electronics ("It's the latest / greatest / fastest"). They forget or ignore that one of the "invisible" pieces of that component is "designed obsolesence". Within 6 months to a year, that latest / greatest/ fastest will be obsolete...and the cycle continues.
As for quilts and quilters, I'm reminded and encouraged, as confirmed by the passion, creativity, and effort shared on this site, that quilters are artistisans. They take raw materials (fabric), imbue those materials with their unique vision, nuture the process, and create a product that may not be the latest, greatest, or fastest, but it will always carry, in a manner of speaking, the DNA of the person who created it.
Echoing the tag line for the MasterCard commercials..."A quilt ? Priceless."
I agree that a quilter should never be shy about giving a price quote for their quilt. As noted in an earlier post, who argues with a gallery owner or artist about the price of a piece of "art" in their gallery? We should not be shy about quoting a price for the art in our galleries, either.
I doubt that the painter or sculptor sweats bullets about the cost of all the pieces and time that went into the creation. It's usually more like, "Think I'll put a $____ price tag on it." In my experience, I've never had the artist or the gallery owner back away from the price on the tag. Not that I've purchased, I'm usually "just looking".
A personal aside, I've never sold a quilt I've made, but I have been asked what I would charge. You see? The buyer is trying to establish a negotiation...and you know what that means. In that case, I'd quote a price higher than I would actually charge and we could go from there.
The caveat is that the buyer just may agree to your price on the first round. That's when the quilter would have to make a decision...and that's an entirely different reality.
A couple of years ago, I made a positively gorgeous flannel twin-size quilt for my Mother. It just "sang". I almost hated to give it up...but, she fell in love with it.
Last fall, she moved to an assisted living facility in St. Louis...and put that quilt on her bed. Everyone who saw it told her how lucky she was to have sucha beautiful artifact. Several of them asked her to check with me to see what I would charge to make one for them. Without blinking an eye, I told her to tell them that the price would be $350. Cash. 50% now and 50% upon completion.
Well, no one has asked me to make one, but that's just fine. I make no apologies for what it would cost to own a work of art created by me.
A quilt, unlike a piece of electronics, is never obsolete. An IPod or an HD TV, lots of dollars and "last year's version" within 6 months. A quilt, whenever it's made and for however long it lasts, priceless.
And besides, who can wrap up in an IPod for warmth and comfort? What's more, contrary to what the industrial designer wants us to believe, that HD TV doesn't give much warmth to a room when it's displayed on the wall.
Do all the research you need to get a sense of what the market is for your work of art. Take that into consideration, but remember it's your work, your time, and your creativity. Never be afraid to put a value on that. If you don't value it, then why should anyone else? Step up and stake the claim.
08-19-2007, 11:31 AM
#57
Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: rock hill south carolina
Posts: 74
:shock: Resntly I went to severeal "art quilts" sites and one was l listed for $10,000. I almost cryed - the thought that someone could sell a quilt like that and make that much money for doig something that is so much fun :mrgreen:
08-19-2007, 02:28 PM
#59
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: rock hill south carolina
Posts: 74
Art Quilt · $10000 ... Learn about new work as it becomes available: New Art Alerts · Pamela Hill · Functional Art Quilt ...
https://www.guild.com/servlet/Guild/EContent?Ne=1&Nao=32&N=8257 - 63k - Cached - Similar pages
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here is the web site. she has awsome quilts!
https://www.guild.com/servlet/Guild/EContent?Ne=1&Nao=32&N=8257 - 63k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from https://www.guild.com ]
here is the web site. she has awsome quilts!
08-19-2007, 02:34 PM
#60
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: rock hill south carolina
Posts: 74
Studio Arts Quilt Associates - NewsArt Gallery in a Box III auctioned for $10000 · July 2007 e.Bulletin ... Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. · PO Box 572 · Storrs, CT 06268-0572 ...
www.saqa.com/hotnews.aspx?id=117 - 23k - Cached - Similar pages
another for you. check it out! there are some I KNOW you ladies could out do!!!
www.saqa.com/hotnews.aspx?id=117 - 23k - Cached - Similar pages
another for you. check it out! there are some I KNOW you ladies could out do!!!
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