Quiltingboard Forums - cost of long arm quilting

the first (and only) quilt i paid someone else to quilt for me was my daughter's dragonfly quilt...it is king sized; the quilter charged 2 1/2 cents a square inch...i really did not (understand) just what that meant till i went to pick up the quilt and had a $395 quilting bill! i already had over $500 into the quilt just in fabrics and patterns...i decided right then i had to save my penny's and buy a machine to do my own because i would never be able to make another quilt if i had to send them out....i also did not know there was such a wide variety of pricing out there...should have known. but i did go out and buy a machine, took 4 years for it to pay for itself. i charge by the individual project with a (range) for each size of quilt that comes out to lots less than what the normal by the inch prices are - i make enough to support my (habit) keep my machine in good working order and (hopefully this year) will be able to splurge on some upgrades. if i were to try to make a living at this i would have to re-evaluate my pricing. but mostly i have a small group of friends i quilt for and try to keep up with my own...mine are usually on the back burner though while working on other peoples.
location matters too...what may cost someone in a metropolitan area will be different than what it costs in a small rural community.... it is going to cost different for someone in california than someone in kentucky...just different demographics and markets.