Fabric price woes
 

I just bought this gorgeous fabric from my LQS but it set me back £16($25)/meter.

Get home and find an American vendor selling it for £4($6)/ meter. Sigh! But at least it's the perfect fabric for what I need!
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g4...psysdng9h1.jpg

What a gorgeous fabric. I have heard from sources that the price of fabric is going up again!

Shipping might have been very high! (Keep telling yourself that)

Yes, shipping would have been £10 from that seller.

Though I just ordered 7 yards of a moda fabric line from another American seller and only paid £16 shipping. Which means I'm still £50 ($77) better off on that order than buying the fabric here. Crazy!

I don't know if Marshall's Dry Goods ships internationally but it would be worth it to call or email and ask.

Last time I ordered from US the parcel was opened at customs and returned to seller. The only reason I can think was the reason is drugs used in the manufacture of the fabric. I can't think of another reason haven't ordered any since.

Wow I feel lucky that never happened to me! I often have to pay the VAT and Royal Mail handling charge (though some do slip through) but that's the worst that has happened!

On the plus side, you have the fabric in hand.

Wow - that is a huge difference in price!

Is the price difference due to economies of scale? Or tax differences? I just can't see why an item (often of Chinese origin despite country of company incorporation) is so much higher outside the US. Maybe I should finance my trips abroad with bundles of fabric. : )

What is that beautiful line of fabric? So pretty. Could see why you were tempted to go "over the top".

I am trying to figure that out, as well. I'm thinking that maybe the sellers aren't paying the cheapest prices to the wholesalers as the Americans are. ????

Taxes are definitely higher, but not that much!

It really is beautiful fabric.

Price difference is due to tax. I used to find it worth my while buying fabric from the states but it became ridiculously expensive since over and above the $40+ dollars for postage, I'd often be done for import duty usually costing in the region of £20-30 which sometimes included a £12 handling fee by Royal Mail. While there was the occasional parcel that arrived with no or minimum fee latterly, esp after the privatisation of RM, it just became silly.

I think it has a lot to do with import fees and taxes

I bought 30yds of fabric from thousands of bolts. postage was $55 (for 11-30 yds) - total cost was $250. If I'd bought it here, would have cost me $650. New lines, toile and such can be $32 metre in the LQSs, and discount shops usually charge $10-26 for 'better' fabrics, with sale items down to $5pmt. I don't really know why the cost is so high, but I do know the shop owners put on a hefty mark-up, and probably the middle man does too. If I had done that in the grocery business I'd have gone broke.

Ouch! (It is beautiful, though.)

Hiya. It is galeria encantada by p&b textiles. The price I posted was from an Etsy seller in America, not sure what LQS prices will be!

We Brits seem to get ripped off on just about everything: compare the cost of electronic and electrical goods with those in the US too. Or US companies such as Lands End, who just double the $ price and then put a £ in front of the number! I've just been to the US on holiday, and have stocked up on FQs for my current quilt, all costing about half what they would have here.
I find I can buy 3 or 4 yards of fabric by mail order without attracting the attention of Customs, but more than that and delivery is likely to be very delayed and include high charges for tax and fees. US mail rates have gone up quite a bit in recent years, and there's no longer the cheaper surface mail (it exists here, but not in the US!) so it's not always worth ordering from there any more - depends on the exchange rate. I have a friend who comes over to the UK once a year, and she often brings me some fabric too.
There's also the issue of supporting UK quilt shops: another reason I buy much of my fabric here. I don't think the high prices are down to them, and I value their presence.

..I was talking to the owner of a quilt shop in Colorado about this, and she said she has Australian customers who say it's worth paying the airfare and accommodation costs to come to the States for their fabric. We found that hard to believe, unless they're buying HUGE quantities!

I order from Hancocks all the time - they have a discounted shipping rate of $10 per $50 spend. The first 5 or 6 orders slipped through OK, but my last few orders have incurred Import Tax and a handling fee. I think I must be on some list, lol!

That said, even with the shipping and Customs fees, I'm still only paying around half of what it costs here, so the fees are a risk worth taking :).

I'm afraid I seldom buy fabric from my LQS unless fabric is on sale, but I support them in other ways, classes, drop ins etc. and have bought two sewing machines from them.

Thank you for that info Knitette, I will have a look at Hancocks. With the price of fabric in the UK I always seem to stick with small projects but I woud love to make some large quilts!

That's good to know. I'll check them out!

Okay Ladies.... Here is my twopence worth.

It hurts when I pay exorbitant prices for fabric here compared to the U.S. but I put up with it as I love quilting and would miss it terribly if I stopped. BUT I object to buying piecemeal bits of fabric....... For example, LQS here never seem to carry a full range of fabrics, just the ones the shop owner found appealing.... So I look on line, find some fabrics on a pattern or US site that I love and try to buy them here only to be told that they have only a few fabrics from that particular range. So when you see a quilt made using a particular range that you want to make... It takes weeks to find the fabrics.

Now here is the way to get fabric Customs free! If you have a friend in the US, get them to buy he fabric for you and to post it in a flat rate envelope ($24.95) which will take 6 - 8 yards depending on the length and the fold of the fabric. As the friend purchased it they can legitimately send it to you as a gift which will not incur taxes and customs up to a cost of £75 (I think... But please check the HMRC website).

hugs to all and happy quilting.

Caroline

That is an excellent idea.

I know that I'd do it for you next time I go to the states...I feel for you all.

I know that I buy stuff and send it back to myself here in Poland via boat - and it is cheap as it isn't the mail--takes 3-8 weeks.

The mail is expensive and draws more attention. When I ship to myself, I consider everything I sent used and it is labeled at yard sale prices. We can get (daily) under $45 worth before we pay customs. I would think that it would be the same for you as we are in the EU. If it is a gift, then it is valued at $0, so there shouldn't be any customs charge. (I will readily admit that I pretty much only put fabric that I picked up at thrift stores in these boxes, however. I bring the more expensive stuff in my suitcase/carryon.)

A friend of mine put a value of more than that on some charity lap quilts that she made us. I had to go in, pay $40 or something like that in tax (based on the declared value) and received the quilts (which I could then give away). I told her about it and she will remember to put $0 on the declared value in the future.

A $50 order has the $10 Shipping charge - works out at around £38 and incurs £12-14 Import VAT/Handling.

If you get hit, don't be surprised if you get an email from a company called 'Customs Clearance Ltd.' instead of a Post Office card - it's the handling company for fees and not a spoof or spam - at least in this area and they take PayPal. Watch your 'Junk' folder 7-10 days after the Hancocks shipping email in case! Your parcel is delivered a couple of days after payment.

Hancocks (link) has loads of fabrics at $4.99-$6.99 and they have a lot of nice backing fabrics too :)

Their Customer Service is great too - I had a small hole in a backing fabric and sent them the photos. They replaced it without question :thumbup:

I think that there are too many middle men. I think even if customs/VAT were 100% of the wholesale price, it would still be cheaper (much) than what you pay. And I don't think it is nearly that much. In Poland, VAT is something like 22-24%--not sure at the moment.

At those prices it would be difficult to build a stash! I will look at my fabric with new appreciation now!

I've priced material sent to Australia. In general, it is still $7-$10 per metre cheaper by the time it gets here. I should imagine it costs less to the UK?

So very sad for your pocket book but glad you got such gorgeous fabric.

Interesting thread. Guess it's time to stop complaining about the prices here!

I wonder how many of us walk into a quilt shop and ask...."What's New"? Fabric companies are constantly releasing new Collections and not reprinting past collections....this has to contribute to higher costs of fabric too. Designers, printing, mill costs, etc. The consumer is always on the lookout for "new". We are never content!

Sandy

I too don't understand the higher cost outside US.......and cost of mailing? Is there a reverse to it...like what might be cheaper there than here(US)?

Very little is cheaper here - I'm racking my brains to think of anything! Whisky(Scotch)? Sewing machines tend to have a similar price to the U.S., but you have a far greater selection, particularly in the lower price bracket. Notions are more expensive too. $22-$25 a metre (39") is fairly standard here. :(

I just placed an order with an on-line fabric store for 5 yards of fabric and the S & H was $22.40. On top of that we have to pay the exchange on the Canadian dollar. Makes shopping on-line just about as expensive as shopping in Canada. Only advantage is getting all the fabric from one place & not having to search several LQS. The Canadian dollar has not been good for several months. Hope it turns around soon.

When I was in college, the Canadian dollar was only about 70-80cents to a dollar. I think it went up over a US $ for a while.

If you all take trips to the US, it is a problem to bring back fabric into the country in your car?

Knitette, I sent you a Secret Pal package a few months ago. Did you have to pay Customs on top of the postage I paid? That's a lot of moola!

No - thanks for asking. As long as it's marked as 'Gift' and the sender sticks to the $10 'value' (haha!) it's fine. I have been hit on two occasions though. One swapper put the value of her gift at $103, which included a $12.00 value for two used magazines - one of which actually had a 10 cent sticker on! Grr! As we have to pay VAT - Value Added Tax of 20% and a 'Handling' fee, it cost nearly $40!

Some people have no idea what it's like to live overseas and deal with this kind of tax. I'd say she has an overly sensitive conscience. But when there is a 10cent sticker on something, why declare it as worth more? Amazing.

Beautiful fabric