you can do an advanced search on e-bay with the "completed auctions" box checked. That will give you an idea of actual selling prices. Like JackieG said, even her fabric costs weren't covered by the selling price. Etsy has soooooo many things for sale, you would need to find a way for yours to stand out. Have you tried local flea markets, craft/antique malls, and gift shops? Summer's coming, and festivals and farmer's markets, flea markets and such will be opening up.

If you are not confident in your quilting skills, you may want to tie them or use turkey tracks. Tops alone are just seen by many as unfinished projects that they do not want to tackle.

You can get business cards cheap online - Vistaprint.com is one of many. Every bulletin board, craft store, fabric shop, and gift shop should get one. If you bring a portfolio of pictures of your work when dropping off your card, and a small sample so they can judge the quality, you may get some offers coming your way.

Just realize that the economy does not allow splurges on things "just for pretty" and it won't be easy to get top dollar even with great skill and top-notch materials. Good luck.

so, you are just planning to 'do-sewing' for people? not actually make items to sell, but make things other people have but don't want to sew?
I charge $20 per hour, with a 1 hour minimum to sew for people...make totes, pillowcases, pillows, table runners, ect. and hemming, mending ect.
to make a quilt (commission work) i charge, cost of fabric, patterns, any notions needed...special thread ...plus time (time when making a quilt is kind of ...estimated at best) but i have basic starting prices, such as: queen size quilt starts at (minimum its gonna be) $250 thats a base, every queen i make is going to cost at least that much, and could be more, depending on design, techniques and quilting if i really do some (extreme) quilting it's a bit more, too, see where im going? kids quilts are between $75 -$125; i can easily put a couple hundred hours actually into a quilt, and would never charge that much but i don't feel like i'm cheating myself at all, i love what i do so as long as i cover my cost's,