Prices for finished quilts ...
 

My sister-in-law has invited me to meet with her and a friend. Her friend is opening up a small store in an antique district in Portland, Oregon. They both think they would like to have my quilts in the store. I have an email prepared for Mindy with pictures of some of my recent quilts. I have a HUGE stack of quilts without homes that are just sitting in a closet - I might as well sell them so I can make more. I don't have any records of how much I have spent - the only costs I have would be for the long arm quilting on most of them. I have my own long arm now so I don't have to pay someone else for that part anymore. I saw an article someplace with a formula (of sorts) and can't find it. Mindy will want 20% for selling the quilts. I don't even know where to begin for pricing quilts. HELP!!!

All I can say is, you are very lucky she only wants 20% commission. That is quite low. Pick out a few that you are not attached to and see how they do. If they sell quickly, maybe your price is too low.

Only you can say what a fair price would be. Look at it this way - if someone gave you $1000 you would be ecstatic. If you found out one sold for $5 you would be miserable. Keep working in from both ends.

Start with the cost of the quilting. Add $100 for fabric & thread. Add another $100 for your labor. Total and add another 20% of that. Now stand back and consider if you have priced your labor and fabric too low. Have another go at it. People mostly buy because they can't make it themselves. You are selling your talent. I would start with a higher price, and then come down if it looks like they're priced too high. With this information, you can put a ''sale'' tag on top of the original price tag. How 'bout this formula?

I spend much more than $100 for fabric, batting and thread on my quilts, and my labor is sure worth more than $100.

What do you do if your quilts are already labeled?

Aren't paintings and art work in general, signed? I would see a label as a necessity.

I found an article by Cindy Roth of Longarm University (longarmuniversity.com) for pricing a commission quilt. It seems high for my area, but it provides a starting point.
Even though you have your own long arm quilter now, you should think about the cost of the machine.
Good luck!

. Exactly my point...to start with figures and step back to evaluate. It then becomes a more realistic view of what your project is worth to you or to someone else...I did not mention batting cost because many LArm quilters prefer to use their favorite and it becomes part of your contracted cost.

I would start with the replacement cost of the fabric, batting, and thread at full retail value.

Check out the quilts on Etsy, find some similar to yours and see what their prices are. At least you'll get a very general idea of what others are asking (key word is asking). The price range on Etsy goes from sublime to ridiculous. :)
http://www.etsy.com/listing-category...elevant&page=0

Some people triple the cost of materials, but that doesn't take the complexity of the design or techniques used into consideration at all. That may be the 'formula' you were thinking of.

As an aside, I hope your SIL is charging a more realistic commission percentage to non-relative consignment sellers. You are getting a VERY good deal at 20%.

another place to look is the 'QuiltsForSale.ca web site- browse through the quilts, compare yours to the same style someone else is offering. you need to *guess-estimate* the amount of fabric, batting, thread, patterns,- then think about the time involved- how much is your time worth? even though you have a long-arm you still need to include the cost of quilting in the price of the quilt- it does not matter if you do the quilting or if someone else does it- it is a process that needs to be added into the price...you can choose to add the amount it would be if you were paying someone else or you can determine what your prices would be if you were quilting for someone else- either way- it needs to be added in. and if you price your quilts high & they do not sell you can *have a sale* and deduct some- sale items sometimes sell better- just because they are 'on sale' ; remember to add your consignment fee to the cost- so when that comes off the top you still make what you need to make.

I read (somewhere?) that you should take your cost and triple it. I don't know if that's fair or not, but I think if your quilts are of good quality which I'm sure they are they should not go cheap. I purchased a hand quilted quilt made by the Amish ladies over 25 years ago and paid $300.00 at that time. I'm quite sure the same quilt today would cost at least $1,000.00.

I think you also need to consider the type of store this will be. A high end store can carry the kinds of prices being talked about here. However, if the store is mid-market, pricing a quilt in the high hundreds might have no takers and you are wasting your time. Remember if the quilts don't sell quickly they have to be re-folded fairly often and cleaned.

When pricing my goods , I often ask myself "would I make it again for the same price"? The market for quilts varies widely, but in the end you need to be happy with your compensation.

If someone were to ask me to make a quilt, I would price it by cost of materials plus time. However, if someone wanted to buy one of my quilts that are already made, I would look at it differently. Suppose someone offered $500 for an already-made quilt, and I knew that I had worked on it for 100 hours and spent $200 on the supplies. I would only be making $300 for the 100 hours, not a very good wage at all. But then I would ask myself, would I rather have the $500 or that particular quilt? The answer might be that I'm not all that attached to the quilt, and the joy was in making it, not keeping it. That $500 might go toward the cost of more fabric, or patterns, or sewing machines, or it might help out in a more practical way. So the quilt that cost $200 to make might even go out the door for $100 if I would rather have the money than the quilt.

One suggestion that I have is to have a written agreement as to how the arrangement will work. I would want to be assured that the store has insurance and would reimburse me in the case of fire, other damage, or theft. I would also want to be sure that the quilts would not be displayed in sunlight or other adverse conditions.

Best of luck with the venture!

Dayle

To dmnorden, I see you are fairly new to the Board, so I just want to say Hey,Neighbor!, and Welcome. I'm from about 20 miles west of you. My next door neighbor has the same last name as yours :)

To w7sue, As for the pricing for the quilts, the LA'er that I use never charges less than $200 to quilt for me. I never count the cost of the material, because I never know what I bought or what I got from friends and relatives. I do know that I have seen quilts selling for several thousand dollars, and I have bought quilts myself for as little as $40.
I would say, start higher and go down if you need to. That would be a LOT easier than starting low, and then having to raise the price later. I guess it really depends on how badly you want to get rid of all the extra quilts you have.

I often use reclaimed or inherited fabrics, but still that $100 formula seems terribly low for a good sized quilt.
Remember, $100 is barely a day at minimum wage.

Lousy formula IMO! I shop for bargins, inherite stuff, reclaim fabric and often don't spend much on anything. I'm making a rag quilt for a guy at church from inherited and donated fabric. Now, I know math, $1.89 for thread tripled won't buy lunch at McDucks. I'm not selling the quilt, but if I were, it would be a heck of a bunch more than triple my expenses.

When I knitted a lot, I'd never use that formula either. I can make a beautiful sweater or afaghan for $10------------and hours and hours of labor. But it would be a cold day you know where before I'd sell it for $30.

Hi,
I have a small shop in a tourist area, and I hate to say, but quilts didn't sell that much. My mentor is a beautiful artist with her quilts, and she is only asking $225 or so, and they have sat around, even when I switch them out, so they always look new. If you are charging what they are really worth, then they really won't sell. Now, it may just be my area, this is not a wealthy tourist area, like the coasts might be. I think if my shop were in the Hamptons or the Jersey shore, they would sell much better.

Also, I always look on etsy for pricing, and there is a woman there who sells a quilt a day. Her shop name is quilt lover, and her quilts are easy to make, very quick. She gets a couple of hundred dollars for a full quilt. Not worth it, in my view.

I hope that I am being a naysayer, and that your quilts do very well. They are beautiful!! If it doesn't work out, or even as a marketing strategy, you may want to consider donating a quilt once in a while - your will do good for a cause, it is a tax write off, your unused quilts will get a good home, and it is a great way to get your name, and the shop's name, out in the public.
Best,
Nancy

Prices may be much higher in outer space than where W7Sue lives. I think that has a lot to do with it. Many times you cannot sell a quilt in my area for $300 but I have seen them in Hershey and York, Pa with a $1,000 price tag on them. What makes selling quilts difficult is the Chinese "knockoffs" that sell in retail stores for $150 and less. You try to talk about quality to some people and they just can't grasp it. One good thing is the outlet. Most people who are shopping for antiques are used to paying higher prices for their merchandise. Good Luck

QUOTE=Candace;6243699]I spend much more than $100 for fabric, batting and thread on my quilts, and my labor is sure worth more than $100.[/QUOTE]

It depends on the area you are trying to sell them in. I have noticed that prices are all over the place. I have seen beautiful Amish made quilts in NY for under $400.00. I would not do all that work for that price...Good Luck...

I have never sold my quilts, but I use to sell crafts. No one ever gets the worth of their labor out of hand crafted item. You know that your time put into an item is priceless. In crafts they use to say double what it cost for you to make it and that was how you priced your items. Hope this helps. I figure handmade quilts are priceless.

A "friend" texted me the other day and asked if I had a quilt I would sell her for $100-150 so she could give it to her daughter for her birthday the next week. Wouldn't that be great! People don't even know how much money and time is spent on making a quilt. $100 would not pay for the material and add quilting to that usually makes a quilt cost around $300 just to make. I just told her I didn't have any made (which was the truth. ) I think it takes a lot of gall to ask someone to spend hours making a quilt and offer to buy it for $100. People see "quilts" for sale at department stores for $39 and assume they are one in the same, which they are not. Good luck, but please make it worth your time.

Don't dismiss the cost of long arm quilting - only now for you it's profit, not an expense. You say it like your time is worth nothing so that won't be figured into the cost of the quilt. But at the end of the day, if you're happy with the money you get, then the price is right. Don't "give" your quilts away because someone who just came from Walmart thinks its too much. A quilt is an original, handcrafted piece of art. Don't let anyone make you price it like a 'blanket '!!

Pricing quilts can be quite complicated - you want to at least get back the cost of all materials and your time, but a lot depends on the area you are in. I've seen small wall hangings (like Eleanor Burns log cabin wreath) with a $400 sticker price, which I thought was way out of line, as the fabrics were not even that spectacular at Keepsake Quilting in NH. Then I've seen twin and full size quilts priced for just a few hundred dollars, and I thought they were worth far more. And then there are the very expensive quilts, however, in that area of NH there are some expensive homes with wealthy people, so they will probably get $1000 for a quilt easily. A lot just depends on your market area and what they are willing to pay. I know that's probably not much help, but it's what the market will bear. I would start with moderate prices, if the quilts go quickly, then I would increase my rates with the next batch of quilts and see what happens. Good luck in selling your quilts.

The seller sets the price for the quilts sold at Keepsake Quilting and the store adds their commission on top. The quilts come from all over the country so the sellers really have no idea at all what the local market will bear. These quilts are sold online, thus the market they are selling to is actually worldwide, not local at all. Their in-store client base is also extremely broad. They are far, very far, from aiming at the local market (which is not nearly as extravagant as you seem to think). :)

But yes, in normal situations, price setting should certainly take market location and conditions into consideration.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question. I did take a few smaller ones over to her - 15 x 15 and some small lap size ones. We labeled and priced them all before I left the store. I am not very hopeful - her shop wasn't one I would expect to find quilts in - we will have to wait and see. The quilts will be displayed with other handmade items - scarves, soaps, etc. so it might work. I will give her a call in a month and see what the status is. I do feel comfortable with the prices I set on the quilts. Many of them were made from scraps left over from other projects, experiments, or just something to do ... I did take into consideration long arm quilting costs - even on the ones I did myself - I felt that I was owed at least that much. One of the things I took over was a small pincushion that I made last week with a paper-pieced bee on it - she loved it and felt she would be able to get more than I wanted - we will see ... Some of the quilts I pulled out of the closet were made in 2006! They really need to be thinned out and given away if I am not going to use them!

I have to agree with this. Having done crafts such as needlepoint and cross stitch for many, many years, I think you just have to look at crafting as an enjoyable hobby. If you are able to sell an item and make a few dollars then that's icing on the cake.

I've only been doing quilting for a month or two and am almost finished my second. My partner tells me I've spent nearly $2000 so far (wait till today's $156 charge comes in for batting and backing fabric for my king single quilt :( ). Quilting is, or can be, a very expensive hobby and the chances of recouping even fair costs seems to be a goal too far.

Just today in a homewares shop I saw quilts for $75. No doubt made in China but I have to say some of them were really beautiful and I was tempted momentarily. I know family and friends will value our homemade quilts but will most strangers really spend hundreds or more when, with the influx of Asian-made knockoffs, they can get one for under $100?

My apologies for the negative post but that's how I seen things.

My thought after seeing the many quilts my sister has made for charity is that I would price on the low side to allow people to have a really special quilt. I can't control IF they know or appreciate the work or cost that went into it. What good are the quilts sitting in the closet? We all have gifts and I've been blessed to have my sister take the time to share hers with me and with others. Once money and time is spent can we really have it back? Yet, if we do this as a means of income, then that is another issue.
I guess it all depends on personal motivation. That is the neat part of being able to post and get feedback. Hope your quilts find homes with people that value the love,time, and cost you put into them.

If you have quilted for others, depending on the sizes of those quilts and what you charged them, then price accordingly then add the other factors in when you created the quilts you're going to sell. Just like anything else; parts and labor. And a percentage for markup.

There are so many ways to approach pricing, and every quilt is different. Different sizes, different complexities, different quality fabrics, etc., etc. It's hard enough to price the quilt you are currently making or have just completed because all your costs and your time are fresh in your mind. ptquilts (above) had it VERY right when she said that 20% is quite low. When I showed some of mine to some quilt shops a few years ago they wanted 50%. Yes, try a few with what feels like a reasonable, or slightly more than reasonable, price and see how you feel when you sell. There's no right or wrong, of course. Just what you are comfortable with.