Quilt Auction Prices
 

I went to an Amish quilt auction the other week, not to buy, but to watch and be inspired. The quilts were stunning! All hand quilted too. But the prices were so discouraging! The buyers weren't Amish, so maybe the buyers didn't understand fully what they were bidding on. The Amish auctioneer would start the bidding at about $450, but had to drop the prices because no one was responding. There was one queen size quilt, all hand embroidered and quilted, that only went for $250!!! That couldn't even cover the cost of the labor and fabric that went into it. Some went for no more than $60, not kidding. Is this normal for quilt auctions? Maybe I think of quilts more pricey than they are worth?

I have seen this before. When people think of auctions, they think cheap and old/antique. They often will in no way, shape or form pay that much for a quilt. Very few auctioneers will start the bidding that high. People get offended but that's how it often goes. Most of those Amish quilts are brand new right off the machine (treadle) or hoop. Also many have this connotation of it not being a business but a hobby. But wood carvings of the smallest size will sell for more. Auctions are not always the best way to go for many.

We had one in Maryland. The prices were much better than that. Dealers from New York City same down to buy for their shops.

My guild will be having its annual outdoor quilt show on October 1, and part of it is a quilt auction. This will be the first one I've attended since joining the guild in January, so I'm anxious to see how it goes. A lot of the success of an auction depends on the auctioneer, and on the advance work of getting people to attend. If quilts weren't bringing in the expected prices, perhaps a minimum should have been set for each quilt so that they could be saved for a more successful auction.

I gave a quilt I'd made for my sister but she decided she no longer wanted it but another pattern. So found somewhere I could donate it for an auction and was surprised at how much it went for. I'd expected maybe $100 at best but came out $600 for the organization so was happily surprised. I'm in a small town in the midwest so was thinking more on the lines of what folks might offer around here.

Its sad to think most folks that don't quilt, have no idea what goes into making one........including my sister. The time designing the quilt, fabrics, labor, etc. And we all know the quality the Amish put into their quilts. So sad!!!!!

It is very difficult to run a successful (profitable) quilt auction. Typically, I see the quilts go for FAR, FAR less than even what they'd sell for on eBay. Our guild used to auction multiple quilts at our biannual quilt show, but they would sell from anywhere from $25-60 -- so sad. Instead, for this year's show (in October) we switched to offering a single quilt with multiple contributors & advertising the living daylights out of that one quilt. Members are asked to promote it on our own social media pages & it is promoted at local quilt shops, in the paper & through our website. We're hoping it will do better with all our attention focused on a single quilt, but honestly, I've volunteered for other charities & seen quilts that had elaborate custom quilting with a one-of-a-kind design, using top-notch cotton fabrics that would be priced (minimum bid/reserve price) by someone who knew absolutely nothing about custom quilts. They would look at it & think "I can buy something 'similar' at Wal-Mart for $25 so we'll start the bidding there". Donors are typically better off selling the quilt themselves & giving all the proceeds to the charity. Yes, there are definitely exceptions, but far too often bidders don't understand the difference between a mass-market, low-quality quilt made out of polyester by a slave laborer in a 3rd world country (no, not all items made in 3rd world countries are low-quality or made in abusive factory conditions, but the very cheapest ones often are) versus a fully custom quilt made with high-quality natural fibers, designed & constructed by a fiber artist in their own country. People complain that "all our jobs are being sent overseas", but the flip side of that is that it costs more to make items in the US. Raw materials cost more, labor costs more, facilities cost more & so, too, does complying with, imho, very reasonable enforced government regulations (like you cannot block fire exits because you want to make sure none of your workers can sneak out during the workday, or like if your roof is halfway caving in & poses a safety risk to your workers, you must repair it or the building will be condemned). Or, for that matter, the cost of some seemingly questionable regulations like the requirement that Amish must now hire licensed contractors to build their houses and stores, even though they've been safely constructing their homes in the same manner for nearly 2 centuries with very few resulting problems.

If the Amish cannot continue to turn a profit on their quilts, I fear this beautiful aspect of American culture may soon be relegated to the history books.

Auctions can be a great way to sell items, but it does take a good auctioneer and publicist. I am surprised they didn't have minimum reserves on them. An auctioneer always starts out higher, then it usually drops and goes up from there. A good auctioneer will know when to stop dropping the price and go on to the next item. About the only time they do not is when it is an estate auction and are doing it to liquidate an estate. When the audience finds out they are not going to "give away" the items they start bidding or go home. They aren't fools, if they can buy it for $10 why pay $100?

For years we had an Amish group bring quilts and other items made by the Amish and Mennonites. I loved to go and look, I couldn't afford much. It was fun to go and look but I would listen to people that were totally shocked by the prices. They quit coming about 5 years ago.

Many have found that a raffle is much more profitable than an auction.

Bree I really appreciate your thoughtful comments.