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I did some repair work and charged "by the hour". Keep good records! I charged minimum wage which was about $5.75 an hour.
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Originally Posted by gzbird101
I have been hired to quilt 2 queen tops. Nothing fancy, just basic stitch in the ditch and then bind both. My dilema is that the lady who hired me is the mother in law of my sister in law so there is the family "thing". She doesn't expect me to cut my prices, but I know I will get a lot of repeat business from her and she will refer me to her quilting group so I want to give her a good deal. What would be a good price to charge her? I am thinking around $65 per quilt. Too much or not enough?? What does everyone else think or charge?
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Kalady, good advice! Be respectful of yourself and your talent.
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Seems like you are really low on this. I sometimes can't quilt my quilts because of arthritis in my hands and wrists. I have two lovely ladies who will quilt for me and they charge me $150.00 per quilt. I don't think that is excessive for all the work they have to do. They don't have long arm quilters they have to use their machines to quilt. They do lovely work, are so very nice to deal with and I think they are worth every penny they charge me. One of the ladies is my Aunt Linda and the other lady is her daughter, my cousin, Patsy. They charge other people who they don't know and have no connection with a lot more than that. Their work is beautiful and they get it out in a hurry. No one complains about what they charge. They stay busy all the time. Don't de-value your labor even if it is for family. I sometimes piece quilt tops for my aunt and her daughter and they also pay me very well for my work.
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I did one for someone, and charged $1.00 a yard of thread.
(The Menonites here charge), And then also you can use the same for the binding. It comes to a fair price. |
Around here, they charge 80.00 for a youth quilt. Yes that is low, especially if you think she will bring in clients for you, then your should price higer for future business.
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Regardless of what you charge, you are getting into a sticky situation with in laws. Decide on a fair price that you would expect to get from others. AND let her know before you start advising her if she would like to look for a better price you would not be offended. Sound like a plan??
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Regardless of what you charge, you are getting into a sticky situation with in laws. Decide on a fair price that you would expect to get from others. AND let her know before you start advising her if she would like to look for a better price you would not be offended. Sound like a plan??
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Well you will get repeat service but maybe they will also expect that low price. I have a friend who has a friend that does her quilting for a good deal but she tells everyone about it. I would give a fair price at which you are willing to do other people's work for the same price.
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I'd charge $135 and tell her you are giving her a discount off the $150 - $175 you normally would charge because she is part of the family. Do a wonderful quilting job and you'll have repeat business no matter what the price or who it is for!!
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Originally Posted by koko
I'd charge $135 and tell her you are giving her a discount off the $150 - $175 you normally would charge because she is part of the family. Do a wonderful quilting job and you'll have repeat business no matter what the price or who it is for!!
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I would charge $65.00 for the binding hand appliqued on the other side.
give her a break and charge $150.00 for the quilting in the ditch. Don't let the family thing become a problem for you, business is business, I am sure if you asked her to do something, she would charge you. She has come to you because of the family thing, and she can trust you with her quilt tops. She would rather pay someone she knows then someone she doesn't. |
Will you be giving the same good deal to all the business she sends you?
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My sister in law quilts by hand and charges $100 for a full size quilt. Personally, I wouldn't do it for that!
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I have been doing quilting for relatives and I charge them the normal price, but then give them a discount on the quilting (not any supplies I would have to provide). The discount ranges from 15% to 25% depending on how much quilting I've done.
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I quilt for others. Usually friends and I know how you feel about asking too much. If you charge a decent amount you won't feel the resentment when you would rather be doing your own things. My sisters are quilters and sometimes we barter for thread,pins,etc. Sisters are different than twice removed inlaws.
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Originally Posted by Annaleehunter
Originally Posted by gzbird101
I have been hired to quilt 2 queen tops. Nothing fancy, just basic stitch in the ditch and then bind both. My dilema is that the lady who hired me is the mother in law of my sister in law so there is the family "thing". She doesn't expect me to cut my prices, but I know I will get a lot of repeat business from her and she will refer me to her quilting group so I want to give her a good deal. What would be a good price to charge her? I am thinking around $65 per quilt. Too much or not enough?? What does everyone else think or charge?
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Originally Posted by kalady
I have altered clothes for years and sold various crafts and am a free lance Home Economist/Consultant- all work where I set my own prices.
This is my best advice- esp since this customer is NOT IMMEDIATE family, really she isn't. Charge more -think of what you would or have paid and charge at least that. I believe when you cheapen yourself and your skills you send a message to others and yourself that you are not worth it. Set a good price, a fair price but do not discount yourself. Tell the customer your price and make no apologies. If you are questioned, the answer is "frankly I am committed to great work and charge a price that makes me be able to devote the time and effort to give you the wonderful results you have a right to expect." IMHO It is better to lose those customers that want too low prices and get paid for the quality work you do.This family discount - and lets face it she is much removed- phooey- creates a bunch of extra layers. Are you going to keep doing more at a discount, even when it eats into your family, personal time?? Would she discount for you? How much are your lives entwined? I also stress that I do not alter for just anyone- this is true- it weeds out bargain hunters that do not respect your skill and time and also creates a feeling of exclusivity. I only take referrals-keeps the payment problems down. This philosophy has worked for me- I can not handle all the work I am offered. Do not cheapen or discount your talents! We women tend to do that, I believe because of the fact that so much of our life/family work we are not monetarily compensated or recognized for. Now I relinquish my soap box to someone else... |
It sounds like you do not already do this as a business. If you are trying to start a business, then you need to price your work so that you can make a profit from it. $65 would barely cover the cost of batting and thread, let alone any of your time.
As for the "family" thing, I would only give discounts to immediate family. The MIL of SIL is not immediate family. If you have never met her, or don't see her at family gatherings, then I wouldn't consider her "family" enough to give a discount. Plus, she has stated that she doesn't expect you to cut your prices.. SO DON'T. IF in fact she does send some business your way, then perhaps on a quilt in the future, you can give her a "discount" for all the business she has given you, but not because she is family. But just because there is the "possibility" of business, doesn't mean that any of her quilting group would use you. So for her first quilts, I would charge her full price of what ever you would charge normally, then depending on how much business you got from her, give her a discount based on the amount of work she sent your way, for her next quilt. |
My LAQ charges me around $150. and she does just an all over design.
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The normal price here is width times length divided by 1296 to find total square yard and that times the design. Simple design $16.00, basic $18.00, Detailed $24.00 per square yard. Binding is extra at $5.75 per linear yard. Plus the price of thread at around $8.00 per spool. So you are pretty low on your price.
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Seems low to me. don't shortchange yourself.
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I will send my quilt tops to you if you charge that little. Boy, what a deal!
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You want to be one of my customers? I will make up a overall pattern to match your quilt for that amount of money. I usually charge $.015 for overall and any custom goes up from there, depending on how much I like doing it and if I ever want to get another quilt from this person. Binding is on top of that. I ususally charge $.10 per inch (hand finished).
This was supposed to quote the on quilter on the first page who paid a very large for the queen size overall. |
My sil's aunt used to hand quilt and she charged $100 a top and had no trouble keeping customers.
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I agree it is low but using it as a family price and showing the work to others may bring you work that will pay. Part of it is if you do this to be busy but your time is valuable too.
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WOW !The lady who does my quilting charged me $35 AND she supplied the backing !!I am one lucky duck to have her and just 15 miles away, too !! I forgot to mention, she hems the quilts if you want that done !
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Originally Posted by Dortha
WOW !The lady who does my quilting charged me $35 AND she supplied the backing !!I am one lucky duck to have her and just 15 miles away, too !! I forgot to mention, she hems the quilts if you want that done !
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One of the reason why the prices may be so different is the pay scales in different states...
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$65 is a bit low but it is an almost relative.
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I just paid $130 to have a queen-size quilt machine quilted -- It was done in a decorative stitch, with colored thread. I still have to do the binding myself. If you are doing them for $65, please send me your mailing address, and I'll enclose a check.. :)
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yes you are too low. I start my prices at $.01 and up SID is $.02 per square inch and yes it is harder on the long arm than by hand. good luck.
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20 yrs ago I had several twin sized quilts hand quilted, nothing fancy. They charged me about $85.00 dollars per quilt. I thought that was a bargain. They also did the binding too. Don't sell yourself too cheap.
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Originally Posted by gzbird101
I have been hired to quilt 2 queen tops. Nothing fancy, just basic stitch in the ditch and then bind both. My dilema is that the lady who hired me is the mother in law of my sister in law so there is the family "thing". She doesn't expect me to cut my prices, but I know I will get a lot of repeat business from her and she will refer me to her quilting group so I want to give her a good deal. What would be a good price to charge her? I am thinking around $65 per quilt. Too much or not enough?? What does everyone else think or charge?
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Originally Posted by JT
If you are going to do basic quilting, nothing fancy, go for something like a penny a square inch. The binding extra, so much per running inch. A friend does basic quilting for me for a penny an inch. I feel that is fair, and something I can afford. Good luck!
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Normal price in this neck of the woods is about $3 per square metre by machine. However, if you are doing it by hand, I would triple that!
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A quilt shop where I took lessons for my longarm said that if you do binding for people and charge by the inch it will cost more than the quilting. She said to discourage people from asking you to do binding cause it will take more time than the quilting. She said to charge enough to make it well worth your while.
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I wouldn't go quite that low either. Maybe 85 to 100, but only for family
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hi i pay 3.60 a sq ft
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I would chg her at least $100. per quilt, that is alot of work! And I would tell her, that was a family price! Also, I would tell her up front if you have trouble with it, or run into problems, it could be more! I did one one time for a lady, and it was a nightmare!Her sewing was awful,squares weren't cut right, seams not the same width, and none of it matched up! When doing the binding,her handy work had folds in it! UGH!!!
You can't fix someones elses boo-boos, not when your finishing it, all the boo-boos come out and rear t heir ugly heads!Then if that wasn't enough, she expected me to do it for nothing because she knew me! Never again! |
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