sewNso

in Michigan, that is a panograme , (am I saying that right?) price. free hand, custom quiling at .05 an inch, if I figured it right. turns out to be upwards of $400, correct? if it was a 90 X 90 inch quilt. $400, I don't want to pay, or can afford. so I just stick to having my quilter do panograms for me. I don't quilt for show, I just quilt to get them done for family. I think you were more than fair in your pricing and I would not have touched a crown royal quilt for love no money. a lot of my quilts I do, or have done myself on my Janome. no way would I ever do a crown royal quilt. good luck on your business in the future.

Jennie and Me

This is why I no longer quilt for others. People seem to think that you twitch your nose and it's quilted. They don't know (or care) that I spent time pressing their quilt top before I loaded it. That it takes money for thread, electricity, the classes that I took (several), let alone the time spent. I had one woman say that since I charged her $75.00 to quilt her full sized quilt that I should have included the batting as "so and so" always did. I politely told her that she would probably be happier letting the other quilter do it the next time. Quilters spend a lot of money on their equipment, classes and notions. I made very little for my time that I invested. It just ended up not being worth the hassle. And I really did love transforming some really poorly made quilts into nice looking quilts. We should charge what plumbers charge!!

tjradj

Stick to your gut. It's your business. I don't believe you were wrong in anything. Some people will complain regardless of what you charge just trying to get a better deal. Where I live, $85 to quilt a queensized quilt is a steal. My fee would come to $185 (Can) as I do FMQ so everything is a custom pattern. You stated your price, you needed to fix it before you could quilt it, and you did the job you said you would. She is in the wrong . The adage "the customer is always right" is ridiculous. Some people just can't be pleased. Murphy's Law says that if you gave her a discount price, she'd bring more to you and expect the same deal - and tell all her friends that you work cheap. Stick up for your self.

Bree123

It sounds suspicious to me that she knew your rates up front & yet still complained they weren't the $50 her sister charges. Obviously there was some reason she didn't have her sister quilt it for her -- did her sister refuse because of the fabric? Does her sister do sub-par quilting? Does she take 6 months to finish the quilting? You can't worry about what other people may or may not charge every time someone complains. If you've done your research & know what the market will bear, having one person that's unhappy with the price is not a huge deal.

I would gently suggest that it's really not a good idea to tell people to take their quilts elsewhere. Stand by your rates & the quality of your work and let that speak for itself. Make sure to keep photos of any customer quilts -- but especially ones where the customer might complain so that if it becomes an issue, you can show evidence of the quality of your work. Be prepared to explain the rationale for your prices -- cost of thread, needles, batting, fabric, a percentage of durable/multi-use goods (machine & servicing, lighting, markers, etc), plus how many hours you put into piecing and quilting. If the market changes downward, you may have to adjust your prices, but that should be the only reason. If people feel like they can "negotiate" with you by insulting your work, that will become a slippery slope downward until you end up like some quilters that end up effectively paying clients to give them work since they don't even charge enough to cover costs.

Peckish

Why not? In my earlier post where I was discussing a binding customer who laughed at my quote, I politely told her to find someone else who was more in her desired price range. It was obvious from our conversation that we were NOT going to have any kind of transaction. I was steadfast in my rate, and she alternated between debating the costs of the quilting industry with me and laughing at me. Neither side was going to budge; why waste the time in continuing the conversation?

Again I question, why? Does your grocer explain the rationale for his prices? How about your manicurist? The local coffee shop? No, they don't, and the reason is that everyone understands these people are in business to make money. However, people working in the quilting industry are expected to work for slave labor prices.

JustAbitCrazy

[QUOTE=Michellesews;7461194]Aw Lora....your story takes me WAAAY back. Ten years ago I was a new longarmer and it seems the wolves come out of the woodwork trying to get something cheap. I had a woman with whom we discussed every aspect of her KING sized quilt and I was so very careful. It was lovely (I thought) and you can't even imagine my horror when she proceeded to pick it to pieces and complain. One of her biggest complaintsbwasnthat when I stabilized the edges I took too big a seam. It was 1/4" but I soon realized what all the complaining was about...yep...$$$! She bad

I had almost the exact same experience with my very first "paid" quilt. Her complaint was that she would have to bind the quilt that weekend when her grandchildren were visiting, in order to show it at the next guild meeting. It was done in the promised time frame, but she thought I had it too long and should have been done sooner. There was no real deadline for showing the quilt at any particular time. She made a huge stink, took back the second quilt top she had left with me, and bad mouthed me to everyone. She just wanted to upset me into giving her a huge discount or not charging her at all. I even thought of doing that (the situation/conversation led your thoughts that way, but couldn't do that to myself! I had really worked hard on that quilt. Later she won first place with it in the county fair, never told me, never gave me credit (or anyone else) for having quilted it. It was entered as if she had done everything.

Be glad you stuck to your guns. You and I are both better off without them. Hold your head up, but no matter what, don't "get snippy" with customers. And you should be charging 2 cents per square inch for all over patterns, imho.

JustAbitCrazy

You also should have charged her a p.i.a. fee.

quiltingshorttimer

I think the point being made by Bree123 is not to undervalue your work, but to not be snippy with a client. Being professional in your demeanor, even while being firm about your prices, etc, means others will see you as a professional, even when wacko customers like this one try to badmouth you. that doesn't mean you should ever put up with someone that rants and raves or becomes verbally abusive--but if that happens, it's time to say sorry this won't be an ongoing client relationship, I don't think we will be doing further business. That pretty much says it!