pricing and SID dilema

[Butterfly]

Hi,

I'm having quite a time trying to price my work. My biggest problem is pricing custom stuff. So, I thought I'd enlist some help from you guys. When you do custom work, do you give a range to your customer? Also, do you always SID around blocks and borders for all custom work or only for higher end custom? I'm kind of hoping that light custom means no SID. Tee hee.

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but this is my dilema at the moment.

Jessica

[Quilting Heidi]

Jessica,

I always SID for custom work and I think it just makes such a difference. With that being said pricing is sometimes tricky. I start at .03 per sq inch and go up from there. I'm learning to give a range but it has been a hard lesson for me to get. I've decided that if I McTavish I need to charge by the hour! If I had to I might cheat a little and just do cc's to nail stuff done but I really don't like to see quilts that don't have SID on them. I personally think that it really makes a huge difference. My customers love that I do that. Don't be afraid to point out differences between maybe you and another LAer. For instance if somebody says to me, "Wow you are much pricier than blah,blah, blah." I would respond by telling them why I charge the way I do and how much time I think their quilt will take me, how much I've invested in my machine and training and then tell them to ask blah,blah, blah their view and to make their own choice and one that they can live with!

[Susanne.Hughes]

Some Quilters in OZ have a seperate charge category for SID. And to be honest, SID does nail it and create a finished look to the quilting.

Why don't you quilt two mini "quilts" one with SID one without, so your customers can see the difference and appreciate why they pay more for it.

Like Heidi pointed out, custom means something different to everyone and in the end both you and your customers have to be happy. This, unfortunately, means some trials and perhaps, some learning curves in both the quilting service levels for your custom and your pricing, making adjustments on the way.

All the best and remember, we all go through this so we all have different ideas and attitudes.

All the best,

[sspingler]

I have 3 prices that I go by:

.0175 for freehand or panto

.0250 for semi custom ( freehand, stencils, SID)

.0350 for full custom or heirloom

Thread $5 to $7

Pricing for binding depending on which one of 3 that I do ( by machine only, machine to the front and they finish and machine to the front and hand sewn to the back) I hate doing binding to I price a little high.

These are the only prices I go by and I stick to it.