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Wanting to RAISE my prices


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Wow it has been a while since I visited the forum.  Hope everyone of you are doing great.

 

I am wanting to raise my rates but  I have to say I am not in the know as with my busy schedule and  I rarely visit my favorite forums anymore to keep up.

 

What are the going rates now for ETE/ custom/.  No big awards on my belt just lots of quilts and experience. 

 

Was wondering if any of the seasoned quilters took this plunge and how did your longtime customers respond?

 

I am suffering from alittle burnout lately but not because I am tired of quilting but I want to QUILT my way for the most part.  Time for a Change.  Been doing this for 8 years and believe I am undercharging.

 

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Grammie Tammie

 

Grammie Tammie's Quilting

"The Wet Mountain Quilt Shop"

719-783-0700

www.grammietammies.com

 

 

 

Happiness Always.

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I give customers a $ range when I quote prices.  Most times I know what I would like to earn per hour so discount to my hourly figure.  Customs are a lot harder to figure but I tend to quote high and then discount later.

Can't give you a PSI amount as Australians are a lot different to the US.

 

I would love to earn per hour what Nichole Webb quotes on her web page!

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Hi Tammie!

Locally for E2E it's 2 cents per inch. One computerized quilter charges 2 1/2 cents.

I seldom get customers wanting overalls, which are such good money. My custom starts at 3 cents and I've charged as much as 10 cents. Now for custom with extensive ruler work, outlining of applique, and dense quilting, I charge by the hour.

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I started out charging by the square inch but I always timed myself too. On every quilt I did for the first year I would calculate the price by my sq. inch charge and then see what I was earning per hour. As I gained in speed and experience, I found that I was charging as much as $24 per hour for an E 2E and earned $2.50 per hour for a bad guess at a custom appliqué quilt. This meant that I was way over charging most of my customers who want over all designs or borders with an over all center.

Then I also started asking good quilting friends what they were paying for quilting from the 1 other local quilter which was $12.50 per hour. I also found out that an Iowa quilter who wins lots of national awards was charging $25 per hour. I had also won some awards by now so I figured I could be a little higher than the local gal but not as high as the famous one. So I started charging $15 per hour. I also charge for thread by bobbin count and type of thread and batting ((just a little less than at a quilt shop price). I also add 15 minutes on to the time for paper work, design consultation, and pick up. I start the timer when I take the top out of the closet. F I have to fuss with a not square backing or a problem top the customer pays for it.

A lot of my over alls are now under $.01 per inch. I am realistic with my clients that custom costs $500 and up. Most of my over alls are under $100 now because I am fast at free hand and love doing different designs.

Your work and skill are valuable commodities. Too many quilters work hard for low wages. I explained it to my customers that I wanted to be fair to everyone and not give custom work a price cut but charge too much for easy quilts.

I will have to confess here that I have never had to use my quilting as a second income. I am semi-retired and only quilt part time. I have gained valuable quilting skills by working on other people's quilts!

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I have my prices on  my website: www.feathersandloops.com but often am finding that they don't reflect the time it takes to layout the quilt design in Quilt Path.  So for the computerized quilting I need to figure out a new scheme or get a lot faster at layouts.

The rush jobs are usually mine, in the area most longarm quilters have a backlog.  I do not usually so that helps.  Recently I had two rush jobs in one week with the same deadline.  Both needed binding and one a custom embroidered label.  I found a friend to do hand binding FAST on them and got them finished in time.  I paid her for the binding and was glad that I could keep quilting while she did binding.  Whew!  Anyway, just wondering if charging 1.5 x the cost is fair for rush jobs?  That seems fair to me.  Karen  

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Every area is different for prices.  I would suggest researching your area and see what the going rates are and charge accordingly. 

I know some larger metro areas can support higher fees, where rural areas (like mine) do not. Custom work should be charged by the hour, or you will loose money.  E2E is the bread butter and where I make my money as I can quilt a nice size quilt in 3 hours.  So if I am really on track, I can do two quilts a day and have a decent paycheck at the end of a days work.

Most of my clients make quilts for family/friends and do not show them.  They are wanting nice designs on quilts that will be used a lot. I only do E2E with additional charge for each bobbin.  They appreciate my fast turn around and are comfortable with my fees.  I would love to charge more, but this area will not support that. 

It is important to not charge yourself right out of business ;)

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I just quoted 2 cents to a lady and was told she can get it down the road - 11 miles - for $50 on any size quilt!  I know the lady and she is retired and quilts simply for fun.  That's makes it tough for us gals trying to make some money.  Go figure.  The local shops starts at 2 cents and is totally computerized.  Northwest Missouri area

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Good to see you once again, Tammie Grammie.. have missed you awfully.

 

Did I hear right that you have opened a shop, and drive that narrow mountain driveway daily?  EEEEAAAAWWWWKKKK lemmie out, I'll walk, thanks. lol.

 

Was worried about the fires and just recently about the flooding.. not knowing where you are for sure.   in Colorado that is.. any town of note, fairl near by?

 

Praying you keep stitching up a storm, and enjoy every minute of it you can.

 

We are in a depressed area.. fees are minimal, though i won't go below 1.5 any more for a loose quick design, and computer work is higher.. at least it keeps me quilting..

 

Don't be such a stranger..

 

Rita

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WB Tammie!!   When I was quilting for others I was charging three different rates pending on the density, my rates were .015, .020 & .025.  I had my pantos/E2E patterns seperated into the three caterogies.  Most of my customers went with light to medium density. 

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When I raised my rates I never really announced it. I just charged more and nobody complained. If they balked at the high end of the range that I quoted, then I adjusted my quilting accordingly so that it was less time consuming for me. Basically, I decided that I wanted to bring in $25 per hour, which of course, as we all know, dwindles after taxes and supply purchases. Anyway, my charges went like this.... .015 for large meander... .02 to .03 for pantos. Custom started at .04 but often ended up around .06 or .07 psi.

Jess

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Sometimes we forget to include the price of the machine you are doing the work on.   A $20,000. investment needs to pay it's rent.(even if you got it second hand and paid less) They don't have one.

 You are all professionals if you have been doing this any time at all.  Judging by the work most of you post $25.00 an hour is minimum wages.  I have a quilter that has taken a good many of my customers because she works for pennies, but she has also lost some of hers to me because I do more customize work.  

I will get off my soap box now and agree with those that have said check you local area and be competitive by offering something the other person doesn't.  Something you can be comfortable with. At the end of the day you need to be happy with yourself and the job you are doing.

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Joyce is right! You need to pay yourself AND your machine. If you want to make minimum wage you can do that without thousands of dollars worth of equipment! Years ago, we needed to hire a dump truck driver. His bill was broken down into two parts; $45/hr for him, and $45/hr for the truck. THAT got me thinking! I can make $10-$15/hr taking orders at McDonald's. I have a lot more talent and investment than needed for that job and my fees should reflect that. How much has the average longarm quilter invested in machinery, and education? Not to mention all the tools we need: needles, rulers, thread, patterns etc. etc. etc.

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I try to be fair to my customers and not charge too much while at the same time stay in line with my fellow quilters in the area.

 

I have the IntelliQuilter system with my Millennium. I do not charge my customers more due to the fact that I have a computerized system. IMHO, I don't think our customers should have to pay more for quilting because we have computerized systems. (JMHO)  I feel the IQ is a "tool" just like any other tool I own. I won't charge more because I have a tool like IQ. My customers get the same price as any other longarmer that does not have a computerized quilter system.

 

Also, I don't charge a "set up fee" nor do I have a "minimum" fee.

 

My e2e pantos are priced depending on the density. The lighter pantos start at 1.5 psi and the tighter pantos that take much longer to stitch out start at 2.0, and maybe even 2.5, depending on density.

 

For block designs, my custom starts at 2.5 and I charge extra (as in 3.0 or higher) for sashing and border treatments.

 

Regardless of panto or custom, I also charge $2.00 per bobbin to cover thread usage. I wind my own bobbins (I use Bottom Line). Depending on the size of the quilt, on average, it's between three bobbins and 10 bobbins... averaged out, that's approx $6.00 to $20.00 added on to my invoice.

 

I know someone here in my area who charges custom by the hour which is a good idea if the custom quilting requires very intense work. If a customer brought me a quilt and wanted heavy custom (as in heirloom) work done on it, I would definitely charge by the hour and give the customer a "ballpark" estimate. That said, I've never had a customer requesting heavy heirloom quilting.

 

Stitch in the ditch?  I consider SID to belong in the "heavy custom" category. If a customer wants me to SID around the piecing, I will charge by the hour!  That said, I will have a talk with them about SID and I try to steer my customers away from SID unless they absolutely want it. After I explain the time involved with SID, if they want SID they will pay for it -- by the hour!

 

Thankfully,  :D  most of my customers don't want SID. Most are pantos and every once in a while, custom.

 

I have always made note of the time I spend on all of my quilts, regardless of panto or custom, and in general, I will say that I average somewhere between $25 and $35 an hour, depending on the quilt.

 

My quilting business is very part time (as I have a full time job outside the home), and I don't have a long waiting list or backlog. I try to get my quilts completed as they come in, so usually my customers get their quilts back within one month or less.

 

Hope this helps!

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