Charging for quilting-Ranting and Raging

[chickenscratch]

Has anybody else noticed that people are charging less and less for quilting. THere is a person on ebay right now who will do a King size quilt or $80. It says she will also do custom work. I was shocked to read that.

And the lady who owns the quilt shop (the one who was so nasty about referring me to her customers) just bought a Gamill Optima Plus and is doing any quilting for .004 per square inch. That equals out to $25.00 to quilt a twin size quilt. The worst thing is her stitches look better than mine because she has the stitch regulator. The only thing I have going that she doesn't is the ability to do freehand and custom work.

How are others supposed to compete with that? There needs to be a standard set so some of us can make some money.

Sorry- just had to rant and rage for a minute!!!

[mrmquilt]

Teresa, Give her time, she'll get sick of working for chicken feed. (LOL)

One reason people are charging less could be due to the fact that there

are MANY home mid-armish machines and frames. People can save money

by buying one of these and doing their own.

Hang in there, don't let it bother you and don't lower your prices because

I believe she will be raising hers as she get experience.

Michele

[Mary Beth]

chicken feed - great pun!!

[quiltmonkey]

Teresa, stay the course and keep doing what you do, and know that deep inside what you are doing is the right thing. Remember that one can only cut so deep and then one ends up bleeding to death. There is only so low one can go before it is counterproductive and frankly doesn't make good business sense. Hey, I am all for a bargain, but you get what you pay for. Just let these people do their thing. If they want to quilt for below-poverty level pay then let them do it. Something has to give eventually. Be patient and believe in yourself. I believe in you, friend.

[Mary Beth]

Teresa,

Sorry, I was stuck on chicken feed and didn't stay on course.

You are a very good quilter. I still cannot get over the SR thing. I agree with Shana, you stay the course. How many times have we done a quilt and didn't charge enough and kicked ourselves afterward. That gals gonna do a lot of kickin before this is over I'll bet ya. I know it is easier said than done, but hang in there girl, somethings gotta give.

[Bonnie]

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....you just do what you are doing. Things have got to get better for both of us.

Don't bend even one little bit....the others will either go out of business, because of poor quality jobs or decide they are worthy of a bigger price and out price themselve the other way. When their customers realize that they aren't getting a bargain they will look elsewhere.

[KarenLummus]

I agree, teresa that longarm quilters out there who charge so little are not helping the rest of send out the message that we are professionals. Think about what even the local handyman gets for doing a simple job in your home and compare the actual money we get per hour to what he gets. We women need to set a standard and stop working for chicken feed!

Karen

[chickenscratch]

Karen, It is almost like the fact that American workers have lost jobs as things have been able to be manufactured for half as much in foreign countries.

[April W]

What exactly do you girls think is a fair hourly wage for an experienced quilter? I just recently pieced/quilted a 36" X 40" wall hanging with 18 pictures on it for $240. The sons who ordered itfor thier parents 50th wedding anniversary didn't even bat an eye, but some people who have seen it and asked how much it would cost to have one made just about choke on that price.

[QuiltFaerie]

Just keep in mind that everyone is looking for a deal. The ones that choke on the cost are probably looking for Wal-Mart pricing and have no clue what is in involved.

[Bonnie]

Gail is so right, but to add to this these people are also the ones that bitch about the fact that they aren't getting enough money at work, but want to sit and do nothing and yet bitch that if they owned the company they would do it better. These types aren't looking for a good deal they are looking for a hand-out.

[chickenscratch]

April, I think you earned a fair wage on that quilt. I'm not looking to get rich. I just think $.01 per sq. inch is NOT too expensive. Evidently others feel differently. I do know I WILL NOT load, quilt, and unload an entire king sized quilt for $70 or $80. That's too much work for such a big job.

[ffq-lar]

Hi April--

The going rate for a pieced quilt from beginning to binding is around $100 a square yard. This would be without the cost of materials. Your top was 36X40=1.12 square yards. So, $112 for the top and at least $10 each for the photos=$292. You are definitely in the ballpark. Commission quilts are tricky to price out.

A guild-mate did a HUGE tablecover for a local company to take to trade shows. It had their logo appliqued on three sides and the top. No quilting, but she included the cost of materials in the price. It was over $1000 and they didn't even blink!!!

There is so much information out there in magazines and on the internet about long arm quilting that I find it amazing sometimes how people are "shocked" at the price for services. Maybe they are only looking for a deal--when I get a "shocked" inquiry, I wish them good luck in their search!!

It is hard to ask what you know you are worth if you are in a difficult market--too much competition or not enough customers. You get to decide your solution and set your prices. Good luck!

Linda Rech

[Mary Beth]

April,

Did you print the pictures onto fabric, or did they have it done already? I am getting ready to do a t-shirt quilt and the customer wants some of his daughter's pictures printed on fabric and put on the quilt. I have determined that I should charge him about $20/block because I have ink, medium to print on, then making it into a block that works with this quilt. He has about 5 pictures and a document of some kind. Then the t-shirts, his quilt is going to be nearly $500 and he didn't even ask, he said he knows it will be a lot, just do it!! I love customer's like that!!

[April W]

Maary Beth,

My sister actually scans the pictures and prints them onto fabric sheets. I have her track her time and the cost of the ink for her printer. She got $54.00 for 4.5 hours work and $60 for ink. It only took me a little over 3 hours to heat set the pictures and cut strips for sashing. I had alraeady designed it on graph paper and had some idea how big the sashings would need to be.

[JudyLynn]

I have to agree with all the other comments,,,don't even lower your prices for anyone. I always say that if I am going to go thru that much work, and someone thinks I should lower my price, I just tell them "if I wanted to give my quilting away, then I am going to give it someone that I really like, not just to anyone" I always give a quote first, after they do a bit of choking, they say okay, do what ever you need to. I do quality work with quality fabric and am not afraid to say it, so I do not give my work away, unless I want to. Hang in there, don't undersell yourself, then people start to take advantage of you. I am to a point in my life that I do not like to clothing alterations, so if I choose to do them, I charge plenty, first of all because I can---if they could do it for less then the would have--secondly, if they don't like the price--they won't ask again. If you are to cheap, then you are doing crap no one else wants to do. Stick to your plan and guns. :)GOOD LUCK

[georgia]

Has anyone put a pencil to what their hourly rate would be for pantos? custom work? Seems to me that we would all be more comfortable with our rates if we were more aware of what were were actually making per hour. I agree with JudyLynn - I am not interested in giving my hard earned skill away to customers. I do more than enough quilting for charities, QOV and community service through my guild and am happy to do so, but I expect my customers to treat me like a legitimate business.

g

[CucumberQuilting]

We have a longarm quilter in our area who quilts with a Gammill without a stitch regulator. Her work is very good but she does charge a bit less and occasionally we lose a customer to her because her prices are lower. (Doesn't make lots of sense though, considering she is at least 40 miles, one way, away from us. But people will drive for hours to "save" a nickle around here.)

I don't think she charges less because she is working without a stitch regulator though. She has been in the quilting business for many years and learned on a machine before they came out with stitch regulators. That's just what she is accustomed to charging, her business has long ago paid for itself and she has become quite good at working without a stitch regulator.

I think everyone has to consider what they are willing to sell their time for and set their prices accordingly. I'm definitely not the fastest quilter in the country and probably work for about 50 cents an hour most days!

more in the next post as this one is getting long...

[CucumberQuilting]

more examples:

A newer quilter in the area has set her goal as an hourly wage, with so many hours of quilting dedicated to her business, intending to come out with a monthly and annual salary that suits her. She hasn't hit her goal yet after several months of quilting and she's frustrated by another quilter near her who has been quilting for quite some time and will do any panto for a penny.

I don't think she needs to browbeat the other quilter into raising her prices. She needs to do the very best work she can at the price she is willing to work for. A Penny-A-Panto business is very different from a custom quilting business and she should focus on what she's doing and not be so concerned about what is going on in the other person's business. If you were a gorgeous corner Bistro serving wine and fabulous food, why would you be concerned about what was selling for 99cents at the local fast food chain?

[laststitchstudio]

Oh Teresa,

I feel for you and have much of the same problem here. I have been working with a group of ladies at a local quilt shop making Chicken Quilts for several weeks now. I showed them the chicken wire desigh I quilted on my top. Well low and behold another long arm quilter came into the class last week and is offering to do the same for less, plus she has a computerized Gammil so she is adding more design than I can do especially for her prices.

One of the guilds I belong to uses one of their other members LA quilting services because her prices are rock bottom cheap. I've been a member almost 3 years and have only quilted 2 quilts from this group. She bills herself as the guild's LAer

Then there is my closest competittion, a LAer who gets business from another quilt shop in my area because she knows the owner long than I have. This LAer smokes in her house where she has her machine,

Oh I am sorry for whinning, but had to let you know you are not alone, It's frustrating..........I know. But I just keep plugging along and tooting my own horn.

Your work is wonderful....price accordingly.

[stitchinsally]

Kate, my story is almost a replica of yours. And Teresa, all of the above is exactly why I had to get a full time job outside of my studio. Last weekend we tried something new - in our small community there are no places to buy fabric. And I and my husband have heard griping from almost every piecer and sewer there is no where to buy fabric & they can't afford the $8.00+ fabric. There certainly seemed to be a need so, we took a risk and had a fabric booth at a craft show in the county seat. Paid $40 for the booth, made $75 and that doesn't even count the fabric. Heard lots of people stop by and say "what a wonderful color selection of fabric, we really need this but, obviously didn't buy anything. Actually, it was our 4th time but, the other 3 were in our studio and I had mailed out lots of flyers to the guild members and my customers. I've determined that our local guild are 2-facers - say one thing but, do another and only call me when the other long armer (30 miles away) is backlog by 5+ months and then they want it now. I'm no longer making any wonderful deals for any of them and I tell them up front that it will probably be at last 4 weeks since I only work on weekends and need time with my husband because I work/live away from home during the week. Good luck and just stick with your guns. It's not worth lowering your prices to make chick feed which takes you away from time with family and friends.

[chickenscratch]

Stitchinsally, Just curious as to where you are located. I'm wondering if this is a 'down south' problem. My mother, who lives in Maryland, mentioned that there is a quilter there who ships out all of her quilts through UPS (where my mother is a manager). She and my mom got to talking and the quilter said she is making over $500 a week, doing 2-3 quilts a week. I can't even make $500 in a year.

[Guest Linda S]

Keep your nose clean and run your own business with integrity -- not worrying so much about what others are doing or charging. I just did a double to queen sized Tennessee Waltz ( the one in the Circle Lord Template post) for a customer who loves my quilting. It cost her $350. She loved it so much (it's a wedding gift) that she doesn't want to give it away. Well - she decided that she will make another for herself and have me quilt that one too! You will not catch me doing a queen sized quilt for less than $100, even with a panto on it. I'd rather spend the time I have from not having customers who want to pay making my own show quilts than work that cheap.

Linda

[JudyL]

I hope this doesn't sound like "Look at ME!" because that's not how I intend it at all. But, when I lived in Kentucky, I was never ever without quilts to do and for a good while was booked at last 12 months in advance. Last year when I was unable to quilt for others due to other commitments, I put about 90% of my customers on hold, thinking I'd be able to begin quilting again in about October. When October rolled around, we knew we were moving in December so I had to put them off again. I've just in the past month or so began taking on quilting full time again and, the customers are there. I have quilts here from NY, FL, CA, MA, MD. I have not even tried to get business in our small town because the prices they are used to paying for quilting is a fraction of what I charge.

I've posted several times the methods that I've used to get business and the methods that I believe work or, at least they worked for me.

The business is there! I'm no better than any of you. I probably charge as much, if not more, than many of you. I know you're disappointed when the business doesn't come. It disappoints me to read your posts and I'm not the one sitting and waiting for the quilts to arrive.

Don't give up . . there's no reason why some of us have more than enough business and others have not enough but you're the only one who can figure out what you're doing or not doing that others of us are doing or not doing.

I don't want to re-post everything I've said in the past. You can search and find my posts or you can e-mail me and I'll be glad to help any of you that I can . . whatever my help might be worth.

[JudyL]

Originally posted by chickenscratch

How are others supposed to compete with that? There needs to be a standard set so some of us can make some money.

I have never worried about what someone else was charging. In fact, when I'm discussing my quilting charges with customers, if I see them beginning to squirm or stutter when I quote the price, I will glad mention to them that I heard that the quilter down the street quilts for half that price. I'll add that I'm not exactly sure what type quilting she does (I never say "I don't know if she's good" or "Her work doesn't look like mine"). I'll tell them to contact her and see what she has to offer. They appreciate that. Some people would rather pay .004 for really awful work (I'm not saying the lady you're talking about does awful work) than pay .035 for fantastic work and that's fine with me. I'd rather them go to the cheaper quilter and be happy than pay my prices and wish they hadn't.

Don't worry about what anyone else is charging. Charge what you think your quilting is worth. If the people in your area will not pay it, find someone somewhere else who will.