Quilt Pricing Calculator
Figuring out how to price your handmade quilts can be tricky! This calculator helps you estimate a fair price by considering material costs, your time, and other common factors. It’s a starting point to help you value your beautiful work.
Enter your quilt’s details below and click “Calculate Price”
How Quilt Pricing Works
Pricing handmade items, especially quilts that require significant time, skill, and materials, is both an art and a science. There’s no single “right” way, but here are common approaches this calculator can help with:
- Cost-Plus Pricing: This involves calculating all your costs (materials, labor) and then adding a markup for profit. Our “Pricing Rate per sq. inch” can cover things like machine quilting services or general construction effort, while “Material Costs” and “Labor” cover direct expenses. The optional “Profit Margin” field directly applies a percentage markup.
- Value-Based Pricing: This considers what the market is willing to pay for a quilt of similar size, complexity, and artistry. Researching comparable quilts can help you set your rates.
- Hourly Rate Method: Some quilters determine a desired hourly wage and multiply it by the hours spent, then add material costs.
Key Factors to Consider:
- Size: Larger quilts naturally cost more due to increased materials and time. The calculator uses length and width to determine area.
- Complexity: Intricate patterns, appliqué, custom quilting, and special techniques take more time and skill, justifying a higher price. You can reflect this in your “Pricing Rate per sq. inch” or “Hours of Labor”.
- Materials: High-quality fabrics, batting, and threads add to the cost but also to the quilt’s longevity and appeal.
- Labor: Your time is valuable! Don’t forget to account for all the hours spent designing, cutting, piecing, quilting, and binding.
- Overhead: Business expenses like sewing machine maintenance, utilities, and marketing should ideally be factored into your pricing strategy, perhaps by slightly increasing your labor rate or profit margin.
This calculator provides a flexible framework. Adjust the “Pricing Rate per sq. inch,” “Labor Rate,” and “Profit Margin” to find a price that feels right for your work and your market.