Featured:
Allergies
Grilling Guide
eHow Now Blog

How to Sell Quilts for Profit

Quilting uses leftover fabric and turns it into a useful blanket, comforter or bedspread. Quilted fabric makes warm robes, elegant coats and even unusual accessories. Quilting is as old as ancient Egypt. In the 1100s quilting was used as padding under suits of armor. If you have a head for business and a talent for stitchery, turn those attributes into cash in the bank.

Instructions

    • 1

      Develop a business plan. Include the marketing costs in your expenses. It's easy to think that the quilt cost you $50 to make and you sold it for $100, so you've made $50 in profit, but that's gross profit. Marketing expenses, office expenses, travel to trade shows or arts and crafts shows, salaries and all other costs must be subtracted from that gross margin profit of $50 to arrive at a net profit. Developing the budget shows you how you need to adjust the price of the quilts, decrease the cost of materials or find lower-cost methods of marketing to achieve a net profit.

    • 2

      Develop your product. The basics of a quilt are pretty much the same. Pieces of material are sewn together to form a top cover. The cover is stitched to a bottom piece of material to form a casing. The casing is stuffed and the seams sewn together. Quilts vary from antique, difficult-to-find quilts to quilts mass-produced by machinery. One of the first steps is to determine what types and quality of quilts you'll sell.

    • 3

      Scout out the competition. You want to find out who is selling quilts, what type of quilts and at what prices. Make a list of competitors with a brief description of their quilts. Note by each competitor how your quilts compare. For example, if your quilts have hand-sewn tops, they most likely will be priced higher than machine-made quilts.

    • 4

      Find your market niche. Quilts have broad appeal but not everyone is your customer. You might focus on making baby quilts that would be ideal gift items for new parents. Another niche would be wedding quilts or memory quilts. Quilts look more old-fashioned when they're patchwork, utilizing many different patterns and colors. They can also be sophisticated with modern designs.

    • 5

      Set up vendors. The cost of materials has a major impact on profitability. Quality of fabrics varies tremendously. Silk is much higher priced than polyester. It's also more difficult to work with since it slides about. When selecting vendors consider not only the cost of the material, but delivery charges and minimum purchase quantities. Wholesalers may only sell fabric by the bolt. While their per-yard price may be much cheaper than the local fabric store, you may have to purchase much more fabric than you need.

    • 6

      Price the quilts. This is one of the most important steps in making quilts for a profit. Two methods prevail in pricing products. The first is what the market will bear. If you buy and resell antique quilts that are rare and in demand, it's possible to price them quite high. If you sell machine-made quilts, you can price them lower but sell more of them. The other method of pricing is to add together what the materials of the quilt cost, plus the number of hours it took to complete the quilt, times a reasonable hourly wage. Double that number for your price. This is known in the retail industry as keystone.

    • 7

      Sell the quilts at venues where your customers shop. Arts and crafts shows or farmers' markets, are appropriate for mid-range priced quilts. Home decor boutiques offer more expensive quilts. Stores that sell baby clothes and furniture could sell your quilts as well. Leave brochures with photos of your wedding quilts at bridal shops and wedding planners. Set up a website for your quilts for out-of-town buyers.

Tips & Warnings

  • If you work at home, set regular business hours. If you treat your quilting business as a business, your family and friends will too.

  • Obtain the necessary licensing, especially a sales tax or privilege license. If you don't, you may be penalized.

Suggest item

Related Searches:

References

Comments

Related Ads

thumbnail
Featured