Quick answer: how to calculate quilt pricing
Use the Quilt Pricing Calculator with your own material cost, labour hours, hourly rate, other costs and profit margin percent, to check labour cost, subtotal, profit amount and total price before you quote.
A quilt price has three cost parts plus profit: material cost, labour cost, and other costs. Labour cost is hours times hourly rate. Profit is a percentage of the subtotal, not of the final price.
Labour cost equals labour hours times hourly rate. Subtotal equals material cost plus labour cost plus other costs. Profit amount equals subtotal times profit margin percent divided by 100. Total price equals subtotal plus profit amount.
For example, material cost 200 dollars, labour hours 40, hourly rate 30 dollars per hour, other costs 50 dollars, and profit margin percent 20, give labour cost 1200 dollars, subtotal 1450 dollars, profit amount 290 dollars, and total price 1740 dollars.
How to calculate quilt pricing
What you need to measure
You need five inputs: material cost, labour hours, hourly rate, other costs, and profit margin percent. Material cost is in US dollars, and it must include all fabric, batting, backing, thread, and binding you buy for this quilt, or the total price will be too low. Labour hours is the number of hours you spend making the quilt, counted in hours, zero or greater. Hourly rate is in US dollars per hour, zero or greater, and it is your own choice, not a market rate. Other costs are in US dollars, zero or greater, for thread, batting, backing, postage, market fees, and similar costs that are not already in material cost. Profit margin percent is a percent, zero or greater, up to 100, applied to the subtotal, not to the final price.
Formula and calculation rule
Labour cost equals labour hours times hourly rate. Subtotal equals material cost plus labour cost plus other costs. Profit amount equals subtotal times profit margin percent divided by 100. Total price equals subtotal plus profit amount. Profit margin percent is applied to the subtotal, so a 20 percent margin on a 650 dollar subtotal is 130 dollars, and the total price is 780 dollars, which is not the same as a 20 percent margin on the final price. A zero percent margin gives the cost price with no profit, which is a choice, not an error.
Step by step example
Take material cost 80 dollars, labour hours 10, hourly rate 20 dollars per hour, other costs 20 dollars, and profit margin percent 10.
Labour cost: 10 times 20 equals 200 dollars.
Subtotal: 80 plus 200 plus 20 equals 300 dollars.
Profit amount: 300 times 10 divided by 100 equals 30 dollars.
Total price: 300 plus 30 equals 330 dollars.
Quilt pricing chart
This chart uses profit margin percent 20 for all three scenarios. Labour cost equals labour hours times hourly rate. Subtotal equals material cost plus labour cost plus other costs. Profit amount equals subtotal times 20 divided by 100. Total price equals subtotal plus profit amount.
| Quilt size | Material cost | Labour cost | Other costs | Subtotal | Profit amount | Total price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small quilt | 50 dollars | 5 hours at 20 dollars per hour, 100 dollars | 10 dollars | 160 dollars | 32 dollars | 192 dollars |
| Medium quilt | 120 dollars | 20 hours at 25 dollars per hour, 500 dollars | 30 dollars | 650 dollars | 130 dollars | 780 dollars |
| Large quilt | 200 dollars | 40 hours at 30 dollars per hour, 1200 dollars | 50 dollars | 1450 dollars | 290 dollars | 1740 dollars |
Use this chart for the scenarios shown. For your own quilt, use the calculator above, with your own material cost, labour hours, hourly rate, other costs and profit margin percent, because every quilt takes different hours and different materials.
Important variations and exceptions
- Material cost must include all materials. Material cost must include all fabric, batting, backing, thread, and binding you buy for this quilt, or the total price will be too low. If any material is left out of material cost, it is not added anywhere else, because subtotal is material cost plus labour cost plus other costs only, so a missing material makes both subtotal and profit amount too low.
- Taxes, marketplace fees, and shipping are only included if you put them in other costs. Taxes, marketplace fees, and shipping are not added automatically. They are only included in the total price if you put them in other costs, so decide before you quote whether the price you give includes those costs or not, and keep that choice the same for every quilt you price the same way.
- Profit margin percent is applied to the subtotal, not to the final price. Profit amount equals subtotal times profit margin percent divided by 100. A 20 percent margin on a 650 dollar subtotal is 130 dollars, and the total price is 780 dollars, which is not the same as a 20 percent margin on the final price. If you want profit as a percent of the final price instead, that is a different formula, and it gives a different total price, so do not mix the two.
- Hourly rate is your own choice. Hourly rate is in US dollars per hour, and it is your own choice, not a market rate. A higher hourly rate raises labour cost, subtotal, profit amount, and total price together, because labour cost feeds into subtotal, and profit amount is a percent of subtotal, so changing hourly rate changes more than labour cost alone.
- A zero percent margin gives the cost price. A zero percent margin gives profit amount zero, and total price equal to subtotal, which is the cost price with no profit. That is a choice, not an error, for example for a gift quilt, but it leaves nothing for wear on tools, time spent on messages and packing, or mistakes, unless those costs are already in other costs.
This tool percent is a markup on cost, not a true margin on price
Read this section before you quote, because the tool field is labelled profit margin percent, but its formula works as a markup on subtotal. Profit amount equals subtotal times percent divided by 100, and total price equals subtotal plus profit amount. That means the profit share of the final price is always smaller than the percent you entered. The conversion is: true margin on final price equals markup percent divided by 100 plus markup percent, in decimal form.
| Percent entered in this tool | What it means here | True margin on the final price |
|---|---|---|
| 20 percent | 20 percent markup on subtotal | 16.7 percent of final price |
| 50 percent | 50 percent markup on subtotal | 33.3 percent of final price |
| 100 percent | 100 percent markup, price is 2 times subtotal | 50.0 percent of final price |
| 200 percent | 200 percent markup, price is 3 times subtotal | 66.7 percent of final price |
Worked pair on the same subtotal, 650 dollars. With 20 percent entered in this tool, profit is 130 dollars and total price is 780 dollars, and profit is 130 divided by 780, which is 16.7 percent of the final price. If you truly want to keep 20 percent of the final price, the formula is different: total price equals subtotal divided by 1 minus 0.20, which is 650 divided by 0.80, which is 812.50 dollars, with profit 162.50 dollars. Do not mix the two. Until the tool field is renamed in a later calculator phase, treat the entered percent as a markup percent in your own quoting notes, and if a buyer or a marketplace asks for your margin, report the converted margin from the table, not the entered percent.
Never quote a single standard profit percent without saying which kind it is. Pages read for this guide use markup on material plus labour at 2 times to 3 times, markup on materials only at factor 2 or 3, markup choices of only 0 to 50 percent on one tool, and no profit percent at all on others, where price is cost plus a labour uplift range. A 2 times factor on materials only and a 2 times markup on material plus labour are different prices for the same quilt, because the second one also doubles the labour. State the base every time: on subtotal, on materials only, or on final price.
What belongs in other costs, and what the total leaves out
Other costs is where pricing most often goes wrong, because it hides everything that is not material or labour. Before you enter a number, run this checklist, and put each item in either material cost or other costs, never in both. Pattern cost. Longarm quilting service, if you send the quilt out, which is often the largest single line on a bed quilt, and which is priced by the square inch, commonly around 2 to 3 cents for edge to edge designs and 4 cents and up for custom work, with a shop minimum. For scale, a 90 by 108 inch top at 2.5 cents per square inch is about 243 dollars for the longarm service alone, before binding, backing preparation, and thread, which are often billed separately. Packaging and labels. Tool consumables such as rotary cutter blades and needles. A contingency buffer of 10 to 20 percent for unexpected expenses or time, kept as a separate decision, not hidden inside the profit percent. Platform fees and outbound shipping to the buyer, if you sell online.
The tool total excludes sales tax on the sale, platform fees, and outbound shipping, unless you enter them in other costs. No page read for this guide adds those sale side charges inside its main price formula, and the shipping fields that do appear on other pages are mostly inbound delivery of materials to the maker, not shipping the finished quilt out. Label your quoted price plainly: before sales tax, before platform fees, and before outbound shipping, unless those items are already in other costs. Also decide your stash rule before you quote, and keep it the same for every quilt priced the same way: stash fabric entered at 0 dollars understates material cost, entered at original purchase price is a middle choice, and entered at current replacement price is the honest business choice for a quilt you must be able to remake at a profit.
Labour, the pricing floor, and two per square inch prices
Labour is hours times hourly rate, and omitting labour is the most common reason makers undercharge. The cross checked working range in the pages read is 15 to 35 dollars per hour, higher for expert or custom work, with 20 dollars per hour as a common default on the pages that show one. If one total hour number feels hard to estimate, split it first, then add it up: cutting hours, piecing hours, quilting hours, and binding and finishing hours, all at the same rate, still give total hours times rate. Makers commonly underestimate time by a large margin, so count messages, packing, and finishing time too, or put them in other costs, but do not leave them out entirely.
The pricing floor is simple: never price a commission below materials plus out of pocket quilting costs. For friends and family, charge materials at minimum, often with a reduced hourly labour charge, and reserve free gifts for occasions you choose yourself. Do not present a materials only factor 2 price as if it were the same rule as a materials plus reduced labour price, because the two methods start from different bases.
Finally, keep two per square inch prices apart, because they differ by a factor of about ten. A total selling price method runs around 0.10 to 0.50 dollars per square inch of finished quilt, so a 90 by 108 inch quilt at 0.20 dollars per square inch is 1,944 dollars as a selling price. A longarm service fee runs around 2 to 4 cents per square inch, so the same size top at 2.5 cents is about 243 dollars for the quilting service alone. Never use the longarm rate as a selling price, and never use the selling price rate as a quilting fee.
How to make sure your result is correct
- Check labour cost first. Labour cost equals labour hours times hourly rate. For example, 20 hours at 25 dollars per hour equals 500 dollars, not 45 dollars, because hours and rate are multiplied, not added.
- Check subtotal before profit. Subtotal equals material cost plus labour cost plus other costs. Profit amount is worked out from subtotal, not from material cost alone, so adding profit before subtotal is complete gives a profit amount too low.
- Check profit percent against subtotal. Profit amount equals subtotal times profit margin percent divided by 100. For example, 20 percent of a 650 dollar subtotal is 130 dollars, and total price is 650 plus 130, which is 780 dollars.
- Check units and currency. All money inputs must be in US dollars, and labour hours must be in hours. Mixing currencies, or entering labour hours in minutes instead of hours, gives a labour cost and a total price that do not match the quilt.
- Check other costs for double counting. Other costs must not repeat anything already in material cost. If batting is already in material cost, do not put it in other costs too, because it would be counted twice in subtotal, and profit amount would be worked out from a subtotal too high.
Try it with the calculator: Use the Quilt Pricing Calculator with your own material cost, labour hours, hourly rate, other costs and profit margin percent. It uses the same steps as this guide, and it shows labour cost, subtotal, profit amount and total price, together.
Worked example: material cost 200 dollars, labour 40 hours at 30 dollars per hour, other costs 50 dollars, profit margin 20 percent
This worked example is different from the tool page example, which uses material cost 120 dollars, labour hours 20, hourly rate 25 dollars per hour, other costs 30 dollars, and profit margin percent 20, giving labour cost 500 dollars, subtotal 650 dollars, profit amount 130 dollars, and total price 780 dollars.
Labour cost: 40 times 30 equals 1200 dollars.
Subtotal: 200 plus 1200 plus 50 equals 1450 dollars.
Profit amount: 1450 times 20 divided by 100 equals 290 dollars.
Total price: 1450 plus 290 equals 1740 dollars.
Frequently asked questions
Work out labour cost as labour hours times hourly rate, add material cost and other costs to get a subtotal, then add profit amount as subtotal times profit margin percent divided by 100, to get total price. For example, material cost 200 dollars, labour 40 hours at 30 dollars per hour, other costs 50 dollars, and profit margin percent 20, give labour cost 1200 dollars, subtotal 1450 dollars, profit amount 290 dollars, and total price 1740 dollars.
Yes. Labour cost equals labour hours times hourly rate, and labour cost is part of subtotal, so leaving labour hours out makes subtotal, profit amount, and total price all too low. If you choose not to charge for your time, set hourly rate to zero, so the choice is clear, instead of leaving labour hours blank.
Other costs are costs that are not already in material cost, for example thread, batting, backing, postage, market fees, and similar costs. Taxes, marketplace fees, and shipping are only included if you put them in other costs, so decide before you quote whether the price you give includes those costs or not.
In this calculation, profit is a percent of subtotal. Profit amount equals subtotal times profit margin percent divided by 100, and total price equals subtotal plus profit amount. For example, a 20 percent margin on a 650 dollar subtotal is 130 dollars, and the total price is 780 dollars, which is not the same as a 20 percent margin on the final price.
A zero percent margin gives profit amount zero, and total price equal to subtotal, which is the cost price with no profit. That is a choice, not an error, for example for a gift quilt, but it leaves nothing for wear on tools, time spent on messages and packing, or mistakes, unless those costs are already in other costs.
Related guides and calculators
Use the Quilt Pricing Calculator for your own material cost, labour hours, hourly rate, other costs and profit margin percent. For quilt size by bed, use the Quilt Size Calculator, for fabric yardage, use the Fabric Calculator, for length to yardage, use the Yardage Calculator, for binding strips and yardage, use the Binding Calculator, and for backing yardage, use the Backing Calculator.