I am appaled!........or am I just cheap?
#61
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I also work in retail(office products), and the delivery cost is eating our lunch! The wholesaler we've been dealing with for the past 20 years no longer has their own trucks, but contracts that out. So there is now a fee per delivery of $x and a surcharge of $xx if the order is less than $1000, a larger fee if it is less than $500, and another fee if it is from an out of area warehouse (like it's our fault they don't have it in Dallas and we had to order it from St Louis!). We used to order (and deliver) every day, now we order twice a week and deliver likewise.
So it's not just LQS having these sort of problems...and BTW the price of paper is going up again from the mfr.
So it's not just LQS having these sort of problems...and BTW the price of paper is going up again from the mfr.
#62
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Originally Posted by BellaBoo
I have look bolt ends in every fabric shop I go to, there is no indication where the fabric is printed. There is nothing but lists of numbers and bar codes. All I can ever decipher from the bolt is that it is 100% cotton. No thread count either which really irks me. Why the big secret of the quality on the bolt from the manufacturer? How can a customer read the bolt ends and know exactly what the quality is? I get the feeling some shops do buy the less quality fabric and mix it in with the good quality fabric. The best shops I have visited have a bargain fabric area where you know it's not the best but good. Many shops owners have told me the bargain area has carried the shop through some lean months.
When we buy fabric, we look at it, feel it, and ask lots of questions. And there are manufacturers we have come to trust. Nothing says you can't as a consumer email or call the manufacturer's customer service department and get answers yourself, but the best thing is to educate yourself in what makes a quality fabric, and take it from there. Simple tests you can do yourself include holding the fabric up to the light. Is it thin? Can you see through it? Look closely at it, are the fibers thicker or thinner? Take a high quality piece with you to the store and compare. Feel it. Is it soft with a nice finish? Look close at the printing, are quality dyes used, is the printing distinct and clear, or muddy? Lots of things to look for...
As far as bargain fabrics are concerned, it really depends on what you're going to be doing with the fabric. If you're making, for instance, a tote that you don't expect to use for a long time, what's wrong with using cheap fabric? But do you really want to use cheap stuff on a quilt you're making as an heirloom gift for a loved one?
I've heard the statement made, "quality doesn't cost, it pays." I believe that...
#63
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I agree with QOK and with the rest of you, prices are making it difficult but the best sorce of quality fabric is still the LQS. I make 1 or 2 embroideried quilts every year, I put hundreds of hours in each quilt so there is no way I'm going to use "B" grade fabric or thread. With that said, I plan very carefully the fabric I buy, I buy enough that I know I will have extra (yes, even an experienced machine embroidery quilter will make mistakes) to redo a block or two, usually I buy at least a yard sometimes a 1 1/2 extra. I used to plan on $300. for fabric, now I plan on $350. per quilt. I buy all of my fabric at one time, that way I spend less on gas. Sometimes my LQS will have to order fabric for me but most of the time I can get what I want from their shelf stock. What I don't do anymore is buy "stash" fabric unless it is from a fellow boardmember. No impulse buying for me.
If I want to do a trial run of an embroidery design, I buy old pillowcases from the Goodwill, when they are full, I donate them to the homeless shelter, the kids love having a pillowcase that is embroideried.
If I want to make a sample of a quilt block, I use scrapes or old clothes. Then I turn those into dolly quilts for my great-granddaughters, they love them.
My personal goal is to not let any money or fabric get wasted. I think for me anyway it is a matter of being dollar wise, I can still make what I want I just have to be smart about it. I try to buy my quilting thread on sale as I know I will use it, I usually buy Signature brand and know that I will use beige, dark green and dark blue in abundance.
Hugs, Gail
trying to be a smart quilter
If I want to do a trial run of an embroidery design, I buy old pillowcases from the Goodwill, when they are full, I donate them to the homeless shelter, the kids love having a pillowcase that is embroideried.
If I want to make a sample of a quilt block, I use scrapes or old clothes. Then I turn those into dolly quilts for my great-granddaughters, they love them.
My personal goal is to not let any money or fabric get wasted. I think for me anyway it is a matter of being dollar wise, I can still make what I want I just have to be smart about it. I try to buy my quilting thread on sale as I know I will use it, I usually buy Signature brand and know that I will use beige, dark green and dark blue in abundance.
Hugs, Gail
trying to be a smart quilter
#64
Super Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Orchard Park, NY (near Buffalo, which is near Niagara Falls)
Posts: 3,884
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Originally Posted by QKO
OK, from the inside, here's what's happening with fabric prices...
I'd like to add just one more bit of information, regarding selling everything at 25% off (in other words, half the usual retail mark-up). If you do that, online, you may be inviting trouble from your suppliers. They (the fabric manufacturers) have a vested interest in keeping their retail customers in business, because then they (the manufacturers) have a place to sell their goods. A store that always sells everything at 25% off is going to catch the manufacturer's eye as being a threat to "the normal order of things". What could happen then? The manufacturer could decline to sell to such a store, or put them at the lowest priority for getting goods shipped. It's a kind of blacklist.
You could say, well, you'll make up in volume for what you don't make in mark-up but... the reality is, you can't *endlessly* sell more. There is a limit to the size of the market you're selling to, whether it is fabric, t-shirts, or vacation packages that you're selling. Especially if you're a LQS in a small town... there's only a certain area that you're drawing customers from, and when your market is saturated... it's saturated, and you're not going to be able to sell much more, no matter how low the price.
Just my perspective...
#65
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Originally Posted by Favorite Fabrics
QKO, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your post! You've put it very well, and touched on most of the behind-the-scenes issues that affect the shopowner.
I'd like to add just one more bit of information, regarding selling everything at 25% off (in other words, half the usual retail mark-up). If you do that, online, you may be inviting trouble from your suppliers. They (the fabric manufacturers) have a vested interest in keeping their retail customers in business, because then they (the manufacturers) have a place to sell their goods. A store that always sells everything at 25% off is going to catch the manufacturer's eye as being a threat to "the normal order of things". What could happen then? The manufacturer could decline to sell to such a store, or put them at the lowest priority for getting goods shipped. It's a kind of blacklist.
Pricing is always a genuine problem. Again, as an online-only store, we're being squeezed between our operating costs, and our ability to compete with the big online stores, while at the same time trying to give our customers good value for their money, because we know that like us, most of them are being squeezed by the economy.
At the same time we're trying to get along with our local quilt shops. Unless you've run an online store (and by the way, you have a really nice one!) you can't understand all the costs and overhead involved with doing that. You might have lower rent and equipment costs, but how about your web development and advertising costs? You know what we're talking about. I don't think we could be in this business if I didn't do all the web development myself.
You could say, well, you'll make up in volume for what you don't make in mark-up but... the reality is, you can't *endlessly* sell more. There is a limit to the size of the market you're selling to, whether it is fabric, t-shirts, or vacation packages that you're selling. Especially if you're a LQS in a small town... there's only a certain area that you're drawing customers from, and when your market is saturated... it's saturated, and you're not going to be able to sell much more, no matter how low the price.
Just my perspective...
Just my perspective...
#66
Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 69
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In our area (Denver) prices went up significantly as of June 1. I hear there is supposed to be another rise in prices in the fall. You are not the only one with sticker shock! My solution has been to go to the larger web sites selling fabric. They have all the name brands and I've never been disappointed.
#68
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Illinois
Posts: 9,312
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I know I have said this before but , feel I need to say it agian. Support those businesses you want to be there next year! My LQS is one of my favorite places, I will support it. Yes I have fewer dollars to spend and my purchases will be more calculated , but I will support my local economy before ... big Corp's that really could care less about if I shop there or not.
#70
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Originally Posted by Rachelcb80
Originally Posted by Katrine
Originally Posted by k3n
This has been said before, as you say and prices are going up everywhere because that is what prices DO in general. FYI, fabric in the UK is in general around 15 dollars a yard at best and here in France it's nearer 25 dollars. I know that in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other European countries, not to forget South America where we also have members, prices are very high as well but you don't often see members from those countries complaining, unless in response to threads like this. Please spare a thought for us non-Americans. We can NEVER find fabric on sale for less than 5 dollars a yard and I see that often on US sites. And yes I can order online but then I have to pay shipping of around 12 dollars, don't get to feel or see before I buy etc etc. Sorry, here endeth the rant. :hunf:
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