The Upholster.com Forum

General Upholstery Questions and Comments => General Discussion => Topic started by: jojo on February 26, 2014, 07:26:15 am

Title: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: jojo on February 26, 2014, 07:26:15 am
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-kaycees-customized-kofod-larsen-chairs-200577

I love these chairs, but get a load of what the upholsterer charged for new cushions, webbing and labor. Am I crazy, or does that seem low?
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: Mike on February 26, 2014, 09:41:12 am
Never did webbing but id charge alittle more just for the cushions not counting the webbing
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: sofadoc on February 26, 2014, 09:41:56 am
It seems like any time we talk about labor prices, we're a little reluctant to quote a firm price here on this discussion board because prices can vary so much by region.

Being in Texas, I'm always a little "taken aback" by what upholsterers in Florida and "Back East" charge. So I feel like I'm on the low end of the price scale. I would've charged around $300 per chair for labor, foam, and new webbing under the seats on that job.  So yeah, $225 is a little cheap even for me. I would imagine there are some shops that would consider $225 to be EXTREMELY cheap.

Counting what the customer paid for the chairs on Craigslist, plus labor, foam, and fabric, she has right at $500 each invested in them. The wood finish looks to be in very good condition, so all things considered, looks like she did pretty good assuming they are the quality frames that they appear to be in the pic. But if they're cheap frames, or the finish really isn't as good as it looks in the picture, then I'd say she would've been better off buying new ones.

But based solely on that photo, I say chalk up a win for the customer.
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: SteveA on February 26, 2014, 10:11:22 am
I bought that Pirelli webbing with the clips for a couple of Danish chairs and it was over $ 100.00 roll - that stuff alone is very expensive

SA
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: jojo on February 26, 2014, 11:57:28 am
Sofa, she paid $225 for the chairs. She only paid $200 ea. to have them done.
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: sofadoc on February 26, 2014, 02:32:03 pm
Sorry, I had my numbers switched. Yeah, $200 is at least $100 too cheap, and I'll bet some shops would say even more.   
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: gene on February 26, 2014, 03:51:02 pm
I could see the foam with a poly wrap averaging $50 each for the 4 inserts. That's 5", or maybe 6" foam in the seat cushion covers.

I'm with you, jojo.

The boxed cushion seat covers look like they are matched well. Looks like a quality job.

I agree with sofAd that those folks in Florida are REALLY expensive.

I'm reluctant to talk about specific prices on this forum because of the anti trust and collusion laws that were drummed into my brain back in my sales and marketing days.

gene

PS: I've never had a customer show me a higher price from the internet and insist that I match it.
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: Darren Henry on February 26, 2014, 04:23:09 pm
QuoteI bought that Pirelli webbing with the clips for a couple of Danish chairs and it was over $ 100.00 rol


I can't even get it in Canada---add on exchange,duty,brokerage fees,and shipping --- ::)

It does seem too low to me as well.
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: west coast on February 26, 2014, 07:00:58 pm
Ya I'm about 300 -325 on those but thats Canadian so soon it will be free in American dollars
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: SteveA on February 27, 2014, 03:33:47 am
West Coast
How can you say that - we're on an up swing - don't you pay attention.
The bank just raised up the interest rate on my IRA CD to 0.02 % for a 1 year term. I didn't even have to negotiate.
The majority of goods we need to exist seemed to have doubled in the last few years and that's fine considering our salaries remained the same ?  Wait - maybe some bad math - well at least we know our tax dollars go to good use !
SA
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: mike802 on February 27, 2014, 08:33:28 am
I agree the prices is way cheap.  Regardless of what your shop rate is, we have to ask "what would my mechanic, or plumber charge for the same amount of time?"  As upholsters we are worth at least as much!
Title: Re: And I Thought I Was Cheap.
Post by: chrisberry12 on February 27, 2014, 03:17:52 pm
they probably used elastic webbing and cheap foam, thats the only way to keep the price down. The upholsterer may have wanted to keep the customer in slow times too. Another question to ask, did an upholsterer really do the work or a wanabe.