Fabric prices

[Mike8560]

I've got a joannes a out a mile away.  It good if I need a lice of foam to make a cusion I. Short on or a can of spraglue. Actually thee vinyl and coatm is about what I pay wholesale. Less shipping

[baileyuph]

Is it unusual for marine customers to furnish their own materials?

Over time, on the internet, most of the auto and furniture customers have become able to buy as cheaply as a small customer shop, perhaps like many of us.

Many trimmers and upholsters resisted using COM for a long while but that may have changed.  The comment often heard from the trade people is, Com has advantages, it makes them focus on their time more.

I am wondering how prevalent this is in the marine trade?  In my experience, COM doesn't save the consumer significant money, because the craftsmen have to cover their cost one way or the other. 

Doyle

[bobbin]

Doyle, I work in a marine canvas shop.  About the only time we see COM is for interior work, and then it's usually for very high end yachts with particularly choosey owners or those who work with interior designers (they're few and far between).  As far as the acrylics used for the bulk of the work, most customers buy from the shop. 

We don't assess an "upcharge" for COM, but neither do we offer any guarantee aside from the quality of the workmanship and the fit of the final product.  If a customer supplies the material and it has a flaw... oh well!  If the customer supplies matching thread because they want the top stitching in, say, navy instead of black and the thread craps out in a year/two... tough luck.  We'll be happy to do the restitch at the per hour labor charge.  No skin of our noses. 

[ahkahn]

OK... Here's the deal with the fabric prices. 

If you compare apples to apples, Joann's fabric prices are still "retail" prices.  I've compared many times.  The stuff that they sell in the $5-$15/yard range is very cheap, imported, and low quality stuff.  You'll never see that stuff coming from one of your wholesale suppliers.  It may look and feel the same, but the Chinese are very good at duplicating a higher-quality product and stripping the quality right out of them to sell at a cheap price. 

Joann's does carry higher-quality fabrics (similar to one of your suppliers), that said, the pricing is much higher than what you would pay at a wholesale level. 

Not to mention, have you compared Joann's prices on other items? 
10 lbs fiberfill (retail):  http://www.duboisfabrics.com/category_s/83.htm
3 lbs fiberfill (retail):  http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat3406&PRODID=xprd1002305

As for foam, I can't vouch for others, but we tout ours as 80" long, but spec it to our supplier at 82".  If you ever get a 79.5" from us, I'll make sure the guy cutting the foam gets an earful. 

-Andrew

[baileyuph]

My experience is ditto to what Andrew says.  Further, their foam is so low in quality, unsuitable for professional users.

They do seem to be growing in spite of it all.  Maybe growing isn't correct, possibly diviserfying is?

If you must buy from them, try to do it when they have the big coupon days, usually holidays or other days when traffic is low.

For professional users, generally I would stick with suppliers like Andrew.  Much better materials.  The other supplier, down in Florida would be a good supplier, Mike.

Doyle
Doyle