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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be unclear about this quote?

29 replies

LakieLady · 21/04/2021 17:13

I've got a quote for making up some curtains from fabric I will supply.

It says

"Make 590
Lining £30"

I was expecting it to be a couple of hundred, but not nearly £600! Then it crossed my mind that the 5 might be a typo and it might be £90.

That's wishful thinking, isn't it? Grin £90 seems unbelievably cheap.

I'm gobsmacked at £590 though, it's a Sanderson cotton fabric with a 4" repeat and I only want basic tape that you gather up, not pencil pleats or anything, and no tie backs or anything.

What would you think if you got that? I'm embarrassed to ask her to clarify, in case she thinks I'm a cheeky twat or someone who hasn't set foot outside the house since 1953, when you could go out with half a crown, have a really good night and still come home with change.

OP posts:
greeneyedlulu · 21/04/2021 17:17

Is it exactly as you've written it? If so I'd question it or reply back with £620 is above what I was looking for. They might respond with correct quote if that is a typo

XenoBitch · 21/04/2021 17:18

It honestly looks like a typo to me.

VeganVeal · 21/04/2021 17:23

Why dont you ask them? Dont be scared

Original poster
LakieLady · 21/04/2021 17:28

Because she lives really close and I'll feel really embarrassed if I ever bump into her in the local shop, @VeganVeal!

I like your suggestion though, @greeneyedlulu, I may well do that when I've got over my shock. That is exactly as typed in the email.

OP posts:
FunnyWonder · 21/04/2021 17:29

It's got to be a typo. She'd have to be sewing them with spun gold for that price!

YellowTwinklyStar · 21/04/2021 17:29

@greeneyedlulu

Is it exactly as you've written it? If so I'd question it or reply back with £620 is above what I was looking for. They might respond with correct quote if that is a typo
This is a good idea.
UCOinanOCG · 21/04/2021 17:30

Is it just one pair? Are they very big?

greeneyedlulu · 21/04/2021 17:39

Let us know though

Original poster
LakieLady · 21/04/2021 17:41

Just one pair @UCOinanOCG, 225cm by 135cm.

OP posts:
UCOinanOCG · 21/04/2021 17:47

@LakieLady

Just one pair *@UCOinanOCG*, 225cm by 135cm.
That seems like a very high cost for just that!
Veterinari · 21/04/2021 17:54

Hmm.. the £ is on the 3 key so if it had said 390 I'd be inclined to think typo for sure. But having said that I still think it probably is. If she's only charging £30 to line I can't imaging she'd charge £590 to make curtains

Original poster
LakieLady · 21/04/2021 19:14

I think the £30 is the cost of the lining fabric, not the cost of lining the curtains.

OP posts:
minley76 · 21/04/2021 19:19

Lined, made to measure curtains can be astonishingly expensive!

minley76 · 21/04/2021 19:22

What's the cost per metre of the fabric you've chosen?

Original poster
LakieLady · 21/04/2021 19:29

@minley76

What's the cost per metre of the fabric you've chosen?
I'm supplying the fabric!

The quote is just for supplying the lining fabric, tape and making them.

OP posts:
4PawsGood · 21/04/2021 19:34

Googling says it takes 3-4 hours to make a pair of curtains. That’s quite an hourly rate!

FlyingBurrito · 21/04/2021 19:34

£590 can't be right surely, that's way too much. If you don't want to ask I'd go with what @greeneyedlulu suggested

Original poster
LakieLady · 21/04/2021 19:58

Yes, I've emailed along the lines @greeneyedlulu suggested - thanked her and said that unfortunately, £620 is quite a bit above my budget.

If it's wrong, I'm sure she'll let me know, after she's recovered from pissing herself laughing.

Tbf, this is a very affluent area and there are probably plenty of people who wouldn't think twice about spending a grand or more on a pair of curtains. We have an "artisan" bakery that sells a loaf of bread for £8 and another shop that sells French soap for a ridiculous amount of money.

DP used to call them "more money than sense" shops, and reckoned you could sell baler twine for £10 a metre if you called it "ficelle de baileur".

OP posts:
An0n0n0n · 21/04/2021 20:02

You're paying for time, experience, insurance, business costs, machine wear and tear, time she won't be spending on other jobs, perhaps it's a tricky fabroc, measuring, washing so they don't shrink, all sorts! If you look at the price of handmade clothes then I think the original quote will stand. If it was that quick and easy everyone would be doing it!

greeneyedlulu · 21/04/2021 21:07

An0n, yes of course you are paying for experience etc but that is still a very high price to pay when you're supplying the fabric for a pair of curtains. Also handmade clothes are far more detailed/fitted than a pair of curtains so the prices really cannot be compared.

Original poster
LakieLady · 22/04/2021 14:38

The quote was right. They're handmade apparently.

Off to scour the net for a local maker who makes mechanically now!

OP posts:
Guardsman18 · 22/04/2021 14:42

Bloody hell that's steep! You'd be better off sending the material to someone else - in a less affluent area - and paying the postage back and forth.

GillBungalow · 22/04/2021 14:44

@LakieLady

The quote was right. They're handmade apparently.

Off to scour the net for a local maker who makes mechanically now!

I'd want them stitched with angel's pubes.
Notjustanymum · 22/04/2021 14:59

You could buy a pretty good sewing machine for half the quote, and make them yourself! (Lighthearted,OP may detest sewing😆)...

4PawsGood · 22/04/2021 16:08

Only the hem needs sewing by hand, surely?

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