Why do they cost so much? -the annual rant.

[Alan H]

I'd re-post an old thread, but they're all closed. I figure it's time to get this back out there, again.... Why does it a kilt cost so much, and why don't custom kiltmakers offer big discounts all the time?

Well, I can hand-make an eight-yard kilt...32 pleats in about 30-34 hours of work if I focus on it. Barb says she can do it in about 20-22 hours.Ditto for Paul Henry. I can machine-sew a box-pleat kilt in about 12 - 13 hours. Bear, of Bear Kilts once told me that it took him a full 8-hour day plus some extra to machine-sew up one of this 4-yard kilts, and Rocky has said the same about one of his Casuals. I expect a semi-trad from USA Kilts takes significantly longer. A Freedom Kilt trad model, even though machine-sewn takes a lot more time than that. Steve has actually posted his numbers on the forum, before.

What is a reasonable hourly wage for a professional kiltmaker? Five dollars an hour? Ten? Fifty? What does your electrician make? What do *YOU* make at your job? Is it unreasonable to assume that a trained kiltmaker could make $15 an hour? That seems reasonable to me, I mean, minimum wage in California is about $8 an hour and making a custom kilt is way, way beyond minimum-wage skill-level work.

OK, so if a professional, traditional kilt-maker can crank out a kilt in 20 hours, then 20 hours times $15/hour equals $300. There's the labor for your typical formal knife-pleat kilt, 7 - 9 yards. It's probably 3/4 that for a less-yardage, handsewn box pleat.

How about a machine-sewn box pleat a la X-Kilt from Yours Truly? 12 hours x $15 an hour = $180 labor.

How about a USA Kilts casual? 8 hours x $15 an hour is $120 Ditto for a Bear Kilts 4-yard. THAT'S JUST THE LABOR.

Now let's say that the cloth we're working with retails for about $60 a yard. Since we're "in the business" we get a 50% break on that price from the mills, right? Wrong....but whatever. We're trying to be CHEAP here, so let's pretend that we're paying $30 a yard for cloth. Polyester -viscose is more like about $15 a yard, but the margin is probably a lot less than 50% so lets call it $10 a yard. These are for double-width cloth, right?

So for your lovely 8-yard kilt in worsted wool, we are assuming that the kiltmaker is paying $120 for the cloth. For a Box-pleat, 4-yard they're paying $60 for the cloth. A 4-yard Casual in PV the material cost is $ 20.
For the Wool kilts you have to throw in about $20 for buckles, straps, hair canvas, etc. Add in $5 velcro and stuff in the casual kilts.

Add it up, gang.

8 yard handsewn knife pleat wool kilt: $300 labor, $120 cloth, $20 for the rest, that's $440. Easy.
4 yard handsewn box pleat wool kilt: $225 labor, $60 cloth, $20 for the rest, that's over $300.


...and I might add that I left out a few little things like Rent and the semi-annual maintenance call on the sewing machine. How about the web site, and OMG, what do you mean you don't take Pay Pal? Let's say that all this "schtuff" add another $30 to the cost of each kilt.

So what does all this cost, then?

Traditional 7-9 yard worsted wool, knife pleated kilt adds up to: $470-$490

For the 4-yard box-pleat: $300-325

For the 4-yard casuals in PV: $180 or thereabouts, depending on the complexity of construction

At bare minimum, THAT is what a kilt should cost.The logic is straightforward, the costs are reasonable. That's what it costs.

Now, let's think about all this from the other end, for a minute....are kiltmakers getting rich, charging you a fortune for that kilt?


Not only does that person have to sew kilts, but they have to maintain a web site, because it's the internet age, right? It's that or contract it out...go ask Steve Ashton about how much fun THAT is. They have to bill for kilts made, receive material, BUY material, go to to the bank, order buckles and straps, answer the phone, answer the e-mail and so on. How much time does that take? They're not sewing when they're doing all that, huh? The only time the kiltmaker is generating "product" is when he/she is actually sewing.


Let's say our kiltmaker actually spend 30 hours a week, sewing. Personally, I'd kill someone if I spent 30 hours a week, sewing, but whatever. Well, 30 hours a week times $15 an hour is $450. Multiply by four weeks per month, and our kiltmaker is generating about $1,800 a month income. If they only take two weeks of vacation a year, and work the other 50, that kiltmaker is making the truly sumptious annual salary of $22,500 a year.

That's why custom kiltmakers don't go offering steep discounts on their products.

If you just have to have a $50 kilt then it HAS to be made---

1. out of much less expensive material, and that means "not wool" 'and not even Marton Mills polyester-viscose. It's got to be stuff that costs $2 or $3 a yard.

2. made by someone who is making $10 a DAY, not $15 a hour.

I think you can figure that out.

[Alan H]

Since I'm ranting, I might as well get my other annual rant off my chest.



It's polyester-VISCOSE

not viscous
not vicious
not visqueen

VISCOSE.

V-I-S-C-O-S-E

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscose

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-viscose.htm

We now return you to your regular programming.

[GoodGirlGonePlaid]

Since I'm ranting, I might as well get my other annual rant off my chest.



It's polyester-VISCOSE

not viscous
not vicious
not visqueen

VISCOSE.

V-I-S-C-O-S-E

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscose

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-viscose.htm

We now return you to your regular programming.

LOL, I'm soooo calling them Poly Vishous now *note to self, if ever in a rock band, stage name will be "Polly Vishous"*

yes, I'm spelling vicious phonetically to be extra annoying.

It's nice that the ladies mini-kilts are in the $160 ish range. I can get four for the price of one men's. So I did.

[Lyle1]

I think $15.00/hr. is a rather low figure for the level of skill involved!

[Alan H]

I think $15.00/hr. is a rather low figure for the level of skill involved!

I completely agree. What if our hypothetical kiltmaker were to make...oh, $25 an hour?

Then the labor on that lovely 8-yard handsewn Tank-Of-Your-Dreams would be 20 hours X $25 an hour = FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS.'

Labor...that's just labor. In fact I have it from a reputable source that the "to the trade" discount from the major mills is nothing like 50% from standard retail. So in fact the cloth that you are paying $75 a yard for, is NOT selling to USA Kilts or Barb Tewksbury or Paul Henry or Steve Ashton for $37.50. Try more like $60.

By all reasonable rights, a completely handsewn, custom fitted "8-yard" kilt made by a professional who is making a 21st Century working wage in a first world country should cost about $700. Now, tell me, just w ho is going to pay that price?

And that means when you get your nifty custom handsewn kilt for $375 or $425 count your lucky stars, because that is a BLUIDY GOOD DEAL.

[Highland Logan]

Alan,

All you've said is true. The problem is that this is the 21st century. This is the millennium of Wal-Mart. People expect that what ever they want it will be cheap and ready, right now. People are not longer content or happy with their lot in life, due to the influence of movies, TV, etc. They demand to have all the finer things in life regardless of whether they really need or can afford them. In order to have all of the nice things that everyone else has or seems to have, they have to take shortcuts.. quality being one, because nothing is free. But rather than be happy with a cheap $20 version of a $100 original, they complain that they should be able to get the $100 item at the $20 price.

Frank

[zirrow]

but what about the ultra heavy-duty 16oz poly-vegetable from Gold Bros that is sourced from the acrylic sheep? You didn't even mention that fabric and it's entirely superior to wool in every way.

In all seriousness, I was actually just thinking about this as I had been checking with one of our vendors on pricing and there is just no way they can be bringing home the big bucks. Therefore we are obligated to purchase as many kilts as possible so we can grant them just a little bit of sanity for all the hard work & long hours they put in for us.

[Downunder Kilt]

Alan H you are so right, you threw out a comparison with an electrician. I am an electrician. If I am an full time employee I get $36.00 an hour, work as a casual employee $47.00 an hour, and if a contractor $70-75 per hour. So yes, a kiltmaker would be classed as being on or near the minimum wage here in Australia

[FatherWilliam57]

Plus you have to factor in the initial cost of genetically engineering the acrylic sheep. (How many years does the patent last for this, anyway? The price should come down once the genetic process goes generic, right?)

[hkjrb623]

This is a thread I'm definitely showing my wife. I always hear "why are they so expensive" coming from her. This sums it up the best!