How to price a tufted rug
What each field does
- Size, yarn, strands and pile decide how much yarn the rug needs. The calculator uses the same figures as Loopi's yarn calculator: about 0.9 kg of acrylic per square metre per strand at 18 mm pile, or 2.5 kg of wool.
- Buffer adds yarn for test lines, mistakes and trimming. 10 to 15 percent suits most rugs; use more for heavily carved pieces.
- Other materials covers primary cloth (including what you stretch on the frame), glue, secondary backing and binding, per unit of area.
- Hours should be every hour the rug takes: design, client messages, stretching, tufting, gluing, finishing, photographing and packing.
- Overhead is the cost of being able to make rugs at all: gun wear, studio, fees, packaging.
- Profit is what is left after every cost is paid. Without it, the business only breaks even.
- Minimum is the lowest price you will take a commission for, however small.
The example it opens with
The calculator starts on a 60 × 90 cm acrylic rug with three strands at 18 mm: 1.68 kg of yarn with a 15 percent buffer, seven hours of work at €25 an hour, 10 percent overhead and 30 percent profit. That comes to about €305, or €52 per square foot. Materials are under a fifth of the cost. The rest is time, which is exactly the part most new tufters leave out of their price.
Sense-checking your price
You will often see custom tufted rugs quoted at $50 to $175 per square foot. Use that range as a check rather than a price list:
- Far below the bottom of the range? You have probably counted only tufting time, or set your hourly rate too low.
- Near the top? That fits detailed, many-coloured, sculpted or wool rugs.
The calculator shows your price per square foot and per square metre so you can compare.
From a rough price to a real quote
This calculator prices from size alone, which is right when a client asks "roughly how much?". For the actual quote, price from the design: a rug with eight colours takes far longer than a two-colour rug the same size, and each colour needs its own amount of yarn.
Loopi's yarn calculator reads the design, measures how much of each colour it uses, and turns that into a quote you can send to the client. For the full method, with what pushes a price up and how to quote with confidence, read how to price a tufted rug commission.
Questions
How much should I charge for a custom tufted rug?
Add your materials, every hour at a fair rate, overhead and a profit margin. A simple 60 × 90 cm acrylic rug comes to about €300 with the figures above.
What hourly rate should a tufter charge?
One you would accept for skilled, physical work in your area. Start from what you need to earn, not from what you think clients will pay, and raise it as demand grows.
Should I include my design time?
Yes. Design, mock-ups and client messages are part of the job, and on custom work they can be a large share of it.
Why set a minimum price?
A small rug still needs a stretched cloth, a stencil, gluing, drying and finishing. Below a certain size, those fixed costs make a per-area price too low.