How to compare two tailoring quotes fairly

The eight rows to fill in

Draw a simple table with one column per quote. Wherever a quote is silent, write a question mark, not a guess.

• Fabric: is it included, and is it named and shown in photos, or described only as “good quality”?
• Lining: which pieces are lined, if any, and in what?
• Pieces: kameez, trousers, dupatta, waistcoat. Is each one listed, and is the dupatta edged or left as it came?
• Finishing and detail: neckline style, sleeves, piping, lace, embroidery level. A quote that says “as per picture” leaves room for two people to remember the picture differently.
• Delivery: included to your door, or charged separately once the outfit is ready?
• Import charges: included in the total, or left for you to pay when the parcel arrives?
• Making time: how long, and counted from when: the order, the payment or the day your fabric arrives?
• If it is wrong: what counts as a fault, how long you have to report it, who pays the postage, and what you get back if you cancel.

A worked comparison

Imagine two quotes for the same printed lawn three-piece. Quote A has the lower total. Read row by row, it covers stitching the kameez and trousers, with the dupatta returned as it came. Nothing is lined. Delivery is “added when ready”, import charges are not mentioned, and there is a making time with no starting point. Faults are not mentioned at all.

Quote B has the higher total. It lists a lined kameez, trousers and a dupatta with finished edges, includes delivery to your address and any import charges, says when the making time starts, and states its fault and cancellation terms in writing.

Now add to Quote A what it leaves out: the lining you wanted, edging the dupatta, the delivery bill and whatever the courier asks for at your door. The difference between the two may shrink to very little, and Quote A still carries more unknowns. That is not a rule about which is better. It is the reason to compare rows, not totals. Our article on why made to measure has no price list explains what moves a total in the first place.

Closing the gaps

Send both tailors the same short list of questions, in writing, so the answers are easy to set side by side. Ask for anything vague to be written into the quote itself rather than agreed in a chat you will struggle to find later.

If the quotes are in different currencies, convert both at the same moment, and add any fee your bank, Wise or card provider charges for paying abroad. A quote in your own currency may cost exactly what it says, while one in another currency may cost a little more once converted.

Finally, check that both quotes are for the same measurements and the same design. If one tailor has suggested a simpler cut to save cloth, the outfits are not the same, whatever the totals say.

How ours fills the grid

Our written quote sets out the agreed design, fabric, measurements and any customisation, the total, the delivery arrangements, the processing time and the policies that apply. The total includes delivery to your address and any import duties, taxes and customs or courier fees, so the import row is already filled. Making takes 5 to 7 working days from approval and full payment, or from when your fabric reaches us on Stitching Only. If the outfit does not match the agreed measurements or design, tell us no later than 7 days after delivery and we correct or remake it without charging for the work; you pay the postage both ways.

Our checklist of what to look for in your written quote reads a single quote line by line, and the custom stitching page explains the service. To put one of ours in your grid, ask for a quote.