Kiltmaker Wage

[neloon]

Isn't all this just supply and demand. There are a large number of kiltmakers in Scotland produced by the kind of course mentioned by the OP, the Keith Kiltmaking School etc. If there were fewer relative to the demand, they could command higher recompense.

Alan

[Arnot]

However there is another side to the coin and that is the risk of pricing yourselves out of a job.

Yes. I have been careful not to do this myself. I don't want my main (or any other) customers to wind up going elsewhere. My prices are already low for what the customer gets, but I had a pipe band (even lower price) go elsewhere because the kilts were £40 or so cheaper. I never heard what they got for their money.

[Barb T]

We have been gathering a community of kiltmakers so that we can talk and support one another if there are any problems. We have also been writing blogs etc to try and educate customers of our plight, we are starting a revolution ;-)

Nikki

Hi Nikki,

I hope that you will open this group to kiltmakers outside Scotland, because the problem is universal - kiltmakers in the US, Canada, and elsewhere have exactly the same problem. Although we don't live in Scotland, we are as deeply committed to quality traditional kiltmaking.

[Stoff]

To all of you who are professional kilt makers; I do not know how you make a living making kilts, especially those who only sew by hand. As someone who is also self-employed I have more than a small clue what it is like. I am a building designer/drafter and I understand the feast/famine of working for yourself. I also get the "You want how much? I can get the same thing for less from someone else!" People simply do not understand the value of custom, personalized work.

I have been told that if you do not have at least 10% of your potential client saying that you are charging too much, you are not charging enough. I have come to realize this is quite true. So what ai do now if someone tells me that I am charging too much or that they can get the same thing elsewhere, I tell them that I am not there guy, and that they are more than welcome to look elsewhere. I am polite but firm. My rates are what they are. Now for regular, repeat clients, I can negotiate.

So go out and be self-employed, but, remember that you need to be able to take care of yourself and your family and charge like you are proud of what you do and worth what you charge.

Christoph

ps. I have been supporting myself and my family this way for nearly 20 years.

[FossilHunter]

It would be interesting to hear Rocky’s take on this. He’s managed to build a successful business out of kilt making.

[Barb T]

As did Steve Ashton!

[The Wizard of BC]

I may be a bit different that some other kilt makers as I never intended to make a money making empire from my shop.
I actually got into kiltmaking as a small retirement thing.

When I decided to open a shop my goal was to build the best kilt I was capable of making. At first I did just kilts. I had fabrics and samples of my work but very few accessories.

Then I began to expand. But kilts were always the focus and there was nothing in my shop not directly related to my custom kilts.

After a while and another expansion I began to stockpile a rental fleet.

In 15 years I managed to buy a building, keep the doors open, keep the lights on, the bills paid in full every month, and my employees paid a working wage. The girls who worked for me actually made more than I did as I decided not to pay myself. I got what ever was left over at the end of the month.

I never owed anyone any money. All my bills were paid in full and I did not have a business bank loan. I could lock the door and walk away from the entire thing at any time.

As far as my kilts were concerned, because I was not trying to make a profit or build an empire I was able to concentrate on quality first, foremost and only.
I priced my kilts based on the raw materials, the labor, and a small mark-up to keep the bills paid. This meant that I was almost always able to sell a kilt at a lower price than others.

But if the quality was not there in the first place the kilt did not go out the door.

"The bitterness of poor quality remains - Long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."

I spent many hours trying to find ways to make my product better. I would guess that I tried about everything. This led me to developing the Contemporary style of kilt. My kilts were far more like an Iconic kilt than a Utility style. The difference was that I wore a kilt everyday. I am hard on my clothing and the kilt I developed came from the errors and those weak points that would crop up in prior versions. I would try something, wear it, and if it failed, try something different.

I also used my Engineering background to determine what was going on. What caused a failure.

In the end I am very proud of what I was able to accomplish. On the day I closed my brick and mortar shop I walked away with no regrets. Nothing left undone except the published version of "The Hand-Crafted Contemporary Kilt".

"Every person's time on this earth is finite.
We are born, we live, love, learn and
at some time, we all die.

The strength of the human race is out ability,
our willingness, to pass on to the next
generation, that which we have learned."
Steve Ashton
THCCK 2014

[Tobus]

It would be interesting to hear Rocky’s take on this. He’s managed to build a successful business out of kilt making.

Does Rocky offer traditional hand-sewn kilts? I thought all of his kilts had machine stitching to some extent. While his kilts seem to be very well made and high quality, I'd just want to make sure we're comparing apples to apples here when it comes to labour rates.

[FossilHunter]

Does Rocky offer traditional hand-sewn kilts? I thought all of his kilts had machine stitching to some extent. While his kilts seem to be very well made and high quality, I'd just want to make sure we're comparing apples to apples here when it comes to labour rates.

I believe they are in fact machine stitched. I had not thought of that as the distinction between hand and machine stitched is not particularly important to me (construction is) but I can definitely see how that could impact labor rates. Increasing volume without increasing the number of staff would be a game changer (as I suppose it has been in every industry ).

[KnittedReenactor]

I believe they are in fact machine stitched. I had not thought of that as the distinction between hand and machine stitched is not particularly important to me (construction is) but I can definitely see how that could impact labor rates. Increasing volume without increasing the number of staff would be a game changer (as I suppose it has been in every industry ).

Yes, all of Rocky's stuff is machine sewn, and nearly all kilts are custom made to individual's measurements (he does have some otr for immediate sale). He did have to hire on another battalion of staff last summer to meet demand and fill the now expanded store.
I wonder what he pays his kiltmakers considering his premier 8 yd tank starts at US$525?