What Affects the Price of Items

- Material costs: this is the quantity and quality of the raw material used for making. The size of the item, the thickness of the down thread and the density of the knitting have a big influence here. An item knitted with fine thread uses more down. Also, the higher the knitting density, the greater the material consumption and, accordingly, the higher the price.

- Labour costs: this covers the complexity of and time spent on making the item. Obtaining down by shearing or by combing (this also directly affects the quality of the down); knitting the centre (machine-knitted or a fully handmade item); again, the thickness of the knitting (on fine needles with minimal distance between rows, the time spent is greater and higher skill is required of the master). Also, a more experienced knitter knows more "tricks" and can knit more complex and beautiful patterns; each of her items is a work of art, the price of which can be considerably higher.

We took two warm shawls and two stoles of the same size but in different price categories in order to compare them by these factors and clearly examine the question of how down items are priced.

Density and complexity of knitting

 

This factor directly affects the price. An item knitted on fine needles, also called fine knitting, with minimal distance between rows, is much more difficult to make and therefore more expensive. Among knitters, such work is considered more "jewel-like"; in the case of a warm shawl, it will be warmer due to its greater density and lower permeability to wind.

However, this does not mean that a warm shawl or stole on thick needles is of low quality; the knitter simply spends less time making it. It should also be noted that knitting on fine needles, as well as making items with complex patterns and their combinations (as shown in the photo), is work for an experienced master, each of whose items is a real work of art that simply cannot be cheap.

Knitting method

The item itself can be either fully hand-knitted or partly knitted on a hand knitting machine. This concerns the repeating elements of the centre. In some cases it is not knitted by hand. In this case the item is considered partly machine-knitted. Fully handmade work is also not uncommon, but handmade will cost more because of incomparably higher labour costs.

Using the chosen warm shawls as an example: the centre of the warm shawl in the second photo is fully hand-knitted, which is why its price is higher than that of the warm shawl whose centre is knitted using a machine (in the photo on the right).

So, we have found that the price of items is affected by the amount of raw material used and by labour costs. To sum up, the price of an item rises with:

- higher knitting density

- knitting the item on fine needles

- knitting the centre by hand

- making the item with more complex patterns and their combinations

- obtaining down by combing