Roller blinds vs roman blinds vs curtains: how to quote each
Three different products, three different pricing structures, and three completely different ways things can go wrong on a quote.
If you sell more than one product type, and most blind and curtain businesses do, you already know that quoting a roller blind, a roman blind and a set of curtains are three completely different exercises. The measurements work differently, the pricing structure works differently, and the margin traps are in completely different places.
This guide breaks down how to price each product correctly, where businesses most commonly get the numbers wrong, and includes a full worked curtain calculation you can check your own method against.
Roller blinds
Roller blinds are the most commonly quoted product in the industry and, for that reason, the most commonly under-priced. Because they feel straightforward, measure the window, pick the fabric, done, it is easy to miss the variables that turn a simple job into a margin problem.
How pricing is structured
Roller blind pricing from most suppliers is based on a price-break grid: the cost per blind changes depending on the width and drop combination. On top of the base price you need to account for:
Fabric choice. Blockout, translucent and sunscreen fabrics are priced differently, and within each category price varies significantly by range.
Cassette or open roll. A cassette adds cost and may affect the width price break.
Motorisation. Battery, mains or solar motor, plus the remote or smart-home integration.
Linked blinds. Two or more blinds on a single motor are priced differently to individual blinds.
Minimum width charges. Most suppliers have a minimum product width. A narrow window often costs the same as a mid-range width.
Where roller blind quotes go wrong
The most common error is applying a flat price per blind regardless of size. Oversized blinds eat into margin. Undersized blinds are overcharged relative to what they cost to produce.
A good quoting system loads the supplier’s actual price-break table and applies your markup on top, so the number is right regardless of what size window you are measuring.
Roman blinds
Roman blinds introduce a layer of complexity roller blinds do not have: fabric is sold by the metre, not per product. That makes the quoting process more variable and the margin harder to control if you are calculating manually.
How pricing is structured
Face fabric, priced per metre, with a cut drop that includes hem allowance and a width that includes side returns.
Lining. Standard, blockout or interlining each have different per-metre costs and different total metrage calculations.
Make-up cost. Construction is separate from fabric and needs to be priced against your workroom arrangement.
Hardware. Track or face-fix batten, cord or motorised lift, brackets, and custom colour requirements.
Where roman blind quotes go wrong
Pattern repeat is the most common source of unexpected cost. A fabric with a 30cm pattern repeat on a 2 metre drop requires significantly more fabric than the dimensions alone suggest. If your quote does not build that in, you absorb it.
With fabric pricing and make-up costs properly loaded, a roman blind quote takes the same time as a roller blind. Without them it takes three times as long and is still more likely to be wrong.
Curtains
Curtains are the most complex product to quote accurately and the product where margin is most commonly lost. Fabric fullness, track or rod type, heading style, lining and make-up cost mean more variables to get right and more places for the quote to go wrong.
How pricing is structured
Fabric fullness. Pinch pleat is typically 2.5x track width, pencil pleat 2x to 2.5x, eyelet 1.5x to 2x. Get this wrong and you order the wrong amount of fabric.
Cut drop. The finished length plus hem allowance, typically 16cm for a double hem, plus heading allowance.
Pattern repeat. A 64cm repeat on wide curtains can add metres of fabric to an order.
Track or rod. S-fold, ripple fold, standard aluminium or decorative rod each have their own pricing and installation requirements.
Lining and make-up. Standard, blockout or thermal lining, each priced per metre. Make-up needs to scale with the size and complexity of the job.
A worked curtain calculation, step by step
This is where most quotes come apart, so here is the full arithmetic on a realistic job. A 3.0m track, 2.4m finished drop, pinch pleat heading, face fabric at $65 per metre with a 32cm pattern repeat, on 1.4m wide fabric.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric width needed | 3.0m track × 2.5 fullness, plus 10cm returns and side hems | 7.60 m |
| Cut drop | 2.40m finished + 16cm double hem + 8cm heading | 2.64 m |
| Pattern repeat adjustment | 2.64 ÷ 0.32 = 8.25 repeats, round up to 9 × 0.32 | 2.88 m |
| Drops required | 7.60 ÷ 1.40 fabric width = 5.43, round up | 6 drops |
| Total fabric | 6 drops × 2.88m | 17.28 m |
| Face fabric cost | 17.28m × $65 | $1,123 |
Lining, make-up, track and installation sit on top of that figure. But the face fabric is where the error usually happens, and it compounds through everything after it.
The mistake that costs you the job
Quote on the finished drop instead of the cut drop and you order 6 × 2.40m = 14.40m, which costs $936. That is 2.88m short of what the job actually needs, $187 of fabric you have not charged for, and a remake once the workroom flags it. The same error on a whole-house job runs into four figures.
Where curtain quotes go wrong
Fullness multipliers are the single biggest source of error. Quoting a 3 metre curtain wall at 2x fullness instead of 2.5x underquotes the fabric by 20 percent before any other calculation has happened.
The second trap is the one in the box above: quoting the finished drop rather than the cut drop. Hem and heading allowances add 20 to 25cm per panel. Across a ten panel job that is two and a half extra metres of fabric nobody has accounted for.
How the three products compare
| Product | Main pricing driver | Biggest margin trap | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roller blind | Width x drop price grid | Flat pricing ignoring size breaks | Low to medium |
| Roman blind | Fabric metrage plus make-up | Pattern repeat, make-up cost | Medium |
| Curtains | Fullness, cut drop and track | Fullness multiplier, cut drop | High |
Common questions
How much fabric do I need for pinch pleat curtains?
Multiply the track width by 2.5 for standard pinch pleat fullness, then add around 10cm for returns and side hems. That gives the total fabric width you need. Divide it by your fabric’s usable width to get the number of drops, rounding up, then multiply by the cut drop. A 3.0m track at 2.5x fullness on 1.4m fabric needs 6 drops.
What is cut drop, and why is it different to the finished drop?
The finished drop is what the customer sees once the curtain is hanging. The cut drop is what you actually order, and it adds hem allowance, typically 16cm for a double hem, plus heading allowance of around 8cm. A 2.4m finished drop is a 2.64m cut drop. Ordering on the finished drop leaves every panel short.
How does pattern repeat affect curtain fabric quantities?
Each drop has to start at the same point in the pattern, so the cut drop is rounded up to a whole number of repeats. A 2.64m cut drop on a 32cm repeat is 8.25 repeats, which rounds up to 9, making the real cut drop 2.88m. Across six drops that is an extra 1.44m of fabric, and on this example it is $94 of cost that is invisible if you do not calculate it.
What fullness should I use for each heading type?
As a general guide, pinch pleat is 2.5x the track width, pencil pleat is 2x to 2.5x, and eyelet is 1.5x to 2x. S-fold and ripple fold depend on the track system and carrier spacing, so check the specification rather than assuming. Confirm against your own workroom’s standards, since these vary between makers.
What a proper quoting system needs to handle
Whether you quote one product type or all three, the principle is the same: the fewer manual calculations in the process, the fewer places margin can leak. A system built for this industry should handle:
Supplier price-break tables loaded by product and fabric range, with no manual lookup
Automatic markup applied per product category or per fabric range
Fabric metrage calculation for romans and curtains, including pattern repeat allowance
Fullness multipliers and cut drop formulas built in per heading type
Make-up and installation costs that scale with the size and complexity of the job
A quote output clean enough to send straight to the customer
If any of those are currently handled manually, in a spreadsheet, in a notes app or from memory, that is where your margin is going.
For a business that makes its own curtains, this matters even more, because the making price is yours to control rather than a supplier’s line item. Blinds With An Edge in Geelong makes curtains in-house and runs its own install team, and getting fabric, track and making price calculating per panel was the bulk of their setup. There is more on how quoting differs by business in our guide to what to ask a quoting software vendor.
See how Rollify handles all three product types
Book a free demo and we will build a quote for roller blinds, roman blinds and curtains in front of you, start to finish, with your real supplier pricing.
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