Are readymade blinds cheaper than made-to-measure?

Are readymade blinds cheaper than made-to-measure ones? Yes, but quite often not by much as you can see in our earlier post how much should I pay for blinds? When it comes to the purchase price alone, made-to-measure blinds invariably cost more than readymade.

However, this doesn’t tell the full story. Over the lifetime of any window blind (before it fails to function properly or is simply so old and tatty that your aesthetic sensibilities demand replacement) a made-to-measure blind will work out cheaper than a readymade one in many cases!

So if you compare readymade to made-to-measure blinds in terms of value for money and lifetime cost, made-to-measure blinds are cheaper than seemingly-cheap readymade blinds.

When it comes to value for money, made-to-measure window blinds beat readymade ones absolutely hands down. Why?? Well, I’m so glad you asked…

What makes made-to-measure blinds better value than readymade blinds?

• Quality, in terms of the materials (fabrics and framework) and even the tiny things like threads, fixings, and fittings. Quality shows a mile off when it comes to blinds, or on the flipside, is conspicuous by its absence.
• Craftsmanship. Made-to-measure blinds are not just made from better quality materials as a rule, but they also benefit from vastly superior craftsmanship and quality control.

Part of this circles back to the materials themselves; even a skilled craftsman can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse, as they say. (I don’t know who “they” are, but I’m 99% certain that’s a real phrase.)

• Choice and variety. You’re always going to find vastly more options in terms of materials, patterns, and styles with made-to-measure-blinds than you will with readymade ones.
• Customisability (for instance, having access to the widest range of choices of blackout linings, fixings and fittings, and so on).
• Longevity. Made-to-measure blinds are made to last, not “to last until next year’s catalogue comes out.”

Are made-to-measure blinds cheaper than readymade in the long run?

Yes. If you calculate the cost of window blinds in terms of “price per year” over their lifespan until they either fall apart or look shabby enough that you want to replace them, then made-to-measure window blinds are cheaper than readymade ones.

This is simply because they’re better quality, young Jedi.

I don’t deny that there are potentially some pretty flimsy, badly made made-to-measure window blinds sold somewhere that are just waiting to fall apart as soon as your kid has friends over and they get the lightsabres out.

But made-to-measure window blinds from any well-established British blinds company that cares about its reputation and that still wants to be in business next year will knock readymade blinds out of the park in terms of quality and so, overall value.

The quality of a window blind impacts not just how good they look, but how long they’ll last, and what sort of mistreatment you can get away with when it comes to operating them too.

Obviously I would say this, because successfully shilling made-to-measure blinds is how I successfully pay for shoes (or more to the point, how I successfully pay off the credit card that successfully pays for shoes) but also, I can kinda prove this too…

Comparing made-to-measure blinds versus readymade on quality

Ask us to send you free samples of any number of the materials (both the fabric kind and the solid wood and faux wood kind) that we make blinds from and we’ll be happy to do so; and when I say “free” I really mean free, not “free apart from the tenner shipping,” we’ll eat the postage cost as well.

This isn’t purely altruistic on our part, but benefits us too, because we know and are proud of the quality of our own blinds (in terms of workmanship as well as materials if that wasn’t taken as read).

So freely doling out as many samples as people want to ask for absolutely pays for itself for us by a truly impressive exponential amount I’d definitely put a specific figure to, had I not failed my first attempt at GCSE maths just a little bit.

Take our made-to-measure blind samples to anywhere like * or %%%%% (libel! Places get so twitchy about it these days, so litigious!) and just compare them to their readymade blinds for sale, or compare them to samples you may be able to order online from readymade blind retailers.

(Ps., if you find that a place won’t send free samples of their materials before you commit to a fairly significant purchase from them, ask yourself why…)

We sell made to measure window blinds, by the way, did I mention? The good’uns. Just in case you were wondering.

You’re welcome.