Two quotes. Same three windows. Nearly triple the price. Neither company is lying to you. They are quoting different products, and the quote you are holding almost certainly does not say so anywhere on it. Here is how to tell what you are actually being sold.
Why the spread is so wide
Window treatments are one of the few things people buy where the word on the invoice does not describe the thing being delivered. Four companies can all write “custom drapery, three windows” and mean four genuinely different products.
The differences are real and they are almost entirely invisible in a lump-sum quote. Number of layers in the panel. Whether there is interlining. How much fabric relative to the window, which the trade calls fullness. Whether the header is machine-set or hand-finished. Whether hardware is a track or a rod. Whether someone measured your windows or whether you did.
None of that shows up if the quote is one line and one number. So the first thing to establish is not whether a price is high. It is whether the quote contains enough information to tell you what you are buying.
What a complete quote looks like
Below is the structure of a proper estimate for a New York living room: three windows, roughly eight-foot finished drop, motorized ripple fold drapery with solar shades behind. The numbers are illustrative rather than a price list. The structure is what you should expect to see.
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| DRAPERY · 6 PANELS, RIPPLE FOLD | |
| Face fabric · collection / SKU / colorway 118″ railroaded, no repeat · 22 yds @ $46.00 | 1,012.00 |
| Fullness · 2.5x Yardage on finished width 3 × 96″ | incl. |
| Lining · cotton sateen 22 yds @ $9.00 | 198.00 |
| Interlining · cotton bump 22 yds @ $11.00 | 242.00 |
| Workroom labor · 6 panels @ $185.00 Hand-finished hem, weighted corners, 4″ return | 1,110.00 |
| HARDWARE & AUTOMATION | |
| Ceiling-mount track · 24 lf @ $52.00 Brackets, carriers, end caps, returns included | 1,248.00 |
| Drapery motors · 3 @ $420.00 | 1,260.00 |
| Hub / bridge · 1 @ $265.00 Remotes 2 @ $85.00 = 170.00 | 435.00 |
| SHADES | |
| Solar roller shades · 3 @ $390.00 3% openness, reverse roll, fascia, outside mount | 1,170.00 |
| SITE & INSTALLATION | |
| Field measure & site survey Waived with order | 0.00 |
| Installation · 8 hrs @ $145.00 Two technicians, incl. blocking check & patch | 1,160.00 |
| Building access COI filing, service elevator reservation | 150.00 |
| Delivery | 95.00 |
| Subtotal | 8,080.00 |
| Sales tax · 8.875% | 717.10 |
| TOTAL | $8,797.10 |
What each line is telling you
The fabric line names the fabric
Collection, SKU, colorway, width, repeat, yardage, and price per yard. If your quote says “fabric” and a lump sum, you cannot compare it to anything or verify you received what you paid for.
Fullness is the hidden price lever
The single biggest driver of both cost and appearance. At 2x fullness a panel uses roughly twenty percent less fabric than at 2.5x, and it looks visibly thinner. A quote that never states fullness can be cut without you noticing.
Lining should be named, not assumed
“Lined” is not a specification. Cotton sateen, blackout, and dim-out behave completely differently and cost differently.
Interlining is the line most often missing
The soft flannel layer between the face fabric and the lining. It is what makes drapery fall in deep even folds rather than hanging flat, and it does most of the thermal and acoustic work. Its absence is the most common reason one quote is dramatically cheaper. That is a different product, not a better deal.
Labor priced per panel, not per window
Per-window pricing hides how many panels you are getting. Ask what the labor includes, because hand-finished hems, weighted corners, and the return depth should all be stated.
Hardware needs to say what comes with it
Track or rod, priced by the linear foot, with brackets, carriers, end caps, and returns either itemized or explicitly included. “Hardware TBD” on a signed quote means a number arrives later.
Motors are per opening
Three windows means three motors. A single “motorized” line with one number is the easiest place for a quote to be quietly incomplete.
The hub is not optional and not included
Motors need something to talk to. If a quote covers motors but no hub, bridge, or remotes, you will be buying them separately at the worst possible moment, which is after installation.
Shades need four specs, not one
Openness factor, roll direction, fascia or cassette, and mount type. Reverse roll clears a deep sill but holds the fabric further off the glass and widens the light gap. Standard roll sits tighter to the glass but will foul on anything projecting. Somebody is choosing this. It should be you, in writing.
Somebody has to own the measurements
If a quote is built on dimensions you supplied, the fit risk has quietly moved to you, and custom goods are not returnable. This line should say a professional measured, and when.
Installation should include the repairs
Hourly or flat, how many technicians, and critically who patches the wall if the blocking is not where it should be. That question has a way of becoming expensive on install day.
Building access is a real New York cost
Most co-ops and many condos require a certificate of insurance naming the building, the board, and the managing agent, plus a service elevator reservation and restricted work hours. If this line is absent on an apartment job, it is either coming later or the installer has not worked in buildings like yours.
Ask how sales tax is being applied
New York State treats some permanently installed work as a capital improvement, which is documented on Form ST-124 and taxed differently from a retail sale. Whether a given installation qualifies is fact-specific. Ask your vendor how they are treating it and confirm with your accountant rather than assuming.
Deposit, lead time, and warranty in writing
Fifty percent at order is normal for custom work, and materially more than that is worth questioning. Lead time should be stated as a date range from final measure, not from the day you sign. The split between manufacturer warranty and workroom warranty should be explicit.
Four different things, all sold as “custom”
The word is unregulated. These are genuinely different products at genuinely different prices, and a quote rarely tells you which one you are being offered. Ask directly.
| Tier | What it is | Ask them |
|---|---|---|
| Cut-down stock | A standard-size panel or shade trimmed to fit closer to your opening. Fast and inexpensive. Custom in marketing only. | Is this made to my size, or cut to it? |
| Made to measure | Ordered to your dimensions from a manufacturer’s program. Genuinely built for your window, within the options that program offers. | Whose program, and what are the limits? |
| Semi-custom workroom | Made for your window in a workroom, with a defined set of construction options. Most of the benefit, some of the constraints. | Which construction choices are fixed? |
| Full custom | Your fabric, your construction, hand-finished, interlined if specified, and cut to each window’s own measured drop rather than one dimension for the whole wall. | Is every panel cut to its own drop? |
What is missing from most quotes
Run your quote against this list. Anything absent is not necessarily a problem, but it is a question you should have answered before you sign, because every one of these becomes a cost or a compromise later.
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- Fabric identified by SKU and colorway, plus width, repeat, and whether it is railroaded
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- Yardage and fullness ratio stated, the two numbers that let you compare quotes at all
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- Lining and interlining named separately, or explicitly excluded so you know
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- Panel count, not just window count, because six panels across three windows is not the same as three
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- Hardware itemized including returns, brackets, carriers, end caps, and finials
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- Hub and remotes for anything motorized, and how it is powered: battery, low voltage, or line
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- Mount type, and for shades the roll direction, inside, outside, or ceiling recessed
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- Who measured and when, with field measure after floors are down rather than off drawings
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- COI and building access accounted for, essential on any co-op or condo job
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- Wall repair responsibility named, the question nobody asks until install day
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- Lead time as a range from final measure, not from the date of signature
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- Warranty split between maker and workroom, because motors and hardware differ from labor
Worth a second look
None of these means a company is dishonest. All of them mean the quote is carrying risk that has not been priced, and that risk usually lands on you.
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- One line, one number. “Custom drapery, 3 windows, $6,400.” There is nothing here to audit and nothing to hold anyone to.
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- The measurements are yours. Custom goods are not returnable. If you measured, you own the outcome.
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- A deposit well above half. Fifty percent is standard for custom work. Substantially more shifts risk to you before anything is made.
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- No lead time in writing. Verbal timelines are the most commonly broken part of any window treatment job.
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- “Hardware TBD” or “motorization TBD.” A placeholder on a signed document is a change order with a future date.
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- No mention of building requirements. On a New York apartment job, this usually means the installer has not worked in buildings like yours.
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- Fabric availability not confirmed. Discontinued or backordered goods surface after the deposit clears, not before.
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- An offer to remove a window guard. End the conversation. It is illegal in New York City and it is how children fall.
Ten questions to send before you sign
Send these to every company you are considering, in the same email. The quality of the answers will sort the field faster than the prices will.
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- What fullness is this quoted at, and what would 2.5x cost instead?
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- Is there interlining in this price? If not, what would it add?
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- How many panels am I getting, and how wide is each finished panel?
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- Will each panel be cut to its own measured drop, or to one dimension for the wall?
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- What is the stack-back, and how much glass will be covered when the treatment is open?
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- Who is measuring, and at what point in my renovation?
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- Does the price include the hub and remotes, and how are the motors powered?
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- Have you filed a certificate of insurance with a building like mine before?
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- Who patches the wall if the blocking is not where we expect?
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- What is the lead time from final measure, and what is warranted by whom?
Bring us the other quote
We will read it with you, line by line, and tell you what it is missing. Sometimes the honest answer is that the other quote is fine and priced correctly, and we say so. More often it is quoting a thinner product than the one it appears to describe, and once you can see that, you can decide with actual information.
We have been making our own drapery and shades in New York since 2009. Visit the showroom at 447 W 50th Street, or get in touch below.
Written by Moria Leiderman, Principal at Alluring Window. Figures in this guide are illustrative and are not a price list. Every project is quoted from a field measure. General information only, not tax, legal, or design advice.
