Comparing textile prices looks like the easiest thing in the world: two towels, two figures, the lower one wins. And that is exactly how the towels that have to be replaced the following year are bought. The price of a towel on a website is not what the towel costs: it is one of six or seven figures which, added together, say what it will cost you to have it in the bathroom over its working life. This guide is the method for adding them, with a table you can copy and fill in with your own quotes.
First, compare like with like
Before looking at a single price, line up the technical sheets. Two "bath towels" can be a 70 × 140 at 450 g/m² and a 100 × 150 at 600 g/m²: the second weighs twice as much and costs twice as much to wash, and comparing them on price is comparing oranges with watermelons. For each reference, demand and note:
- Exact size in centimetres.
- Weight in g/m² for towels and bedspreads; thread count and yarn count for sheets (144 threads in 30/1 is not the same as 144 in 40/1).
- Composition and fabric type: conventional or American terry, plain weave or poplin, blend or cotton.
- Finishes: anti-pilling, sanforised.
- Care sheet: maximum temperature, bleach, tumble dryer. A towel that cannot be tumble-dried costs more to launder even if it costs less to buy.
If a supplier does not give one of these figures, that cell reads "unknown", and unknown is not free: it is risk.
Second, the real unit price
Three usual traps in the figure on screen:
- With or without VAT. Business-oriented stores show prices excluding VAT; consumer stores include it. Bring everything to one basis, usually excluding VAT if you are a business and recover it.
- Per unit or per pack. Many references sell in packs of 2, 6, 10 or 12. Divide the pack price by its units, and note the pack size: it forces you to buy in multiples.
- List price or volume-discounted price. Ask for the quantity-discount table. 10% from 100 units changes the ranking of suppliers as soon as you equip more than two rooms.
Third, shipping, which is where the difference hides
Shipping is the figure that varies most between suppliers and the one most often forgotten. Find out for each:
- Shipping cost per order and from what amount it is free. A free-shipping threshold at €100 and another at €300 mean very different things for an apartment replenishing €80 of pillowcases.
- Surcharges for the Balearics, Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla, and for floor delivery or delivery by appointment.
- Minimum order value. Some suppliers set a minimum of €150, €300 or €500; others set no minimum order value and ship in full packs. The minimum is not a direct cost, but it forces you to buy today what you do not need until spring, and that tied-up money does cost.
- Lead time. Three to five days against three weeks. The cost of a long lead time is the safety stock you have to hold so as not to run out of towels, or the room you do not sell.
Spread the shipping over the units of the order you will actually place, not a theoretical one. €9 shipping on an order of 12 pillowcases is €0.75 per pillowcase; on an order of 120, seven cents.
Fourth, what happens after delivery
- Sample. If the supplier sends samples, free or at cost, ask for one. Feeling the terry and weighing the towel on a kitchen scale is the only real check on weight. A five-euro sample saves a five-hundred-euro wrong order.
- Returns and warranty. What happens if a wrong size or a faulty lot arrives, who pays the collection and within how many days.
- Payment terms. Payment in advance, cash on delivery or 30 days. For a business that is starting, 30 days' credit is worth money.
- Continuity. Will that reference exist next year, in the same white and the same weight? In hospitality textiles replacement has to be identical, and a supplier who changes catalogue every season forces you to mix.
The table
One row per item, one column per supplier, and in each cell the figure from your real quote. No example figures: any number we put here would be invented and would end up quoted as if it were a market price.
| Item | What to note |
|---|---|
| Comparable reference | Size, weight or thread count, terry or fabric type, care sheet |
| Unit price excl. VAT | Pack price ÷ units in the pack |
| Pack | Units per pack and therefore the multiple you buy in |
| Volume discount | Percentage that applies to the quantity you will order |
| Minimum order value | None, or the figure that forces you to over-buy |
| Shipping for your order | Real cost, or free if you clear the threshold |
| Lead time | Working days to your store |
| Cost per delivered unit | (Unit price × (1 − discount) × units + shipping) ÷ units |
| Sample | Available or not, and at what cost |
| Washes of working life | Per the sheet and the sample |
An example with variables, to see how the result moves: if supplier A charges a unit price PA, no discount, free shipping above its threshold, and supplier B charges a lower unit price PB but with a 5% discount only from a certain quantity, shipping S and a minimum order value M, then B's cost per delivered unit is not PB but PB × 0.95 + S ÷ units, and only if your order clears M. When you do that sum with your figures, the gap between A and B usually halves, and B also forces you to buy M at once and to wait longer. That is the point of the table: turning "it costs less" into "it costs less by this much, in exchange for this".
Fifth, cost per use, which is what matters
The final figure is not the purchase price but the cost per use: what it costs each time a guest uses the towel. It is calculated by dividing the cost per delivered unit plus the washing cost over its life by the number of washes it withstands. A somewhat dearer towel that lasts 250 washes costs less per use than a lower-priced one retired at 100. This guide does the full calculation with the laundry kilos included; for sheets, the logic is identical.
The three questions that sum up all of the above
- Is it the same towel? Same size, same weight, same terry type, same care sheet.
- What does it cost landed in my store, with real shipping, pack and discount for the order I will place?
- What does each use cost me, counting how many washes it withstands?
Whoever answers all three before ordering buys fewer times, and that, more than any discount, is what brings down a property's textile cost. If you are starting out, the wholesale buying guide explains how volume prices work and the quantities worth ordering.