How to Compare Window Treatment Quotes Line by Line

The hard part of comparing window treatment quotes is not the math. It is that no two companies write a quote the same way. One prices per window, one per square foot, one gives you a "package" with no dimensions. One includes installation, one bills it separately, one never mentions it. This checklist is the process we use when customers hand us a competitor's quote and ask whether it is fair.

Step 1: Put every quote on the same basis

Shutters are priced by the square foot almost everywhere in the industry, so convert each shutter line to dollars per square foot: width in inches times height in inches, divided by 144, then divide the line price by that. A 36 by 60 inch window is 15 square feet. A $1,050 shutter on that window is $70 per square foot. Note that most companies have a minimum billable size per opening, often around 10 to 12 square feet, so small windows will look more expensive per foot than large ones.

Shades, blinds, and drapery are usually priced per window, but size still matters. Group the windows into small (under 10 square feet), typical (10 to 20), and large (over 20), and compare like with like. A $600 roller shade on a 6 foot slider is a different thing from a $600 roller shade on a bathroom window.

Step 2: Make sure the windows match

Line up the quotes window by window. Check that the dimensions agree within a fraction of an inch. If company A has your dining room window at 48 by 72 and company B has it at 47 1/2 by 71 1/4, B probably measured for an inside mount and A did not measure at all. A quote without dimensions on every line is a quote you cannot verify. Ask for them.

Step 3: Check what is included

Go down this list for each quote and mark yes, no, or not stated:

• Installation (as a separate line, or explicitly included)
• Sales tax (in California, on the product only, not on installation)
• Freight or shipping
• Measure fee, and whether it is credited to the order
• For motorized items: motor type, power source, remotes, and a hub for app control
• Cordless or continuous-loop controls where you asked for them
• Valances, fascia, cassettes, or top treatments
• Removal and disposal of existing treatments
• Deposit amount and card processing fees

Anything marked "not stated" is a phone call. The most expensive assumption in this business is assuming installation is included.

Step 4: Read the warranty terms

A warranty line is not the same as warranty coverage. Look for four things: materials, workmanship, motors, and cords or operating mechanisms, each with its own term. Then look for who honors it. A manufacturer's warranty is only useful if the company that sold it to you will handle the claim. Here is how we state ours. If a competitor's quote says "lifetime warranty" with no detail, ask for the document.

Step 5: Look for the red flags

• No dimensions. Covered above, but it is the biggest one.
• No product specification. "Premium shutters" or "custom shades" with no material, louver size, or fabric line named.
• A discount that expires today. Real promotions come from manufacturers and have published dates. Kitchen-table discounts mean the first number was padded.
• No license number. Anyone installing window treatments in California for more than $500 in labor and materials needs a contractor's license. Look it up on the CSLB site. Ours is 1147886.
• Vague labor. "Our installers" could mean employees or whoever answered the phone that morning.
• Per-square-foot shutter pricing far below $40 installed. That is usually hollow vinyl, no installation, or both. We covered real shutter pricing in this cost breakdown.

A worked example: one roller shade, three quotes

Say you asked three companies for a light-filtering roller shade on a 72 by 60 inch living room window, inside mount. The quotes come back like this:

Quote	Line price	Installation	Motorized	Warranty	Real installed price
A	$410	Not stated	No	1 year	$410 plus roughly $100 to $180 to install it, so about $510 to $590, with a one-year warranty
B	$560	Included	No	Limited lifetime	$560
C	$890	Included	Yes, battery motor with remote	Limited lifetime, 5 years on motor	$890, of which roughly $300 is the motor

Quote A looked cheapest and is not. Quote B is the manual baseline. Quote C is the same shade as B plus motorization at a fair adder. None of these is a bad quote once you can see them side by side. All three looked confusing before you could.

Step 6: Decide what the difference is buying

Once the quotes are on the same basis with the same inclusions, the remaining price gap is buying one of three things: a better product, a better company, or somebody's overhead. The first two are worth paying for. The third is not. A company should be able to tell you, line by line, which one it is.

Or let the tool do steps 1 through 5

We built Quote Check because this process takes an hour by hand and about a minute by machine. Upload a PDF or a photo of any quote. It extracts each line, converts it to a per-square-foot or per-window basis, compares it against what installed, warrantied product normally costs, and lists what is missing. You get a plain answer: fair, high, or suspiciously low, and why. If you want our number for the same windows, it is one click from there, and we quote from your sizes and photos with no appointment required.