What is COM fabric (customer’s own material)?
COM lets a customer supply the upholstery fabric. The store still needs an approved material, enough yardage, clear pricing, and an agreed production starting point.
The OrderPilot team·
A designer walks in with 14 yards of Belgian linen under her arm and asks for the Madison sofa “in this.” That’s COM, customer’s own material: fabric supplied for the order instead of chosen from the maker’s regular collection. In this example, the linen has already won the designer over. Now it needs to win the upholsterer over.
The next job is to settle approval, yardage, and price. Start with the maker’s COM price for the upholstered piece, excluding the supplied fabric, then add the handling and application charges. That price includes the upholstery work; COM isn’t a bare frame. COL, customer’s own leather, follows the same idea with a separate quantity assessment.
Get approval before treating the fabric as an order
Send the maker the fabric description and requested sample, with the face, direction, pattern placement, and matching instructions. The approval needs to cover how the fabric will be used on this sofa. A beautiful swatch can behave quite differently once it turns a corner or stretches across a cushion.
Use the maker’s yardage requirement for the exact model. Thonet’s guide bases estimates on plain fabric with a 54-inch usable width, calls for more material for some patterns, and allows the maker to reject unsuitable COM. Work from the rules of the maker producing the piece. Thonet, Fabric and C.O.M. information.
Suppose the maker approves the example’s 14 yards for plain linen. A switch to a large repeat sends the fabric details back for a revised yardage figure. The cutting layout determines what’s needed. Railroaded fabric explains another choice that can change that layout and the quantity.
Separate the maker’s charge from your handling fee
COM carries labor and handling costs. Thonet’s guide specifies a 20% upcharge for striped, patterned, or non-stretch COM. Vanguard lists $150 per style for approved special handling to investigate completing an order with short yardage. Price the job from the maker’s quote, including these charges. Thonet guide, Vanguard COM yardage guide.
Your store can propose its own handling charge for coordinating approval, shipping, and the specification. Put it in the agreement before acceptance, separately from the maker’s charge, so the customer can see what each covers. The COM upcharge and CFA explainer goes further into those terms.
Late fabric changes the production conversation
The production clock starts at the point the maker specifies. Vanguard begins COM production after all fabrics for the order arrive. Explain that starting point when quoting, especially when the customer is sourcing the fabric elsewhere. Vanguard COM yardage guide.
If the fabric arrives late, get the revised production date and tell the customer what it means for delivery. Keep the shipping reference and factory acknowledgment with the order. Tag the roll as the maker requests, including the PO number, and settle the return of unused fabric in the same instructions.
Check fabric coverage separately from the furniture warranty
Separate fabric coverage from the furniture warranty. Thonet’s guide disclaims responsibility for COM wearability; another maker’s terms and the fabric seller’s coverage can differ. Write down what each party covers and what your store is offering. The signed agreement keeps those promises with the chosen material. Thonet guide.
Keep the COM specification together in OrderPilot
Set COM as a value on the Fabric option, with its own price contribution, cost, and lead time. On the product template, use a conditional rule to show required COM yardage and fabric-detail fields when COM is selected. Staff can then distinguish “fabric chosen” from a complete specification ready to send.
Add the COM agreement as additional template terms. OrderPilot retains those terms in the signed record and carries the configured fabric details onto the PO. With vendor reply capture set up, the factory’s answers stay on that PO too, ready for whoever handles the next stage.
Staff record the factory’s fabric-arrival confirmation in the order conversation. Use the Admin line’s option lead time to plan, and put the agreed delivery estimate in the customer-facing wording. The specification, signed terms, and vendor answers then stay together. Next, follow the workroom’s COM handoff and changing quotes.
Sources
Fabric chosen is not the same as fabric approved for production.
