Overview
Cobbler quotes are sold to people who don't want to replace the boots their grandfather wore
Cobblers (or shoe repairers, depending on the market) are one of the trades where the customer is paying to keep a sentimental thing usable. A favourite pair of leather boots, a $400 pair of brogues with a sole that's worn through, a school-shoe heel that's come off the day before term starts, a riding boot with a torn vamp. The work is per repair: heel replacement, sole replacement, stitching, leather patching, zip repair on a leather jacket the customer brought in alongside the boots. A flat 'shoe repair, $25' price gives the customer no breakdown of what each repair is, and a bigger repair (a full re-sole on a Goodyear-welted shoe) gets lumped against the same price as a heel tap. The trade has more variation than the customer realises.
QuoteGenio gives cobblers a quoting shape that fits a wide range of small repairs. Walk-up price list per common job (heel tap, full re-sole, leather conditioning, zip repair), bespoke quotes for unusual work (riding boot resole, dance shoe specialist work, full restoration of vintage leather), parts at supplier price (rubber soles, leather, laces, zips), and labour by hour for the more complex jobs. Send via WhatsApp or take the order at the counter, take card payment on collection, and the same record holds the customer's repair history so the regular customer who brings six pairs a year is recognised. Repeat work is the business; the cheap quote isn't.
Who it is for
Who uses QuoteGenio
Built for every kind of shoe repair business, from solo cobblers running a single bench to small workshops handling courier drop-offs and corporate accounts.
The problem
The quoting headaches every cobbler knows
Cobbling is per-pair work with material and brand complexity. Without a structured proposal listing the repair items and material grade, customers expect designer-shoe pricing on standard work and vice versa.
Brand pricing absorbed
A heel rebuild on a $ 80 work boot and a $ 800 designer shoe is the same labour but very different liability. Bundle into a flat fee and you absorb the designer-shoe risk.
Material grade not stated
Italian leather and synthetic patches have very different costs and lifespans. Without stating the grade, customers comparing on price assume premium materials at budget pricing.
No corporate account upsell
Office workers and equestrian customers go through soles and heels regularly. Without quoting a quarterly account, every drop-off is one-off and you miss the loyalty base.
The fix
QuoteGenio makes it simple
A clean workflow for shoe repair. Quote heel work, sole work, leather repairs, and material grade as separate lines. Send via WhatsApp from the workshop and convert accepted quotes to recurring corporate accounts.
The payoff
What you get with QuoteGenio
The everyday wins that add up across a year of quoting and invoicing.
Built for cobbling work
Line items for heel work (rubber, leather, stiletto), sole work (full sole, half sole, topy), zip replacement, leather patching, dye work, polish and shine, and orthopaedic adjustments as separate lines.
Works from the bench
Build the proposal at the bench after the inspection. Branded PDF on every send, public link for customer acceptance.
Quote in under 5 minutes
Templates for work boot resole, designer heel rebuild, courier drop-off batch. Each new ticket is a few tweaks from sent.
Track drop-offs and accounts
See which deposits have landed, which pairs are awaiting parts, and which corporate accounts are due for quarterly invoicing.
Built for your trade
Quoting calibrated to how cobblers actually work
Pick your trade in Settings and the entire quote flow switches to fit. Line item presets, compliance fields, on-the-quote calculators, and per-m² / after-hours pricing all change to match your industry.
Trade-specific line items
Quick add picker pre-fills the common items your trade quotes. Skip the blank rows.
Brand-specific catalogues
Pylontech, Hikvision, Canadian Solar, Sunsynk and others pre-named. Pick the brand, the description writes itself.
Compliance fields built in
IOPSA, ECASA, PIRB, PSIRA, NHBRC, SAQCC. Set once. Every quote prints them under FROM.
Registration expiry alerts
Dashboard notification 60 days before your PSIRA, CoC or any dated registration lapses.
Per-m² / hour / day billing
Unit selector on every line item: m², hr, linear m, days. Stop doing the maths externally.
After-hours and emergency
1.5× and 2× multipliers as a one-tap toggle. Customer sees the breakdown on the quote.
Quote-flow calculators
Solar size, battery backup, cable run cost. Compute on the spot, drop straight onto the quote.
Staged payments
Deposit on acceptance + balance on completion as two separate amounts on the quote PDF.
Scope-of-work checklist
Structured Included / Not included lists. Client acceptance = signing the scope.
Site-survey mode
Log a location per line item: camera positions, fixtures by room, sensors by zone.
Regional rate hints
Pricing ranges per item per currency shown as you quote.
Free on every plan
All of the above included on the free plan. Premium is for capacity, not the trade tooling.
Why QuoteGenio
Why Cobblers choose QuoteGenio
The tools that matter most when you are quoting on-site, under pressure, and between jobs.
Quote from your phone
Most Cobblers build and send quotes directly from the job site. No laptop, no office, no delays.
Win more jobs, faster
The first professional quote a client receives usually wins. Respond in minutes, not hours.
Quote to invoice in one click
When the job is accepted, convert to an invoice instantly. No retyping, no double entry.
Pricing guide
Typical Cobblers job pricing
A rough guide to what cobblers charge for common work. Pricing varies by shoe type (work boot vs designer vs riding boot), material grade (synthetic vs Italian leather), and whether the work is single-pair drop-off or batch corporate. Designer rebuilds and full Goodyear resoles sit at the top of these ranges.
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Heel rebuild (rubber, work boot) | $ 18 - $ 45 / pair |
| Heel rebuild (leather, designer shoe) | $ 35 - $ 95 / pair |
| Full sole (Goodyear or stitched, leather) | $ 65 - $ 180 / pair |
| Half sole or topy (men's dress shoe) | $ 28 - $ 65 / pair |
| Zip replacement (boot, full length) | $ 35 - $ 95 / zip |
| Leather patching and dye work | $ 25 - $ 145 / repair |
| Quarterly corporate account (per pair, batch) | $ 65 - $ 220 / pair |
Pricing shown in USD as a rough benchmark. Rates vary significantly by country, region, currency, and market.
Call-out fees
Quarterly corporate accounts (offices, equestrian schools, theatre companies) are the recurring revenue base for cobblers. Quote a batch contract on every commercial customer so the bench has predictable volume between walk-in customers.
Hourly vs fixed pricing
Use per-pair fixed pricing for standard repairs where the labour is known. Use per-hour pricing for restoration work where the damage extent varies. Always quote material grade on every line because customers comparing on price expect to know what leather they are getting.
See it in action
Example quote breakdown
Here is what a clean designer boot restoration proposal looks like. Inspection, sole, heel, zips, patching, dye, and labour each visible on the proposal. Customers comparing cobblers accept this kind of itemised proposal faster than a flat 'restoration' fee.
Try it yourself
Job size
Region
Sample quote
Designer leather boots, full restoration with heel and zip
Inspection and condition report
Full sole replacement (Goodyear, leather)
Heel rebuild (leather, designer grade)
Zip replacement (full length, both boots)
Leather patching (small scuff, both boots)
Dye work and polish (full restoration)
Bench labour (4 hours, alignment and finish)
| Description | Qty | Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inspection and condition report | 1 | $ 25.00 | $ 25.00 |
| Full sole replacement (Goodyear, leather) | 1 | $ 145 | $ 145 |
| Heel rebuild (leather, designer grade) | 1 | $ 65.00 | $ 65.00 |
| Zip replacement (full length, both boots) | 2 | $ 75.00 / zip | $ 150 |
| Leather patching (small scuff, both boots) | 2 | $ 35.00 / patch | $ 70.00 |
| Dye work and polish (full restoration) | 1 | $ 95.00 | $ 95.00 |
| Bench labour (4 hours, alignment and finish) | 4 | $ 65.00 / hr | $ 260 |
| Subtotal | $ 810 | ||
| Tax (10%) | $ 81.00 | ||
| Total incl. tax | $ 891 | ||
Totals recalculate as you change the controls above. Tax rate inferred from the sample quote.
Items often forgotten
Inspection time, edge dressing on the sole, heel rebuild material grade, zip type (heavy-duty vs standard), dye matching, and the bench labour hours. Add these as standard or optional lines so the small bench items do not silently disappear.
Peer snapshot
How Cobblers actually use QuoteGenio
Indicative activity for Cobblers on the platform. Use it as a benchmark for how often to quote and how fast to respond.
26
Quotes sent per month
60%
Average quote acceptance
4 min
Median time to send quote
$ 891
Typical quote value
Figures are indicative platform averages for this trade segment.
Start quoting Cobbler jobs like this, free
Build your first quote in under 2 minutes. No credit card, no setup fee, no contract.
Avoid these
Common quoting mistakes
We talk to a lot of cobblers. The same material-grade, designer-handling, and corporate-account mistakes come up shoe after shoe. Fix these and your quarterly account base will smooth the bench load through the seasons.
Mistake: Material grade not stated
Better: State material grade (Italian leather, synthetic, rubber, Goodyear-welted) on every repair line. Customers comparing on price expect to know what they are paying for.
Mistake: Designer shoe risk absorbed
Better: Quote a higher rate or a separate 'premium handling' line on designer shoes over $ 500. The liability is real and the customer respects seeing it priced openly.
Mistake: Sole and heel bundled
Better: Quote sole and heel as separate lines. Customers comparing across cobblers compare on individual repair pricing, not on bundled fees.
Mistake: No corporate account upsell
Better: Quote a quarterly batch contract on every commercial customer (office, equestrian school, theatre). Without it, the bench is feast-or-famine on walk-ins.
Mistake: Inspection given away free
Better: Quote inspection as a separate line on restoration and complex repairs, refundable against the work if the customer proceeds. Inspection time is real bench time.
Mistake: No deposit on restoration
Better: Take 50 percent deposit on full restorations and designer rebuilds because materials are expensive and bench time is significant. State on the proposal.
Mistake: No expiry on the quote
Better: Set a 30 day validity. Leather and zip pricing moves with import costs. State the validity so old quotes do not bind you to outdated material costs.
Mistake: No follow-up after sending the quote
Better: Most quotes that don't close, don't close because nobody followed up. Send a polite check-in 48 hours after the quote lands, and a second nudge at day 7. Two of every three accepted quotes get there because someone followed up.
Step by step
How to quote cobbling
Always inspect the shoe in person before quoting restoration. A 5 to 10 minute inspection tells you the shoe construction (Goodyear, blake, cement), the material grade (premium leather vs synthetic), the visible damage (sole wear depth, heel condition, zip status), and the customer's expectation (restore vs functional repair). Quote based on what you saw rather than guessing because shoe symptoms are easy to misjudge from a phone photo.
Itemise heel work, sole work, leather patching, dye, zip replacement, polish, and labour as separate lines. Customers comparing across cobblers compare on individual repair pricing. State material grade on every line. Quote designer shoes with either a higher rate or a 'premium handling' surcharge because the liability is real.
Take a deposit on restoration and designer work. Standard heel and sole work can usually invoice on collection. Full restorations and designer rebuilds need 50 percent deposit because materials are expensive and bench time is significant. State the deposit and a clear collection deadline (typically 90 days) on the proposal.
Send via WhatsApp and follow up. Walk-in customers are mostly local; corporate customers compare 2 to 3 cobblers. The first detailed proposal with material grade, repair items, and corporate account structure usually wins. Share the public link via WhatsApp, follow up after a few days, and once accepted invoice the deposit and book the bench slot. Set a 30 day validity to protect against material price moves.
FAQ
Common questions from cobblers
Everything you need to know before getting started.
Per repair item on the proposal, so the customer sees the breakdown (heel + sole + zip + dye). Total per pair is the sum. Customers comparing on price respect itemised proposals.
Yes. Once your quote is ready, share the public link via WhatsApp. The customer opens a branded PDF on their phone, accepts online, and you have a time-stamped acceptance on file.
Use a higher rate or add a 'premium handling' line on shoes over $ 500. The liability of working on designer leather is real and the customer respects seeing it priced openly.
Yes. 50 percent deposit on full restorations and designer rebuilds because materials are expensive and bench time is significant. State on the proposal so the customer agrees in writing.
Quote a quarterly batch contract on every commercial customer (offices, equestrian, theatre). State the per-pair batch rate, the typical volume, and the collection-and-delivery schedule. Corporate customers respect predictability.
Yes. The free plan gives you 5 quotes and 2 invoices per month with no credit card. Upgrade to Premium for unlimited quotes plus recurring corporate account invoicing.
Yes. Quote both options (premium leather vs synthetic) on the same proposal where the customer is undecided. Most customers comparing on price choose the synthetic for working shoes and the leather for designer.
Quote polish and shine as a separate line on full restorations. Walk-in repairs typically include a quick clean, but full polish work is real bench time and should be itemised.
If you are tax registered, yes. Show tax as its own line on the proposal so the customer sees the full price before they accept.
30 days. Leather and zip pricing moves with import costs. State the validity so old quotes do not bind you to outdated material costs.
Still have questions? We would rather answer them now than after you have signed up.
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Guides
Guides for Cobblers
Practical advice to help you quote better, get paid faster, and grow your business.
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