Once you’ve decided against full DIY-from-a-superstore and against a national in-home sales visit, the real contest for most people is: order made-to-measure from an online specialist, or walk into the local blind shop? Both sell you a blind cut to your window. They differ in who does the work, who carries the risk, and how much of your money goes where.

The price gap, honestly

An online product price can be lower because you do the measuring and arrange the fitting. A local shop’s quote may include a measuring and fitting service. Check exactly what’s included before treating the difference as a saving.

Compare the complete delivered and fitted cost, alongside who takes responsibility for measuring mistakes.

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Compare the full cost: a worked example

Illustration only: hypothetical inputs for four blinds of the same specification, including any applicable VAT. These are not retailer quotes, typical prices or a promised saving.

Order online and pay a fitter

  • Blinds and product delivery: £300.
  • Fitting: £120.
  • Other excluded charges, such as parking: £50.
  • Complete total: £470.

You measure and order. Paying someone to install the blinds doesn’t transfer responsibility for your measurements; check any retailer’s measuring-error cover and whether you’d pay for fitting again.

Local supply and fit

  • Measuring, blinds and fitting: £450.
  • Extra charges: £0, confirmed as included.
  • Complete total: £450.

Here, supply and fit is £20 less overall. Your own quotes may come out the other way. Ask the provider to confirm in writing who pays for a remake and refitting if their measurements are wrong.

Try your own figures on the quote comparison sheet. Use matching blind specifications and window counts. Add each charge only once; check delivery, minimum visit charges, removal of old blinds and VAT. If an extra hasn’t been priced, leave it unknown and ask before choosing on cost — a blank is not £0.

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What online does well

  • Price and range. National-scale manufacturing, huge fabric ranges, frequent discounts.
  • Free samples. Every serious online retailer posts fabric samples free — use them, screens lie about colour.
  • Convenience. Measure on Sunday (carefully), order in ten minutes, blinds arrive within a week or three.
  • Guides and tools. The big retailers’ measuring instructions are genuinely good, product by product — and they’re binding: follow the instructions of the shop you’re buying from.

You still carry the measuring risk. Some retailers offer optional remake cover, sometimes for a fee. Before relying on it, use the measuring-error cover checklist below: a replacement blind may still leave you with other costs.

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Before relying on measuring-error cover

Measuring-error cover can help if you submit the wrong sizes. It is separate from a product warranty, and a remake promise does not tell you whether a second fitting visit is paid for. Check the terms for your chosen product before placing the order:

  1. What does cover cost? Is the fee per blind, per order or a percentage of the order? Must you select it when ordering?
  2. Which blinds are eligible? Check excluded products, how many items or remakes are covered and any replacement-value limit. Can you change only the size, or also the fabric and blind type?
  3. When must you claim? Note when the deadline starts, whether it uses calendar or working days, and whether corrected measurements must reach the retailer by then.
  4. What must you send back? Check whether you need the original packaging, who arranges and pays for the return, and whether the old blind must arrive before a replacement is made or sent.
  5. What could the replacement cost? Check delivery charges and the price difference for a larger blind, including whether the original discount still applies.
  6. Who pays for removing and refitting it? Ask explicitly about the fitter’s return visit. Do not assume a retailer’s remake promise includes labour.

Keep a copy of the terms that apply to your order. If checkout, a promotional page and the detailed terms disagree, ask the retailer to confirm the cover and charges in writing before paying. Include the cover fee once in your upfront total. Use the notes on your quote comparison sheet for possible replacement costs and remake/refitting responsibility; keep these separate from the initial price. Mark unpriced costs as unknown rather than £0.

This voluntary cover does not replace your rights if goods are faulty or not as described. You do not have to buy cover to keep those rights: see GOV.UK’s guidance on returns, refunds and guarantees.

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What the local shop does well

  • Someone measures who does it daily — and owns the result.
  • Awkward windows. Bays, out-of-square period openings, unusual shapes: a professional eye on-site beats any online form (bay windows are the classic case).
  • Touch and see at scale. Big sample books, mechanisms to operate, advice shaped by your actual house.
  • A relationship. Snags get fixed by the person who sold to you; reputations are local and precious.

You pay for all of this in the blind price, and selection may be narrower than the national online ranges.

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Who owns the big names

Brands that look like competitors aren’t always separate companies. In its September 2020 decision on a blinds merger, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that Hunter Douglas, the global blinds manufacturer, owned both Blinds2go, a large online made-to-measure retailer, and Hillarys, a large national in-home measure-and-fit brand.

Hunter Douglas had held a minority stake in 247 Home Furnishings, the online retailer behind 247 Blinds, since 2013, and bought the remaining 51% in 2019. In the same case the CMA ordered it to sell that 51%; the sale was completed in July 2021. The CMA’s decision didn’t cover the earlier minority stake, and we haven’t checked who holds it today.

None of this says anything about product quality, and it’s no reason to avoid either brand. It does matter when you compare: a Hillarys home visit against a Blinds2go order is a choice between two routes from one group, not two independent companies competing for your money. For a genuinely independent comparison, include a local independent shop or fitter in your quotes.

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A decision rule that mostly works

  • Standard rectangular windows + confidence with a tape and drill → online can suit. Compare complete costs first; the fitting itself is beginner-level for rollers and most light blinds.
  • Bays, period wonkiness, expensive fabrics, motorisation, or zero appetite for ladders → local shop or measure-and-fit service. The premium is insurance plus labour, fairly priced — the cost guide shows the gap you’re paying.
  • In between → hybrid. Order online, pay a fitter or handyperson to install. You still carry measuring risk, so reserve this for straightforward openings — and vet the fitter with the twelve questions.

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If you go online

Order samples first; measure in millimetres with a metal tape; follow the retailer’s own product-specific instructions over any general advice (ours included); and double-check width-before-drop on every line of the order. The retailers below are established UK made-to-measure specialists we consider reasonable starting points.

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Sources

Consumer-rights guidance checked on 4 November 2026:

Ownership sources checked on 23 October 2026:

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Frequently asked questions

Are online made-to-measure blinds always cheaper?

An online product price can be lower because you do the measuring and arrange the fitting. It isn't necessarily the cheaper installed option: add delivery, fitting and any excluded charges before comparing it with a local supply-and-fit quote. Compare the same number and specification of blinds, and ask who pays if measurements are wrong.

Can I return a made-to-measure blind if I measured wrong?

Generally no — custom-made goods are exempt from the usual online change-of-mind rules. Some retailers offer optional measuring-error cover, sometimes for a fee. Before ordering, check eligibility, the claim deadline, returns, replacement costs and who pays for refitting. This cover is separate from your rights if goods are faulty or not as described; you do not need to buy cover to keep those rights.

Are online blind samples worth ordering?

Always, and they're usually free. Fabric colours on screens are unreliable, and light in your room changes everything. Ordering three or four samples costs nothing but a few days and prevents the most common non-measuring regret: the colour being wrong.

Are Hillarys and Blinds2go the same company?

As of the CMA's 2020 decision they were separate brands with one owner. The Competition and Markets Authority stated in September 2020 that Hunter Douglas owned both Blinds2go (online) and Hillarys (in-home). So if you compare a Hillarys home visit with a Blinds2go order you are comparing two routes from the same group.

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Free tools to use with this guide

  • Fitting cost estimator Bought your blinds already? See a rough, indicative budget for having any number of them fitted, with the working shown.
  • Quote comparison sheet Compare two or three quotes: total cost, deposit, guarantee and written terms. Download a text record of your notes or print the sheet.