Some of it is brand name and the amount of advertising the brand does. Check the specs on any tile you consider. Is it porcelain or ceramic? Rectified or not rectified? Make sure you select the correct product for the use. Don't put wall tile on the floor for example. Then if that $15 is an installed price, there could be lots of prep work involved. The larger the format, the more difficult to install.

My tile guy recommended avoiding tile made in china. He didn't tell me why. I found some lovely white subway tile made in the USA. We just put up a subway tile that was $40/sq ft but I got it less than half price. My tile guy said he installed a $300/sq ft tile that was from Italy and handpainted. Yikes!

Are you talking about a square foot price with tile installed? Or an allowance for the tile itself? And no, a 12 x12 porcelain tile is not the same at any price point as there are differences in the products themselves, and those differences are endless including densities, rectified/not rectified, bowed, cupping, number of pattern repeats, finishes ....could go on all night with that.

tile will vary. ann Sacks is going to charge you more than Home Depot because that company is high end.

how and where the tile is manufactured, along w/who sells it, will determine the pricing.

No, not all porcelain tile is the same. fine Italian porcelain tile will be much better than some generic porcelain tile made in china.

BTW, Home Depot and Wayfair sell the exact same tile that Tilebar has under the name of Ivy Hill. I don't think the prices diff that much though.

hand made tile like Fireclay, Encore ceramics, will of course command a higher price.

IMO a lot depends on where they are going. If the tile is abacsplash usually the deciding factor is the look you want. Floor tile is a whole other thing and I do either porcelain or stone where the color goes all the way through. Yes you pay for designer anything that is life. I do not like ceramic for mot uses it chips easily and is not colored all the way through.

It's just like clothes. Designer, bargain bin, well made, poorly made, handmade, etc.

Thanks all. So this is where I get stuck. I'm talking about rectified, ceramic, made in Europe tile that's $6 a sq ft. So again, why would someone like Dana(above) feel like $20 a sq ft is a bargain? And kayozzy I get it, and like designer clothing and fine jewelry but I mix it with H&M natural material(cotton,linen) pieces. I got a $20 men's cardigan there that literally looks just like a $300 Vince one. Some items justify the price; Some don't. Clothing I have a decent eye, LVP vs. hardwoods I can tell the difference easily, it's the tile that I'm confused about. Again,just trying to learn, and don't want to make a mistake. The $15 was tile only, not installation.

Dara, I'll give you an example. I ordered a bunch of marble tile for my bathroom. some were the mosaics, others were 4x16 pieces. I found them from an importer directly in China. You make your order, they load it on a ship, and you have to go to the port (or pay a broker to go to the port) and pick it up. I saved about 1500 or so. maybe more because I ordered other mosaics I didn't even need. They were $5 for sheet (square foot) and the solid black marble baseboards (12" x 5" ) were $5. online here in the states, they were $20, and $25 for the marble mosaics. They were identical. I basically cut out the middleman and dealt directly w/the supplier just like the tile stores do.

As for you european tile, I don't know. maybe they make their own tile in-house and sell directly. The other places all have to buy the tile and sell to people. they have diff mark-ups.

same w/your H/M clothing. it's all made very cheaply over-seas. if you compare how it's made w/something from Chanel, you will see a diff. A Chanel jacket will last for a 100 years. H/M jacket, prob not with regular use.

now I'm not saying the cheaper tile is like clothing. if you think it looks the same, then use the cheaper one. there isn't a whole lot of difference in clays and glazes.

If you can't tell the difference, go with the cheapest!

To 99% of the world, I suppose JC Penney looks about the same as Escada.