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Hi goons! I've been hanging out in Dorkroom but this is my first post in CC. If this is the wrong place to ask these questions, lemme know and I'll move my question to the right thread. I'm launching a nature photography business, and I had my first festival booth last weekend. I did pretty well selling cards there so I don't think I'm total trash. I'll be getting an Etsy store together soon for online sales, but I also want to approach local brick and mortar merchants. That's where I want advice. I want to look like I know what I'm doing, but right now I have a lot of questions about what store owners expect when someone comes in off the street. I know I'll need a price list with wholesale and recommended retail prices. I've already got a county biz license and a state tax #. 1) Should I expect to have to negotiate wholesale prices, or will it be just a simple yes/no? 2) Are free sample products expected? If so, just for a few items (like one of each size card, for example) or for every item? 3) Display racks? Not really sure of the economics of this if I need to get them. a) I definitely should expect to provide b) I don't have to provide, but it might help my chances of getting picked up and gives me stronger branding opportunities c) Stores will provide d) Depends on the store 4) Do I need UPC codes/prices printed on the back of my cards, and how the heck do those work? 5) Probably a really dumb question, but do I charge sales tax on wholesale, and if so, that would be from my business address, not the store's address? 6) The places I'm looking at are mostly single store, local businesses (boutiques, garden centers, etc). I'm assuming there won't be fees for shelf space. Is this a reasonable assumption? Any other advice would be welcome! Thanks!
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Jul 26, 2018 18:09
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 08:38 |
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Hopefully this belongs here... Looking for advice on pricing a custom job. I've been lurking in Dorkroom as a hobbies for a number of years but this year started selling nature photography products, mostly greeting cards and one calendar. My one calendar design is entirely scenes from my local park, is priced at $20, and cost me ~$8 to print when I buy 100. (side note, I've already sold 50 in the first month!) A friend just asked me if I could do a custom calendar with some of my best images from Alaska, Yellowstone, etc. She wants somewhere between 5 and 10 copies. Assuming I don't want to work up this design for general sale and use the same print house where I can get a hardcopy proof, go through revisions, order in volume etc, is it more typical to only charge for design time and then sell the calendars at cost, or to charge for design and add a mark-up to the calendars?
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Oct 15, 2018 17:43
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gmc9987 posted:My initial opinion: You're selling the other calendars at a profit because you took the time to design them and take the pictures without being paid for it. If you're being paid to design a custom calendar, that won't be for sale elsewhere, and is a seriously limited-run type deal that will probably cost more per calendar because you're only ordering less than a dozen - I would just include the calendar at cost and charge an hourly rate (or what you estimate the flat-rate equivalent is) for the design time. I'd also include that the client has to pay for one more copy than they want in the end, for you to have one for your portfolio. Thanks for this. I got this same advice from someone off-forum so I think that's what I'm going to do. It will also help me decide if it's really worth it for me to do this project. And yes, I already was planning to require at least one copy for myself. My thought was to get one for myself as a proof to make sure it looks OK before I place the eventual order. But having it for my portfolio makes a lot of sense too. Whoa, now I'm a graphic designer!
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Oct 17, 2018 23:01
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I've been a super small time nature photographer coming up on the 1 year anniversary of my business. Most of what I sell are inkjet greeting cards that I sell mainly in-person at markets and festivals and on Etsy. This past weekend I was set up at a neighbor's house for an open studio event and someone came up saying she was a "broker" and that she worked with a some new-agey boutiques and gift stores to stock cards and such. I don't have all the details yet, but it sounds like she would shop around my cards and then take ~20% of the wholesale if any store places an order, and she would keep up with the re-orders. It's been a goal of mine to get my stuff in some brick-and-mortars (although not necessarily hippy dippy shops), and I'm not terribly excited about doing the legwork myself. So I'm at least considering doing this. What I'm wondering is if there are any pitfalls or advice for a new artist starting a business relationship with an agent like this? Should I negotiate rates, or what kinds of other things should I make sure I'm including in a contract? I think what I'd probably do is narrow it down to my best sellers and get a bunch press-printed. If anyone has a go-to guide for how to make UPC symbols, that might be handy at this juncture.
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Jun 19, 2019 21:18
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Thanks for the link!
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Jun 20, 2019 23:23
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 08:38 |
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InternetJunky posted:I kind of wish I checked the forums more often since you're basically me a few years ago. Thanks! Actually, turns out it's only 15%. I don't know anything about the wholesale shows– definitely something to look into! Did you produce a glossy catalog or some other pro-looking price sheet of your images to give to vendors? I think I'd definitely have to find a commercial printer if I try to scale up that much.
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Jul 2, 2019 02:47
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