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Author Topic: Pricing your work  (Read 1901 times)

RobertMcCabe

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Pricing your work
« on: November 22, 2010, 07:27:58 pm »

I was contacted by a local designer about purchasing copies of my images for a hotel redecoration. She wanted prices for multiple copies of several images. She wants medium sized prints, un-mounted and unframed and I assume photo-paper would be good enough. I have never quoted an order anything like this and have no idea what a reasonable price would be. Can anyone give me a guideline?
thanks
Robert
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AndrewKulin

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Re: Pricing your work
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2010, 08:15:46 pm »

I cannot help you on this but I will suggest that the first question you may get from anyone in the know and who may be able to help is for more details.  Answers to questions such as:

What size prints? (medium sized is at least to me, somewhat vague - 11x14, 13x19, 16x20, etc.??
How many copies of each print?  10's versus 100's of the same print may require some form of volume pricing
Any expectations on print quality on the part of the buyer?  (paper, inks, etc?)
Intended use - I assume for pictures hanging in rooms, but could be for elsewhere in the hotel (and maybe that has bearing on pricing too?)

 
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langier

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Re: Pricing your work
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2010, 09:26:26 pm »

Get all the numbers from the designer including sizes, quantity, print surfaces, etc.

Unless the designer is connected with a good printer or lab, it may be best to simply supply her the prints.

I've worked both ways, some requesting a file for x-number of smaller prints, others wanting prints for framing and the latest wanting canvas which will be laminated, dry mounted, framed and delivered for installation to the client.

If you are supplying the prints, you'll need to figure your time in preparing the file, a royalty per print and the cost to produce that print plus mark-up for your handling the job.

If it's just a few prints, cost/print is higher. If it's for a whole bunch, the price/unit goes down because your are dealing in volume.

A similar project to yours that I'm nearly closing started negotiations in May and we're close to signing. Phase one of several will require nearly 300 18x22 to 28x40 prints on canvas. Because of the time this has taken, it has given us the luxury of taking our time to research the materials, techniques and workflow to maximize our efficiency and make a reasonable return on our efforts. We were able to find material that will allow us to do a lot of our own production in-house rather than farm it out, thus cheaper to the client and better quality with better control for us and more $$ in our pockets.

Sit down and get all the info and let it sit then take another look. Approach it holistically and look at all the angles see if you can make it a win-win-win. Pricing is perfect when you hear them sucking air, too low if they grab it quickly and too high if they say "sorry". With that, have a fall-back plan asking what can you afford and working down from there...
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RobertMcCabe

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Re: Pricing your work
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2010, 10:47:32 pm »

Thanks for the quick input. I've asked for more details on paper, size, number already. The fact that it took over 6 months to close the deals is a bit scary, I was hopping for faster close on this.
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bill t.

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Re: Pricing your work
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2010, 10:08:04 pm »

For decorators, there is something to be said for making things as simple as possible.

You might start at $0.20 per square inch, added onto a $30 per print base charge no matter what size the print is.  Which would be about $94 for a 16x20.  Sadly, a lot of decorators will think that's over the top, so tailor your numbers as needed.

Decorators like to have prices as nailed down as possible and easily predictable prices will be attractive to them.

For most hotel jobs it's usually hard for decorators to budget more than $150 for a medium sized framed piece.  If you want to chase the decorator/hotel/institutional market, you need to have a very efficient production system, and you're in deep trouble if you underestimate your materials cost or time.
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Rob C

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Re: Pricing your work
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2010, 03:27:53 pm »

For most hotel jobs it's usually hard for decorators to budget more than $150 for a medium sized framed piece.  If you want to chase the decorator/hotel/institutional market, you need to have a very efficient production system, and you're in deep trouble if you underestimate your materials cost or time.



Then I guess it's a losing game for the supplier. I was quoted 45€ per unit for a set of 24 or 25 frames to take A3+ for a show that fell apart last year. Thank God I had the inner feeling to hang on until the very last moment before committing myself to the spend. I'd have lost over a grand. But, I believe Ikea et al supply cheaper.

Rob C

bill t.

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Re: Pricing your work
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2010, 05:34:22 pm »

Yes that's the problem will high-volume "wholesale" deals.  Trivial mistakes in ordering materials or assembling pieces clone themselves many times over.  And there is the game that Rob won of waiting as long as possible to order materials...which can also backfire when supplies are short.  A classic example is ordering frames that are EXACTLY the dimensions of the matte, instead of a little larger.  Somebody will need to cut down a lot of mattes, paid for out of an already paper thin net profit.  Wholesale jobs are not for newbies.

If you want to do put your work in those kinds of venues, you are much better off dealing directly with the establishment managers and owners, to whom you will pitch very large pieces for the lobby and conference rooms and other public areas which locations can still command a hefty fee.  Think 6 to 12 feet wide pieces, prices in the $2000+ range in honkin' pretentious frames.  But forget supplying the toss that goes into the bedrooms and hallways which can only make you gray and infirm well before your time.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2010, 05:36:38 pm by bill t. »
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