Shipping small print orders driving me crazy.

[dgberg]

How are some of you smaller print shops handling your shipping? In the past 95% of all of our work has been picked up by our customer base which is fairly local.
As of late we are getting more and more online sales but it has been nothing more that a big pain in the you know what.
I had to order about $500 worth of different size tubes and boxes and I still never seem to have the right sizes.
I just timed packaging a small print order, 2 prints for $41.00. Took me 31 minutes from start to finish. (Twice as long as it took to print.)
Used a $4.00 box, packing tape a protective corners. Because UPS now charges $15 to pickup an order I drive it to the post office 10 miles away which is another :30.
1 full hour of no compensation plus about $5.00 for packaging materials plus 20 miles on my truck. Even in this situation if I had a $50 minimum it would not help much.
Making a $75 minimum order would kill off all of the small print orders. Not something I really want to do.
Heaven forbid most of the competition is giving free shipping, something I refuse to do.
What I may try is setting a $50 minimum order with wholesale discounts starting at $51.00. Most of these orders are photographers and artisans selling their work.
Customers are paying the shipping but I may have to tag on a handling fee.
Suggestions.

[Richard.Wills]

Small retail shipping sucks at times.

The successful larger (cheaper) players tend to be located close to the shipping firms locations, so have zero collection fees, and likely preferential rates. You can't compete on price.

Wholesale doesn't start at $51.00; wholesale is what your larger commercial customers pay.

I think you need to compete in your niche - quality, premium work - the thing that sets you apart. Having a minimum order of $51.00, and an extended shipping time could be made a feature, not a bug of your service. We ship within seven working days, allows you to gang up the shipping orders, and have UPS collect. If the customer "needs" it in a couple of days, have cost related premium shipping.

Is there something that you can do to uplift the $51.00 customers to £75.00, that wouldn't kill off the small orders? Looking at the combination of print sizes (multiple A3 works great on 24" rolls, but might be a hard sell in freedom units), to media, and making a sharp price break for the uneconomical sizes for media, packaging or shipping?

We recently had a print sale, and made the mistake of offering global shipping. We went for 10x12" in tubes for single prints that fitted into small parcel global, with multiple prints flat packed between pairs of corricor (ordered from our framing materials supplier, cut down ont the SteelTrak) in polyprop bags.

The prep for tariffs, etc was truly awful, though ultimately profitable, though what is left of my hair is now more white/grey than before.

Keep going, refine, and remember that people buying quality, even artisans and photographers, often have disposable income that allows them to purchase premium products, like yours.

Cherchez Le Creneau.

[dgberg]

Thank you Richard
All of these customers getting the small print orders are reselling them. The reason I give them a discount off of retail.
Many good points.

[PeterAit]

I sell unmounted prints only. I have 3 sizes of tubes on hand and some "rice" paper to put between prints. My argument to customers is that they can have it framed just the way they want, for less than I would have to charge.

[dgberg]

The big problem is the time that it takes to print several 11x17's, package and ship for all of $40.00.
In that several hours of time I can print a half dozen 30x40 canvases for $120@ and make $720.00.
The answer just may be to not ship those small print orders or set the minimum high enough to just shut them off.

[Kyle Jackson]

Not in the game so just armchairing but these caught my eye:

"Making a $75 minimum order would kill off all of the small print orders. Not something I really want to do."

"Most of these orders are photographers and artisans selling their work."


Why not kill them off? If it's not profitable it's not worth it. You're not obligated to serve everyone, and certainly not for free.

These B2B clients can pass printing costs onto their own clients. If that's too much for their clients, it suggests their art isn't worth it (as a premium custom-printed product) and you may be feeding a losing enterprise.

$41 etc sounds like not worth getting out of bed. That feels like the price point for volume/print-on-demand market, not custom printing quality. If they're doing that kind of volume and/or mass-print quality then you'll never see them. Someone wanting custom print quality *and* mass-market pricing sounds out of touch.

Finally, why are they requesting print services online? Nobody local to them? So they have a need, and that has a price... But if you're offering "in-town" pricing to somebody online you're just competing with whatever local options they might already have and you can't compete with that.

[dgberg]

In our local 100 mile radius in the northeast I print for 4 large photo clubs as well as several dozen photographers and artisans.
Quite a few are referenced from our more local club members. More are wanting there prints sent rather then picked up. None of these clients are using print on demand. However I have lost 3 very good customers to POD. It is a slippery slope once you start setting minimums and or turning away small print orders. Most of the other print orders are coming from my presence on 4 photography/printing forums. Many buying small orders. Been doing this almost 20 years now and our quality is second to none. Just trying to fine tune to become a little more profitable without driving more artisans and photographers to POD.

[mcbroomf]

How about a modest fixed increase to all orders (eg add $10/print).  This way you not only get more for your small prints but your larger prints help subsidize them.  You can (truthfully) describe it as a fixed adder for shipping costs.

[dgberg]

Hi Mike,
Hope all is well at your end.

Good suggestion. If only I could get this handful of customers to order larger prints. Most are 11x14 to 12x18, quantities of 1 or 2.

[Kyle Jackson]

More are wanting there prints sent rather then picked up.
...
Been doing this almost 20 years now and our quality is second to none. Just trying to fine tune to become a little more profitable without driving more artisans and photographers to POD.

Tbh that sounds like a them-problem not a you-problem. If they want that extra delivery service there's a cost, and a significant one as you know.

We could go on forever about the changes in print/imaging market over the past 20+ yrs... But you charging appropriately for your costs is not driving ppl to PoD, they're going there themselves. Your custom service vs mass-market PoD is apples and oranges, preaching to the choir I know. If some go they're really not your true market.

[eronald]

I know nothing about this business, but my thought would be that if the customers live nearby you should somehow motivate them to come in. Work with them, hold a weekly event, give them a freebie, etc. And set a minimum order surcharge for those who want shipping. And for the photoclubs, I would figure out a way to make them bundle their order into one big order. Again you need to find a bribe that works - eg doing a set of final exhibition shortlisted  prints for free.

Edmund

[dgberg]

More than 90% pick up their prints. Not so much an issue with that group.
It is the growing number of smaller quantity online orders requiring shipping that is problematic.
Also when growing a business that is very competitive it makes it hard to set to many restrictions without driving them away.
Bribe that works, I like that. What hasn't worked is gift certificates.
I have given away $800 in gift certificates the past couple of years and 1-$50 was redeemed.
Have several ideas to try, will see how it goes.