Hello Dan,
I've been tuned in to this thread for a few days and have enjoyed all of the suggestions put forth, agreeing with many of them. I own and operate a small custom lab in the far east part of the GTA, a one person operation. My custom lab experience originated at McRae Custom Colour in Toronto, from 1968 through 1974. Some of you GTAers of my vintage may remember that lab and perhaps we've crossed paths many moons ago. In late 1974 I set up and eventually owned the business from which I am writing this reply. It has seen a couple of location changes, but a fairly steady flow of regular customers over those years and thankfully new ones added along the way. OK, so much for my history Dan. The question(s) you posed were of course the same ones all of us in the photographic printing business have to find answers to at some point. Few of us are immune to the struggles associated with pricing schemes, actual cost factors, and perceived value factors as seen by our customers. The way I have been able to stay with the program is to charge more for smaller size prints in relation to the larger sizes. For instance, if someone were to order wallet sized prints they are paying the same price as for a 5x7, which is a LOT more than what Costso or Walmart charge for their "excellent" work. My customers are well aware of the cost difference, but they are also WELL aware of the quality difference. As a matter of fact, some use Costco for some work and my lab for other "more important" work. I will say that I do not understand that rationale, but I'm glad to get the work, no matter what the situation. To break that down, my prices for any size up to 8x10 are more than any other lab in the area, but I still get orders for those sizes. Originally printing on two 7600s and now a 9900 I can make sense of smaller print sizes when needed, knowing that I am not losing money on them. Barring of course mechanical failures, which we all love to deal with. After I've had some experience with a new customer I will build a discount into their account, depending on volume and regularity of orders, as well as ease of printing. I will admit that I often go the extra yard or two -- processing, fixing and generally doing whatever is necessary to achieve the best print from a file. A procedure I'm sure that is most familiar with those of you who look at every printing job from a personal point of view. That's my image for now and I will treat it as such. I'm sure you've all been there. As far as paper sizes is concerned, I stock all sheet sizes from 8.5x11 up to 17x22 in the papers I use most. I fully realize that advantage of roll paper and gang printing, but I've never been a fan of having to D-Roll every print I make. I also stock all roll sizes 17" to 44" and print for minimum waste on any particular job.
My art reproduction work has been steadily growing over the past 4-5 years and of course offering canvas and fine art papers is all part of that. The one area I am never sure about is the final print pricing on the fine art papers. I do charge an extra percentage, but probably not enough. I think that's mostly a perceived "value added" situation and most of my customers have no problem with the prices. As a matter of fact, I often hear the words we all hate -- "wow, that's a great price". Meaning of course that I have obviously under-priced that item, but will have to wait a while before changing it. Canvas was always an issue as well until I finally decided to treat it as so many do, a commodity. I now charge by the square foot and also discount for regular customers. With the extra labour and time involved(3 finish coats) I feel it's well worth the price. So far the only ones who have complained were the ones I wasn't really interested in dealing with anyway, so it's all good.
Dan, I hope perhaps some of my ramblings have made sense and have been of some use to you. I guess to some extent they follow along with other posts here, but perhaps there's something here that can be of help.
Gary