Print Job Pricing for a friend?

[soulclaimed]

Hi I have asked to price up a print job for a friend who has his own business.

He wants 18 tshirts, and 9 hoodies, all with the business name on the left breast and the business name with website and phone number.

I have checked out the cost and at cost im looking at around £180 cost not allowing for errors, im thinking of charging around £280 total for the job including costs, is that excessive, or is it too cheap?

so far i have only done smaller jobs sort of 7 or 8 t shirts or one tshirt one hoodie etc.

Advice please.

[smo]

My advice, don't under-sell your services, but dont over price either!!

Cover your costs and make a fair profit - fair is subjective, personally if they were a good friend i'd make less than £100 profit, probably going for £50-60 tops.

[soulclaimed]

see as advice that makes sense but doesnt really answer my question lol its hard to know if its excessive or too cheap when your new to this stuff i was thinking of going as low as £240 and allowing for some errors as he has aksed for red shirts and at present all i have is white.

Would £240 sound reasonable?

[socialgiraffe]

It is not something that can be answered here really.

One member may charge £240 for that, another 180, and another £300 etc etc. Everyone has different prices and everyone has them set at their rate for a reason. Some like to stack high and sell cheap, others prefer to wait until the juicy job comes along. Only you can decide if it is the right price and if you think it is a fair price for your customer (friend or otherwise).

If it were me and I was new to the business I would sell to him at the cheapest price possible. The main reason for this is because he is a friend so if I cock up he will be a lot more understanding than someone else. It will give me a chance to effectively practice while still getting paid something. Once I have finished the job I would look at the time it took, look to see where I went wrong or what could be done better and adjust my prices accordingly. Also, if I did a great job then he will recommend you which is the best form of advertising, just make sure you tell him he got a mates rate price.

[soulclaimed]

problem is if i keep charging too low its gonna look bad when i increase prices, i may drop to 230, ive charged someone else 25 quid for for a hoodie and a tshirt and they were really happy with the job im hoping that £230 will be cheap enough otherwise with the amound of work it will not be worth doing.

[socialgiraffe]

Hence why I said to tell your mate that you have given him a really good mates rate price. Tell him not to tell anyone the price and just pass on his details.

if you are happy to earn 50 out of it then charge 230, if you want to earn more out of it then charge more. Only you can decide that.

[soulclaimed]

i see where your coming from the problem is i want to seem competitive without undercharging i have made the mistake of underpricing things on one of the first jobs i did, dont want to make the mistake of over pricing now.. thanks for your input though i should just give the quote and see what he thinks

[socialgiraffe]

Whether you are new to the business or have been at it for years there will always be jobs that you have underpriced and others that you have gone the other way. Just over the weekend I took on a job that was paying cash and when I looked at it I thought it would take me about 3 hours possibly four. So I gave the guy a really nice price thinking that will sort the beer money for the weekend. It took two days and a lot of swearing to complete. Did I learn anything, not really as there will be others that go this way in the future and you just have to accept it.

[pisquee]

Although a mate, technically it it is his business who you are doing the job for, and not him personally.
If it's something he needs for his business, then he's going to have to pay for it - either pay you or someone else.
If he's a businessman then he will understand the value of your time in doing the job, your expertise, your set up costs, overheads etc
If he's your friend, then he is choosing to (and happy to) support you in your business (and life) by giving you the job instead of someone else
Give him a discount, but not too much to devalue what you do, or to undermine him trying to help/support you in your business.

[soulclaimed]

he said 230 is a good price so i prob could have got away with more, hes just trying to work out if he can justify it out of his work profit...