DSF

Come on folks you are professionals doing a professional job. Charge a professional rate with a quality image and people will pay for it. Be professional, think professional, charge the right money. A mechanic is going to cost you £30 to £150 per hour, I have just used a solicitor @ £250 per hour plus VAT...why...because he was the best in his field. Can you produce the image, print the slates, do the paperwork and cover your delivery cost and earn a professional income....not on some of the figures I see waved about on this forum.
I charge more trade for slates than you are talking retail.

Arthur "To put it into perspective - one retailer was selling printed mugs in a gift box - not a cheap clear plastic box but a squat, cylindrical cardboard drum with a lid, printed to look like a gift box - just put a ribbon around it and its ready to go. The mugs were bone china and were well produced - nice designs etc. They were selling these from six to eight quid a pop! That means they were buying from under two quid with the box! I don't see any point in trying to compete with that!" Why would you compete...they are mass produced.

Does the shop want to make £6 off a mug or £15 off a slate? They will want £15! Or what about a bespoke design mug only available in their gift shop... £7 from you £8.00 profit for them...you have just raised their profit from £6.00 to £8.00..... a 33% increase. Would you like your profit to go up by 33%?

Be professional, think professional, charge like a professional.....if the solicitor was £15 per hour would I have any faith in him...errr no.

I'll get off my soapbox but sometimes I just want to bang members heads together..

I'll never change any of you, I accept that, but if I can make you pause for a second (even just to call me a w~~~~r!) then perhaps I have done something useful.

Janners.
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Untwist nickers, extract head from my arse, and breathe.....

GoonerGary;82092 wrote:I haven't seen one printed yet, but I was thinking that a photo slate would retail for £25-£30 in one of those upmarket gift shops.

I would want £10 for my efforts, also have to consider a retail box which aren't cheap and then the retailer wants to at least double that mark up.

A great deal depends on the 'outlet'. A photo slate in a seaside town gift shop would probably sell, with stand for £10-£20 depending on size. If it was a 'personalised' one on sale in Harrods on a posh stand it would probably be £250. IMO pricing depends on two things:
1. Who are you selling to?
2. What profit margin can you expect relative to who you are selling to?

Taking the answer to those two points into consideration the question is what is your absolute minimum price? If you can meet or better still exceed your minimum then it's a winner. If not..............why bother?

I'm with you there JMugs, a solicitor has just cleaned out half of my Christmas earnings, and the mechanic the rest of it. Thought I would take January off to develop new products and work out a plan for the year, but I need to re-open asap!

I've decided photo slates will have an of RRP £35, undercut me at your peril.

Photo slate about £4-£6 about £1.50-£2.50 to print, my honest opinion a photograph studio might just get £35, RRP I think if you get this then great but you might struggle,
good luck,
Dave

It's not for a photo studio though, but aiming at the gift shop/ hobbyist market.