I feel like crying into my cereal..

[John G]

For regular sales though where in all honesty can you get a 'custom' printed mug for less than £5.00?

You'll be surprised what people actually charge for a printed mug Roger - Ebay - 1st page of a search for personalised mugs - £3.98 including delivery :rolleyes:

[Renniwano]

Ok.. in all honesty.. once you've taken in the cost of getting in your mug including delivery to you, cost of ink, paper, electricity and wear and tear on your machinary, on a £3 sale what are you actually making ??

[jennywren]

Ok.. in all honesty.. once you've taken in the cost of getting in your mug including delivery to you, cost of ink, paper, electricity and wear and tear on your machinary, on a £3 sale what are you actually making ??

If it cost two pounds to make a mug, there is a actully figure that someone work out on this forum and it less than two pounds, I'm still made £100, me I'm happy with that when I have people waiting for money, this does not include delivery. I always quote the correct price for that, I never move on that price.

[John G]

The figure you quoted Jennywren is OK for a run mugs (think you quoted 100 mugs @ £3.00) but not everyone could do them for that price.


Where talking one offs mugs though!

[jennywren]

I wouldn't consider doing one single mug for 3.00 that's not cost effect for me, but on average I get three a month for runs of a 100, I'm in the shop so I suppose I'm lucky that it can be done in my working day. but I do wish I have a louder bleeper on the mug machine from when I'm in the shop ( the machine is in the work area at the back ) and sometimes I miss the beeps. Mad panic attack. Tried a timer but most times I forget to set the dam thing, and would be welcome suggestion. Apart from run faster.

[pisquee]

There is obviously a difference in cost per mug for a batch, and a single one-off in terms of cost per mug. For a one-off there is a lot more time spent per mug, if you include getting everything (hardware, software, and consumables) ready. On the other hand, for a run, the time-per-mug of getting everything set up diminishes. You then look at it from the point of view of how much profit do you want to make for the job as a whole, considering how long it will take you to do, and how much you value your time.
We tend not to do 'one-offs' as it isn't worth our time, but give prices for batches based on a minimum order quantity, with a maximum amount of designs per batch, with a set price for that batch (no set-up fees, artwork fees, or other surcharges - keeping it simple and easy to understand.)
We work mainly with artists and others working on arts/crafts markets, as we also do markets, we know the prices they can sell at, so we work on the basis of giving them a price where they can make a decent profit, and where we make enough money from the job to be happy doing it. It may not be as high a margin as those of you that do one-offs, but if we can supply artists who sell well, and give them a service and price that they are happy with, then they will be coming back regularly, so with a few of them on our books, it's a good regular income. If they manage to sell at more than our "recommended selling price" then that's great for them - I know some of them definitely can, and I know some of them wouldn't have the confidence to try it. But there is no hard feelings if they make a better profit than we did in producing them - we're just happy to have helped them make their living, whilst we make ours.

[jennywren]

- we're just happy to have helped them make their living, whilst we make ours.

I could not have put that better myself, not so eloquently as you have, I must admit to feeling happy when a customer feels that that got more than they hoped,

[colglyn]

evening all o dear and omg, i think i need to slap myself silly, i sell (and only sell on ebay) so i have a lot of competition, i sell my mugs for £4.00, i know i undersell myself and i've done joblot orders of 100 mugs and charge them just £1.75 and they asked if they could be cheaper, i thought that was a good deal, but obviously not, im way underselling the product, i think i need to go to business school, i know im gonna get shot down for this sorry peeps

[John G]

i know im gonna get shot down for this sorry peeps

Not going to shoot you down - but, can you tell me your breakdown on your £1.75 mug price.

as in the following:
Prices per mug for a run of 100 mugs
Mugs from -------- and bought for £ (include inward delivery costs and vat)
Paper used --------- paper price per mug @ £ (include inward delivery costs and vat)
Ink used --------- ink price per mug @ £ (include inward delivery costs and vat)
Total Cost Per Mug £
profit per mug £ (not including time, electric etc)
Also how long did a run of 100 take.

I'm not being funny, or sarcastic when asking the above - just interested to see how much actual profit there was in this order for you - or how much you thought you'd be making.

Cheers John

PS: forgot to ask but was this for cash, cheque, bacs or a paypal payment

[jennywren]

When I started in business I made many finical mistakes and lost loads of money, under priced, overpriced, ever thing is a learning curve and 16 years later I'm still learning, and although this is a sub dye forum, from it a lot to be learnt is many aspect on how things can be done, in your own time and your own decision you will get more business like, but look to putting your wholesale prices up but only if you are comfortable with doing it.