DSF

One of the products we've sold in the past is a blank wooden placemat (size 190mm x 250mm) with a green baize backing (and cork backing). The cost of the backing has increased dramatically - so much so that I think this blank product is now outpriced, but let me hear your views.

Would you pay in the region of £4 inc vat for a blank placemat with a backing?

nope sorry m8

what would it be without the backing, i think the woodem ones look good without backing, i buy baize on a roll and the price has shot up so much i dont bother any more.

£4 is to much for a placemate if your looking at a set of two place mats thats £8 some of the supermarkets sell them with pics on for not much more so the competition wipes you out.

No, sorry Martin, way too expensive, not much profit to be made at that price

Trouble with that price is that people can buy personalised placemats from Photobox for £15 for 2. That's £7.50 each. By the time we've paid £4 for the placemat, and up to £1 for ink/paper, plus postage in, plus other costs, it's not a price that we can compete with.

Those cork-backed and baize-backed placemats were too expensive before. They're priced out of the market now.

Yes that was my thinking. We have other placemats available without backing, but I just wanted really to confirm my own thoughts. If I can find baize to cut ourselves for the other placemats we have then we might be able to offer that in the future, but I think as you all do, that the suppliers have now outpriced the blank.

Sadly the cost is not just the £4, but also the proportional cost of inbound shipping too.

A few sublimation blanks are bordering on the point of not being viable propositions for finished print, although that is down to the manufacturers, rather than the suppliers. At the point of sale for finished items, there is a cut off point to which most customers won't cross, even for personalised items.

I limit myself to just five items for sublimation, although if Royal Mail keep constantly raising their prices, the mugs might get left out at some stage, as it is already at the point where postage on my international sales costs more than the retail cost of the mug itself.

UK P&P is more than the mug cost itself aswell.

yep i send mugs out with royal mail and it costs me £2.60 odd
thats loads of money and i have noticed ppl are getting put off by the P+P charges of £2.50 :~

It costs £2.24 to send a mug by first class with RM, don't know why you're being charged £2.60 odd