How much should I charge for prints off my Epson r2880?

Hi,

I'm an amateur enthusiast photographer and recently did a photoshoot for my daughters' high school play. Since then, I have been getting requests for prints from some of the parents.

I want to charge them a fair price so I'm compensated for my expenses and perhaps make a small profit.

I'm providing the prints on 8.5 x 11 and 13 x 19, using Epson's Premium Photo Luster Paper.

Can anyone help?

(I'm in the U.S.)

Thank you!

Hi Puggle, that's a tough call..... since I probably would not approach it in that manner, but I can appreciate your enthusiasm for the project and wanting to do something nice for the students.

I have the old R1800 and use it heavily for my fine art printing. I typically matt, frame and display these but the pricing structure is much higher than "school prints." I also use the same premium luster paper as well as the velvet fine art. The latter is about $2.62/sheet from Atlex and I don't recall the price of the former. Problem is the cost of the ink which is really obnoxious.

Now, if you're just doing a couple of these that would be fine. But start doing any kind of volume and the ink cost will kill you - you'll need to pass that on. Have you considered a pro/commercial lab instead to offer these prints? -Stu

Stu,

Thanks for your advise! I recommended they use MPIX, but last time we were unhappy with the quality and turnaround speed. MPIX's customer service was not very good either. I expected them to offer reprints for the bad ones, but they didn't.

You're right, the ink costs are insane. Normally, I use this printer for my own fine art prints and for printing my photos that I frame and give to family and friends as gifts.

I think I'm going to charge $6 each for the 8.5 x 11's and $12 each for the 13 x 19's.

I'm only printing 15 or so prints, so it's not too bad. These will be used in the lobby of the school, and placed inside a display case.

I don't want to give them away for free because they do have some budget money for this, and my time, ink and paper costs are certainly worth it.

They love my work, and are happy to pay, I just want to be fair. I'm pricing them higher than MPIX's, but I don't think they will care. They trust me and my prints turn out much better than MPIX. (Sorry MPIX folks!).

Thanks you for responding, and for your advise!

I think that if future requests for more prints gets too heavy, I'll wave the white flag and send them to Lab.

Puggle
(Ivan)

I know the position you're in Ivan - been there done that.... you want to be kind to friends and co-parents. .

That $6 8x10 is extremely extremely generous. It's not so much the materials, but you are in fact putting in PP time, effort and skill to give them superior images. You may want to consider bumping the price a bit - you know the demo-economics of parents better than I do. The same goes for the 13x19 which is an extremely good deal at the price.

Yes, I would certainly look at/consider lab pricing for comparison sake, but basically you are doing CUSTOM printing and photofinishing to produce YOUR product. It deserves more, which will also make them VALUE YOU MORE, appreciate your hard work MORE. And if they comment on the pricing, nicely explain them all the effort that goes into each. Good luck Stu

I think 8x10s cost $6 to print on my Epson, but I've never been able to pin it down precisely. Between the high cost and the annoyance of cutting, I only do it in emergencies, and I definitely don't discount. If anything, I should charge more.

Puggle,
Those costs are way too low. Have you figured in your business expenses?

puggle wrote in post #10348205
Stu,

You're right, the ink costs are insane. Normally, I use this printer for my own fine art prints and for printing my photos that I frame and give to family and friends as gifts.

I think I'm going to charge $60 each for the 8.5 x 11's and $129 each for the 13 x 19's.

Puggle
(Ivan)

Fixed it for ya, enjoy.

geesh...

when i get requests...i just give out the cd's with the files on em... their kids are friends with my kids and are in same school...

maybe that's why i can't save up for my new lens fast enough?

probably.

kinghong1970 wrote in post #10349611
geesh...

when i get requests...i just give out the cd's with the files on em... their kids are friends with my kids and are in same school...

maybe that's why i can't save up for my new lens fast enough?

Karl Johnston wrote in post #10349989
probably.

Almost guaranteed.

You can even leave off the almost.

cdifoto wrote in post #10354595
You can even leave off the almost.

True.

wyofizz wrote in post #10349385
Puggle,
Those costs are way too low. Have you figured in your business expenses?

It's his hobby. Don't know if he has any business expenses other than covering his material costs and whatever he wants to charge for his time. I don't think he is trying to make a profit on this...just wants to be sure he is not out of his pocket for expenses.

For 8x11 I would figure $1 for the paper and maybe $2 for the ink so your material cost would be about $3. You figure out what your time is worth and double those costs to get to your price. Use the same formula for the 13x19 prints.