Getting into Printing Fine Art for others

[RandomJoe]

I am seriously considering getting into Printing Fine art photography from my home. for other photographers in my area and online.
I have a lot of experience in the wide format signage industry and I am a passionate amateur photographer.
also have a lot of experience with Xrite i1 Publish pro.

Services would include printing on fine art paper, Canvas , Matte Fine Art, Gloss etc

Prints larger then 11x17
I am thinking of initially partnering with a local framing business for finishing.

I am still doing my research and working on a business plan.

Ive noticed that several of the large labs in my area charge very high prices. much higher than I was expecting and I have worked out the ink and paper consumption and drafted an initial price list and it seems that even at 50% i would made decent margin.

I would appreciate any thoughts of experience you had regarding similar services and if you think there is a reasonable market for these services.

[Scott Martin]

Do you want to be a technician or an image maker?

[RandomJoe]

Both ideally but I think I personally can make a better income as a technician.

[neile]

I'm sure tons of other people will chime in here, but... you need to go back and re-think your cost calculations, and ensure you are factoring everything invovled in running a business. Paper and ink are a tiny, tiny, fraction of the actual cost of producing high-quality fine art reproductions for people.

If you're able to be 50% less than your competition my guess is you'll look at your books at the end of the year and find you have no money in the bank at all.

Neil

[Colorado David]

These kinds of revelations always remind me of a funny story.  A friend of mine who is a Brooks educated commercial photographer was shooting for an advertising agency once.  The art director on the shoot was a free lancer who was retained by the agency for the project.  He told my friend "Jack, if you'd just cut your rates in half, you could work twice as much."  He said it with a straight face and obviously hadn't done the math for himself.

Jack and I were driving to a place for lunch one time and saw a guy with a diving mask getting coins out of a fountain downtown.  Without missing a beat, Jack says "Look, there's a retired photographer."

[Peterretep]

I'd be very curious to see what kind of pricing you are considering or the labs pricing you're going to compete with.

Peter

[Chris_Brown]

Use this biz calculator to figure your daily income requirements. Just substitute "Day of Shooting" with "Day of Printing".

Customer service will be your biggest expense. When a customer says "I don't like the colors" it will be your responsibility to manage the situation and retain a profit from the job. And those "tough customers" are usually the ones who have used Wal-Mart for years and now, because they're using a professional service, expect unrealistic results.

You may find this information interesting, too.

[Jeff Magidson]

Customer service will be your biggest expense.

I could not agree more! I have been doing this kind of work for 15 years and I make good money for the hours I'm shooting and printing, but the hours and hours that you don't get paid for (educating clients, answering questions, putting price quotes together, answering emails, ordering supplies, debugging software, learning new techniques, doing self promotion / advertising, studio maintenance, bookkeeping / taxes, etc.. etc), is by far my biggest "expense".
~ Jeff

[bill t.]

Find out who is the go-to guy for printing in your area.  Charge what he charges, but offer better service, better accessibility, better everything.

Always go the extra mile and a half.  Make sure all the hot-dog customers in your area know you by your first name and do not hesitate to call you on Sunday evening because you are the best damned printer for miles around and they believe you are proud of it and they know you will never let them down.  That really does work, honest!  The best and most successful and most memorable people I have dealt with have all been like that.

If that doesn't pan out, then undercut.  That's how real life works.  Don't bother with responsible business logic which can only lead you to a life in an occupation unrelated to photography.  Keep raising your prices but only until your checks stop bouncing and you can afford to buy food, that's Business 101 for photo professionals.

Or find a poorly served niche market in your area, and serve it very well.  But be careful...that will probably wind up being PITA artists looking for the elusive perfect copy or their work.  The rest is legend.

[neile]

Or find a poorly served niche market in your area, and serve it very well.  But be careful...that will probably wind up being PITA artists looking for the elusive perfect copy or their work.  The rest is legend.

Wiser words were never typed in this forum

Neil

[MHMG]

You may find this information interesting, too.

Thanks for that link. I wasn't aware of it.  Given that Hahnemuhle currently offers its customers a remarkably incomplete set of facts about the longevity of its own products (i.e., "100% cotton" and "acid-free" claims tell us nothing at all about potential coating chemistry interactions with the major OEM ink sets in the market today), this marketing initiative to certify "preferred providers" seems a little disingenuous from my perspective. Patterned after Epson's "Digigraphie" initiative, I guess.

Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com

[chaddro]

Hey Joe,

One thing to keep in mind (one that i forgot myself) ... if you price yourself too low, you will have little to no room when the client asks if you can get a discount for larger quantities! Also, it's easier to lower a price than raise your price once people get used to the lower one.

-chadd