Im New?

[edwardsmedia]

Hello, Im fairly new to the printing business.

I have just purchased the Xpres Package, Garments & Promotional Products
With the Heat Press, Mug Press, Vinyl Cutter (Roland) Ricoh Printer, Epson B1100 Etc

I had this 3 days ago. Its a really good package. And im glad i have it.
Keith from Xpres set it all up for me and went though it (Brilliant Guy, can't fault him and the company)

But i have some questions to ask you all.

1. How do we price our items that we sell? If we sell a one off mug for about £5.95 is that good?
2. the Inks for the Ricoh are £240 for 4. How many prints can we get out of these. And how do we know how much its costing us to print something?
3. In the xpres book it says If we sell a mug for £5.95 - it costs us £1.01 to print. Not including a box? Is this including the ink? im not sure it is. so how much does the ink cost around abouts to print one mug?
4. As we know business picks up after sometime. How can we make it pick up and work? Ebay Shop? Website? Flyers? Do you have a shop in town, has that worked? (I currently work from home doing this until i see some big pick ups in my profits and sales then im thinking to get a small shop)

Sorry about the weird questions but im hoping someone can help answer these for me. (If you don't ask you don't know!)

[John G]

it costs us £1.01 to print. Not including a box?

Don't think it would include the mug either at that price.

You have to work out all your own outgoings - your overheads might be half as much as the next guy so your rates could be cheaper. Don't sell too cheap though, you'll be a busy fool and if selling on auction sites don't forget to include all the listing, final value, paypal charges etc. You see these guys on ebay selling cheap and if they're lucky they'll be making 50p a mug but think they are making a few quid as they haven't worked out their costs properly.

[logobear]

Don't be cheap, be GREAT !
1 off muchs made to order should be £10, thou it is ok to sell readymades for half that (just)
The best way to make your business take off is to find a niche. Look at your hobbies, or location, or church, school, social groups and specifically target an area you personally know well.
IMHO

[edwardsmedia]

True, Im sticking to all the Xpres brands. Inks/Paper/Mugs/Presses. to hopefully become GREAT! :)

Thanks everyone, I emailed Xpres. And they said " One A4 Paper will cost around £0.60p to print onto.

£0.50 for whole page printed. A4
£0.10 for piece of paper.

Total £0.60 - So if there were 3 mugs onto that piece of paper the total would be £0.20p a print for a mug.

If you were to buy a mug from xpres. With VAT and Delivery you are talking the following amounts.

£1.26 for the mug (that is the dearest. can get abit cheaper if you buy more mugs)
£0.20 for a print (Depending if you use the paper for 3 mugs)
£0.18 for a Box. Just a guess.

Total - £1.64
Without Running costs (Rent, Electric, Water rates, Wages ect)
The above is what i have worked out myself, going from what a member of staff at xpres told me in an email today the cost of ink.

[John G]

How are you going to sell these. don't forget additional costs such as all the fees involved with either advertising the mugs or taking a payment. If using ebay your fees will probably be around between £1 and £1.50 per mug, then to post one mug its around £2.48.

Your paper doesn't quite work out - if bought by itself it would be around 22p per A4 sheet due to delivery and vat. Bought with an order of other stuff and you'd still have to add the vat so 12p per A4 sheet. Your Ricoh printer will need a second set of carts pretty quick, as the 1st ones go to fill the long tubes up, so factor in an amount for this. Then you have depreciation and repairs of your equipment - that's before you take into account you need to cover your time, electric and then try to make a profit.

Cheers John

Forgot the heat tape and there's bound to be other expenses I haven't thought of.

[edwardsmedia]

More than likely on my website, word of mouth, market stall/shop... all depends.
If business is slow i may choose to try ebay in the future.

ok so maybe i should add an extra £0.10p for paper, and £0.06 for the heat tape.

£1.64
+ 10p + 6p = £1.80

All them are very true John. Some people sell them at penny's! - i don't plan to. But i would like to see how much its going to cost me to make a mug. and know how much profit im making from that mug :)