Any information would be a huge help!! thanks!!

[leanne]

Hi could anyone just give me some general advise please!! I have my own equestrian photography business & would like to expand the products that my customers could buy with pictures of their horses on from mugs, t-shirts, bags, phone cases etc etc...

I will hold my hands up now & say I really do not know much about sublimation printing so I'm sorry if I sound really stupid with my questions

I'm just working out what I would need etc & I spoke to BMS yesterday who were very helpful & suggested a gxe3300 in a package deal to give me what I need,
The initial out lay is going to eat up a good part of my photography business this compeating season,(not helped by spending a small fortune on a new camera body!!) so my thoughts then turn to other avenues that sublimation printing can offer, this is where I could do with some advise, where can I purchase images to place on mugs, t-shirts etc that are not horse related so I can maximise any potential income? do you all sell through your own websites, I noticed ebay sellers etc how on earth do some of these people sell items so cheap??!!

This is going to sound really stupid but my Husband can't see how people compeate against companies such as moonpig or such like for mug printing, do you generally find business steady, I guess what his really worried about is the business spending all the layout costs & getting very little in return!!

As I say I'm very new to all this so sorry if I sound slightly mad!!
thanks
leanne

[mrs maggot]

leanne, make youself a cup of tea sit down and read the forum, you will see answers to most of your questions, and it will all help you in your business quest enjoy

[leanne]

Might have to make that a sit down with a glass of wine later!!! (I've got two young kids & seven horses to sort out now...shame a sit down & a cuppa tea right now would be great!!) will spend the evening reading thanks!

[hidehi]

Hi Leanne
You're not alone as I'm in a similar situation and keep thinking whether the initial financial layout in equipment will be worth it. Although I would love to go ahead and buy a press etc, there's this little voice that keeps reminding me about the big companies...

[leanne]

Hi
Glad its not just us thinking should we shouldn't we!!!

[bms]

Hi
Glad its not just us thinking should we shouldn't we!!!

I think you need to consider you potential market. There are hundreds of people making and selling mugs for example - on Ebay for peanuts and then there are people at shows selling mugs for £10+. I know of customers at Crufts, Steam Rallies, etc all of whom would not dream of selling their mugs for £2.99 but at a more realistic figure. Yes there are companies that will print mugs for very low margins, but they sell lots. Equally there is the niche market for which you can charge a more realistic figure and offer good value.

If you don't think you're going to sell much then don't waste your money, but if you have avenues to open with good images onto good products then these will sell with reasonable margins.

[mrs maggot]

martin has hit the nail on the head, you are already photographing horses, for a captive audience, so what you will be doing is capitalising on that market - we sell our mugs for a minimum of £6 mostly £8/£10 i have however a trade customer i have just made a deal with at far far less, but .... and there is always a but, its for 100 mugs a month in exchange for stock that we would be buying anyway.

[leanne]

Hi
Thanks Martin & Laura for your reply, I know I've def already got the captive audience & I've also got set weekend events from april - october without even looking for work so from that point of view it would make sense to expand my business, on paper it looks great its just taking that gamble!!! thanks for taking the time to reply its much appreciated

[pisquee]

The important thing as being mentioned, is finding your niche. The thing that differentiates you from the likes of those selling custom mugs on Ebay for a couple of quid. You are not selling mugs - you are selling your artwork, your photography, the mug is just your canvas. People don't buy your product because its a mug, they buy it because of the image on it.

Another thing you could explore, which would be less risk, but also less margin (but still a margin) is to find a sublimation supplier/printer who will print your artwork onto mugs and other products for you. You could do this as a way of testing the market to start with, or long term, as there is less work/hassle involved.

We have clients who we've printed for just to get them going before they made a decision to get their own kit to produce themselves, and have other clients who just prefer to send us the artwork, and we then send them a box of mugs all nicely printed and ready for them to sell. Both business models are viable for you either on a temp basis or long term. So, basically, you don't have to plunge a load of cash into setting up this part of your business straight away.

[JSR]

This is going to sound really stupid but my Husband can't see how people compeate against companies such as moonpig or such like for mug printing, do you generally find business steady, I guess what his really worried about is the business spending all the layout costs & getting very little in return!!

It all comes down to what you want to do. You can attempt to compete with the mass marketers like Moonpig, or you can decide to offer a better service.

A friend recently had a personalised card printed by Moonpig which had a spelling mistake - "supprise" instead of "surprise". If someone asked me to print an item for them and I saw a misspelling, I'd quickly get in contact with the customer and ask for clarification before going ahead. The mass marketers don't do that. They just shut their eyes and print regardless. I've had items printed by POD in the past in which the text was completely unreadable. When I asked if anyone looked at what they were producing, they said that they don't - it's just an automated system that no one looks at. They just blindly print whatever it is the customer sends them, they don't bother to look to see if the end product is anything like the product originally requested. If it comes out wrong, it's the fault of the customer.

For me, the term "personalised" doesn't just mean a "personalised product" - it means a "personalised service". My number one goal is that the customer goes away happy. My goal isn't to produce millions of items with a "couldn't care less" attitude. If you want to compete with the "couldn't care less" businesses, then that's your choice. My choice is to produce the best product I can, and I would never have sent out that card that came from Moonpig.