Digital BW, The Print

Hey, Lea...

Great to hear from you.  I knew you'd be a font of wisdom.

Curious about something, given our different approaches.  I can 
understand why you would inkjet print new images that are un-proven 
in the marketplace, and images that don't move very fast.  Do you, 
however, have a number of images that are best sellers?  Or doesn't 
the old maxim hold for you, ie that a majority of sales comes from a 
small portion of your catalog?

If you sell relatively even quantities across your range, I see how 
inkjet printing on demand would lower your inventory and cashflow 
issues.  But if you sell some images consistently in large 
quantities, while the rest of your catalog moves more slowly, 
wouldn't you gain a lot of margin on your highest volume products by 
doing moderately large press runs of the popular sellers?  ...using, 
of course, same stock and quality controlling with your original 
inkjet print as the match-to proof?  I guess, if you're using CIS, 
your ink costs approach zero per card, so maybe my margin 
calculations are off. 

The difference in our approach is easy to understand given the number 
of images you're managing.  I was never making the bulk of my income 
this way, so I only ever stocked 20-30 images.  For that small number 
of products, the up-front printing costs were low and inventory was 
uncomplicated.  You've got a much, much more sophisticated business.  
And much more successful!  Good on you.

--h



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "lea" <lea@w...> 
wrote:
> I made it!
> 
> The original post got past me somehow but I would be happy to share 
a
> bit of what I've learned in my 7+ years of running my own greeting 
card
> company full-time (my only source of income I'm proud to say).
> 
> Let me preface by saying that every card I've printed in all the 
years
> I've been doing this have been printed on an Epson 
printer...starting
> with the Epson Stylus, then the Epson 800, 850 and currently I'm on 
my
> 4th Epson 900. For me, buying new printers and ink was much cheaper 
than
> having the cards printed by a shop. For a couple of reasons...my 
full
> card line has over 300 images in it and there is no way I could 
afford
> to have enough quantity of that many images printed in bulk. The 
other
> reason I continue to self-print is so I can add an image to the line
> just as quick as a wink; I can take a shot today and have it up on 
the
> website or in the catalog for sale by tomorrow.
> 
>