Today I received the notecards I had made of my four orchid pieces. I am very pleased with them. Overnight Prints did them; they are each 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" – nice heavy card stock, with a glossy coating on the front and the back, with plain paper inside. My information (the name of the piece, my name, materials used, and my website) are on the back. I ordered them on Jan. 26, last Tuesday, and they arrived in exactly one week (five business days).
I am going to be packaging these in sets to sell through the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden and on my website. I ordered 30 of each, and the cost was $120.09, including shipping and envelopes. Okay, even I can do this one without a calculator: One buck per card.
Now I need to decide how to price them. Retail establishments usually mark up their goods by 2 or 2-1/2 times wholesale. So if I price them at $1 each, a set of four for $4, stores would sell them for $8 or $10, and I’d make nothing.
If I price them at $2 each, a set of four for $8, stores would sell them for $16 or $20, and I’d make $4. Would you buy a pack of four notecards for $20? I wouldn’t.
So... I am thinking about this in a different way. These cards will go out into the world with my name on them. Maybe someone will see one and think, “I absolutely MUST have that artist’s work!” and they’ll call me and I’ll get a sale or a commission. In that case, it is worth the time I spent to have these printed and get them into shops, even if I make practically nothing on the cards themselves.
Okay, my head hurts. This business stuff is not my strong suit.
NOTE (added later in the day I posted this): The notecards are now available through my website, here: http://www.bluemoonriver.com/OrchidCards.html. I priced them at $12 for a set of four, plus $1 shipping (U.S. and Canada) and $2 (international).
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