W2P order charges

[Newtothezoo]

I am new to this area of the business. Can someone help me in determining ways to price Printable or like jobs that are ordered over the web, but pulled from inventory and shipped. I want to narrow it down to about 3 choices for a salesperson to offer. Right now we have several flavors and it is a nightmare and a manual process to keep it straight.
I would really appreciate any help you would be willing to provide.
Thank you.

[michaelejahn]

I do not think the forum can legally allow discussions on pricing - this is restricted by the FTC.

Why not simply go to a few places like VistaPrint and go through the order process and see what they charge ?

[adam]

Generally discussion of pricing could be construed as conspiring to price fix. You can get an idea of peer pricing data from some of the studies the associations (NAPL, PIA/GATF) have done.

The Printing Industry Center at RIT has done a couple of studies on distribution and fulfillment that might help:


Industry Trends in Fulfillment, Finishing and Distribution : http://print.rit.edu/research/?page=item&id=57

Utilization of E-Commerce by Commercial Printing Companies: http://print.rit.edu/research/?page=item&id=94

Print Media Distribution: Process, Profitability, and Challenges: http://print.rit.edu/research/?page=item&id=105

A new book on the subject has also just been released by the Center: Print Media Distribution:
A Look at Infrastructure, Systems, and Trends: http://print.rit.edu/cummings/

[jlazerus]

Printable themselves will give you guidance. Why can't you determine pricing like anything else you sell? Determine the cost to build and maintain the W2P site, cost of G & A, etc. Add your profit, base the price on all of that. It's like anything else you print. It is difficult to determine a fixed price or a tiered price because every situation is different. You give very few details about the product your selling, how much it costs to make, etc. Pricing W2P is no different than any other value added sevice.

Another excellent source is [PODi|http://www.podi.org/] .

[Jeff Lazerus|http://www.jefflazerus.com/]
Denver, CO

[amazingprint.com]

If you are pulling from the inventory, you are already not utilizing Printable to its full capability of helping your digital workflow and produce one of items.
Pick and pack items, from what I understand in your question should be priced EXACTLY the same as if you didn't have your W2P solution, as all you have done is solved a few internal headaches.

Commissions, however for your salespeople, should be HIGHER on jobs that your are putting through W2P solution, and lower for the jobs that require paperwork, as if you can train the salespeople only to bring in automation related jobs, you will eventually get rid of your manual processes and save a lot of money. Salespeople will gravitate to where the dollars are.

Good luck!