Newbie Pricing Help

[streetsnake]

I’m just branching off into digital printing. It’ll never be a big part of our business but it is nice to be able to offer some additional products to our accounts. We’ve been asked to print 5000 cards to be included with our main products. It is a very basic 65# uncoated cover, full color folded down into a card. Either 5.5x8.5 no bleed card or a 5x7 full bleed card. We will use a xerox c70. I understand how to come up with our production cost from a printing perspective but don’t understand how to account for the labor involved to to produce the full bleed. Is there a “standard” percentage increase? I realize this a rudimentary question and may vary based on location but I’m just trying to garner the business, be fair to the account and better understand the digital printing industry. Thanks

 

[pippip]

For me bleed wouldn't be a factor in pricing. At the end of the day you have so many up on a sheet and to us the rest of the factors should be the same. Just a different artwork setup and trimming.

Where are you feeling its gonna cost more?

 

[streetsnake]

For me bleed wouldn't be a factor in pricing. At the end of the day you have so many up on a sheet and to us the rest of the factors should be the same. Just a different artwork setup and trimming.

Where are you feeling its gonna cost more?

I was just thinking you have more cut work and you’d have to account for that?

 

[pippip]

It comes down to whether you trim with single cuts or double cuts. Although not always needed I personally use double cuts on everything. So bleed or not doesn't matter.

I use double cuts as personally I can get a more accurate result for the client and avoid unexpected problems when trimming. Depending on stock and blade condition we sometimes get a pull on the stock which is impossible to fix with dead splits but manageable with gutters.

 

[TJPrinter]

I would not be pricing the 5½x8½ and 5x7 foldover cards the same even though they can both be printed on a 11x17 sheet 2 up. If you print 2 up of the 5½x8½ and your guillotine is capable of cutting a stack of 250 sheets at a time you’ll have made 10 cuts to finish the job. On the other hand the 5x7 with bleeds will need 60 cuts to finish assuming that you’re using a gutter between cards and it bleeds on all 4 sides.

When I impose a job I always take into consideration how it will be trimmed. If the 5x7 didn’t have any bleeds I would impose the job so it was positioned in a corner to eliminate the extra cutting. If you have a programmable cutter the cutting is going to go faster but you still need to account for the labor that is used.

All that aside, since you don’t do these types of jobs often you should make sure that since this is a good customer that you’re not overpricing the job. Or that you’re shorting yourself by not charging enough. Check out a few of the online big guys to see where pricing is at. If you’re not efficient at running these type of jobs then a run of 5,000 could be less expensive and time consuming to outsource.

 

[streetsnake]

I would not be pricing the 5½x8½ and 5x7 foldover cards the same even though they can both be printed on a 11x17 sheet 2 up. If you print 2 up of the 5½x8½ and your guillotine is capable of cutting a stack of 250 sheets at a time you’ll have made 10 cuts to finish the job. On the other hand the 5x7 with bleeds will need 60 cuts to finish assuming that you’re using a gutter between cards and it bleeds on all 4 sides.

When I impose a job I always take into consideration how it will be trimmed. If the 5x7 didn’t have any bleeds I would impose the job so it was positioned in a corner to eliminate the extra cutting. If you have a programmable cutter the cutting is going to go faster but you still need to account for the labor that is used.

All that aside, since you don’t do these types of jobs often you should make sure that since this is a good customer that you’re not overpricing the job. Or that you’re shorting yourself by not charging enough. Check out a few of the online big guys to see where pricing is at. If you’re not efficient at running these type of jobs then a run of 5,000 could be less expensive and time consuming to outsource.

Thank you. That makes sense and will be helpful in setting up the job. Much appreciated.