 Thom Schoeller |
Wholesale vendor? More of a comment than a "question". I'm about to wash my hands clean of doing my business with the vendor Photographers Edge. If one is not familiar, they claim to sell "wholesale" to photographers in the business of Greeting Cards and calendars. From my own perspective, the claimed wholesale rate is off the charts for both card stock and the tiny calendars they sell in the catalog. They sell in "sets" of 10 cards, and then you must order complete sets. So 20 sets of cards (200 blanks total)comes to $8.50 a set before tax and shipping. Thats just under $1.00 per card, and then for this order you must add an additional $20.00 shipping! This does not include your cost of ordering or printing off your own 4x6 prints depending on your vendor can cost .15 to .25 per print. If you display the cards in crystal clear envelopes 200 of them will cost an additional $24.00. Now you add your time to assemble which is rather labor intensive. I have several vendors that I sell the cards at, some want to purchase in bulk from me (obviously at a lower cost to sell for profit) and others prefer I sell on a commission basis. Unfortunately the end customer is rarely willing to invest over $4.00 on a blank (inside) greeting card no matter how wonderful the photography or how nice the card stock is. The photographers investment at this point is already just under $2.00 ea card, and to think one must go through all that effort to make the cards it hardly seems worth a paltry dollar per card profit to your vendor who purchases cards in bulk. Anyone else use this company at any time? Curious for feedback.
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Lynn R. Powers |
Yes I have used and on occasion still use Photographers Edge. For that matter I started with them before they changed their name to PE. I totally agree that for volume selling the costs, work and aggravation involved in it is not the best way to do it. Most of the people that are successful with it have a small home business and the whole family works as a production line. The profits will probably go toward the kids college fund. They also purchase 1000 cards or more at a time. I have found that it is faster and less expensive to use commercial printers such as Mpix and White House CC to do the work for you and at a much lesser price. Pick up a recent copy of both Popular Photography and Outdoors Photographer. They are both filled with ads including many commercial labs. Check out their web sites and compare what you are going to get for your buck. You will find that prices range from Wal-Mart prices to Tiffany. As for the place that has the Tiffany prices they are more than likely the very best also. Use them for VERY special occasions or purposes such as a wedding announcement but not as an invitation. Also use only the highest quality photo printed on them. I use Photographers Edge for my own special cards to send to relatives and friends. I may use 50-60 cards every two years. Also I only get up to six different card styles. I will personally make up each card containing a photo with the individual in mind. My Uncle may get one of the snow geese but my aunt, his sister, will get one of flowers. I may send them both scenics from the same place but it will be from a different perspective or part of the same area. This way when they compare they realize that it was truly personal and not mass production. You will find many items from PE that are available in local stores at a lesser price. I recommend their gold pen. It is the best of I have found in any business or office store. There is a trick to using it though. Their rotary cutter is also quite good but avoid the corner trimmer like the plague. Good Luck
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Thom Schoeller |
Thanks Lynn, My new website also makes greeting cards right from my artwork that I have uploaded to the site. I just returned from a client meeting and large bulk sale this morning..all Connecticut Covered Bridge scenics. No labor involved for myself, and the bulk price to customer allows him plenty of wiggle room to make a tidy profit :) Do the websites you mention allow the photographer to upload their own work to create greeting cards? Or is this just another option for basic flat card stock. Reason I ask that, the "card stock" business is something I simply want to remove myself from completely. Seems to work better if one is in it for a vanity business.
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