Turning a profit from nature greeting cards?

<p>I've recently ventured into the world of printing. I have a vision for creating some greeting cards to start and I am approaching this as both a photographer and desktop publisher. The cards will incorporate graphics and text. I figure Hallmark is the gold standard so that is where I am setting my mark. If my quality is equivalent and my prices within 10%, I think I can find a local market. I intend to sell my images in boutiques and specialty shops. I have a couple lined up who will take some cards on consignment. </p>

<p>I am using a local lab that prints runs of 25 cards on a 4 color press double sided printing. In the linen, with matching envelops, my cost is $1.34/card. Consignment is 50% and cards would price at $3.50 each leaving me a profit of around $1.34, considering only direct costs. But what do I need to figure for taxes?</p>

<p>I'm assuming I am legally permitted to "test the waters" before making a decision as to profitability. Registering as a business is a whole other story. Equipment costs alone would make it difficult to turn a profit within 3 years. </p>

<p>Is anyone here selling fine art greeting cards solely? Have you had success? Is a profit of $1.34/card worth my time? This is a minimum up front investment of $500.00. Of course, if I do very well, I'd feel comfortable making a larger investment and driving down my printing costs.</p>

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good luck Kristin. I wish you well . . . Let me just point out (not to be a troll, but to point out,

constructively), youre missing a few things. First, 1.34 is NOT the true cost if you have not included

shipping, gas, your time, the cost of doing business, and so on. You are paying 1.34 per card.

Second, you can not and will not ever make money at 1.34 per card with a consignment of 50% OF

THE SALES PRICE, it's not measured on the cost of the card). In fact mark up on cards is often

100%. But if you have mark up/consignment @ 50% great!

In any event, May i suggest you go rework the math. You cant pay 1.34 for the card and then claim 1.34 as

profit. Moreover, even if you were making 1.34 per card, you are the only one that know's if it's worth

it . . . If hallmark is your standard, they pay pennies per card. . . I have sold cards for a long time,

mostly as promos and to fill the gap and I've had my card costs down to as little as $.40 (card ONLY,

not including all expenses) and cant make much in a years time. . . Just do the math, and see how

many cards you need to sell to make money . . . You'll have to sell hundreds and hundreds just to

cover the costs. Finally, consider how long you plan to give this venture. . . and redo the math based

on one month, two months, 6, 12 and so on . . . Find out how many cards the retailer thinks they can

sell, ask them for real numbers of cards they sell out the door now . . . Never forget, there's more reasons to make cards than just to make a profit! It can be fun and exciting too! So keep it all in perspective. . . You asked about profit . . .

<p>I can't argue with Tony's advice but consider the customers, where are they? Look at card shops or card displays in stores, are they selling well? I make photo cards, all in-house from 4x6 prints and blank card stock, and crunching the numbers the cards would have to sell for $~4 to be profitable for the store and me, including my time. </p>

<p>That said, and being a legal business, I decided to just give the cards away to friends to use or give as gifts, professionals for personal announcements or thank-you's, others for promotions, etc., and still the demand isn't there anymore. I also know the cards are being sent to or given as gifts around the world, which to me is better than trying to market them.</p>

<p>Good luck with your efforts.</p>

<p>Thanks for the thoughts. My post above is not the text I intended to post--not sure how that happened. Regardless, I appreciate the feedback. MSRP markup for wholesale is 200-400%. On consignment, the shops I am working with will reserve 50% of the sales price of the card. If the store charged me 100% of of the sales price--that is called a donation. My take per card after printing costs is actually $.41/card. That is pretty slender. <br /><br />So it sounds like perhaps this may not be profitable, and that might be okay. I'm gaining invaluable experience. The shops are all local--within 3 miles--and I will replenish once per month as needed. At this point, I really just need to do something more than store my images. Its the $500 up front cost that is getting to me. But if no cards sell in the next 6 months, the consignment ends and I will re-purpose them as gifts. <br /><br />I'm not as concerned about the amount of time it takes me to develop the cards. I am starting with a base stock of 10 cards at 8-12 R&D labor hours each. I'm gaining valuable skills, and the time spent is not cutting into anything more profitable. The harsh, cold Chicago winter is a great time to develop post-processing skills. Its only interfering with my Netflix time.</p>

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you will find that in order to make money, you will need to get your card price down to around $.50. with

that in mind, the run size's required to make that number are financially prohibitive based your $500

budget. I've spent $800 bucks on one run for one card just to get my per card price down to a number

that gives me a chance to make a profit. My i suggest you look into selling the cards outright to the

retailer? Or maybe that's what youre doing . . . Once you do that math, you may find that this venture is

not even possible without losing money at 1.34 per card print cost . . . check out other sources for your

printing needs, i'm sure you can get it down. Costco does a nice 5x7 for about $.75 per piece. It's not

the same card stock, but it's workable and will sell if the imagery is compelling . . . If you want to do more, consider a place like PS prints. Most people who make money at cards have their printing done in china . . . or as i've noted, sell cards for other reasons. . .

<p>Kristin, the one way you can compete with the major card suppliers is to produce cards that have a distincty local appeal. You can't compete with the big boys in generic cards. Test the market with home or Costco printed cards.</p>

<p>I tried selling my own greeting cards a few years ago. They were very pretty and I got some nice encouragement to sell them. Retail card prices max out at about $5.00 each. I suspect you could get more in specialty craft shows or tourist venues where you would also display larger versions of the same images, but I can't be sure. Smaller retailers simply double their wholesale price to get a retail price. They don't have a cost accountant handy, so double at least provides a rational basis for setting a price that is likely to earn a profit. This means that your max price will have to be $2.50 or less. </p>

<p>Using Costco for making prints I was able to produce hand-made cards for about $1.30 each. I'm not a cost accountant either, so my actual expenses in time and resources for running around to visit prospective customers and get supplies were much greater. A few cards will never earn enough to pay for making them, but many might. It's a good thing that you can start selling your goods as a hobbyist without the burden of establishing yourself as a bona-fide recognized business!</p>

<p>Boutique shops turned out to represent their own kind of hell for me as a photo greeting card maker. Each owner has a vision of the theme the shop presents to its customers. They're serious about this and instead of buying what I had already made, they wanted new materials consistent with their theme. Each one represented a special project no different from the situation if the tables were turned. If the shop owner approached me to ask for custom cards, they would get the same thing as if I followed through with my efforts to cater to them. The difference would be that I would be speculating on which if any of my products would actually sell. A photography customer speculates on the value of the pictures I might make for them, and I speculate on the things a greeting card retailer might buy from me. If my special target turns down my cards then what? The wine shop doesn't want shabby chic, each gift shop wants something different, etc.</p>

<p>You will need at least ten different photos for each shop with enough quantity to fill the size rack the owner allows you. You will be responsible for keeping the stock up yourself unless the cards sell well enough for the owner to contact you for more. It will really help to be systematic and disciplined when it comes to marking which card is which and who bought what from you. Label each unique one with a code of some sort you can use to track sales. A list type order form is a good way to simplify ordering. </p>

<p>I gave commercial greeting cards up in the end as too expensive to be a hobby and no way to justify a business all by itself.</p>

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