Printer for prints on night

[neil_ewins]

I have been reading reasently about the power/ income of providing prints on the

night. Does any on here do this it looks to be very profitable. I sell my prints

online the following day but te customers have lost the passion after the event.

 

I have two printers in mind, both Mitsubushi sub dye printers.

 

CP9550 cost ?1379

6x9 prints 45p

5x7 prints 38p

4x6 prints 12p

 

 

cp3020DAE cost ?725

12x8 prints 1.68

10x8 prints 1.38

 

The above costs are for the prices of the consumables.

My concerns are do you think i am missing out on more customers by not providing

the larger 10x8 and 12x8 photographs?

The advantage of the more expensive CP950 is the 6x9 prints come on a roll of

126 prints against the 50 print roll of the cheaper CP3020DAE, meaning les

printer changeing on the night.

 

I would be very interested to hear from people about there experience / advice

 

Many Thanks

[steve_levine]

This opens the whole nightmare scenario of "selling while you are shooting". I know that in the US this will offend many clients.

[kevin cook - stratford upo]

I've often thought of this and I know some guys who do make money. But when I've casually aksed clients and my friends and family I get the sort of replies which suggest that they feel that it is someone making money whilst they make merry! Perhaps buying and regretting later. People avoiding you in case they get under pressure etc.

But also a business going on when they are trying to enjoy themselves.

 

Let alone the potential technical stuff, damage etc. I've been to some wedding evenings and I wouldn't want to leave a plug lying about let alone a printer!

 

I always go for on line these days.

[neil_ewins]

Yes i agree about making money while people make merry, i always ask the client if they would like this service. But i am thinking of event photography such as horse shows, fairs etc. Again it would be a case of having more staff to take care of the print side. But for the likes of university balls i think a wireless set up could be a good earner.

 

Neil Ewins

[marcie m]

There is money to be made. You know the sooner customers can see it the higher the sales. Being able to deliver prints at the event really catches the impulse buyer.

 

We've never printed at the event because I was such a stickler for quality. However I haven't looked into doing it recently. Anyways, you need to consider the cost of having an assistant or two handle printing in addition to the cost of consummables.

[Jochen_S]

I'm way under that level, but to me it sounds good, especially if you can have your pics radioed to a assistant who sells them at a marketing spot. Maybe you could even increase your sales by filling people's USB sticks? - I don't know what clutters the pockets of a good suit these days, but firmly believe one should make money however.

 

I see a certain risk in printing everything. Print on demand might be cheaper, but I'm no expert about that. Last time I went to a ball, 20 years ago, pictures were made at a 1h lab.

[greg jansen]

I've done plenty of events with instant printing. Two routes work well. If it is a corporate party, it's best to get a flat fee up front to cover your time, print costs, assistant, etc. Company pays you, the couples each get one print with folder. 5x7 works/looks great. Charge from $1500 - 2500 for a party with roughly 300 guests.

 

For pay as you go, it's best to have both 8x10 and 5x7 (or two 5x7). You almost need 2 assistants depending on size of event. One to run computer/printer, one to collect money and stuff folders. Be sure to charge venue a set-up fee ($400?) in case you don't sell too many. They are always overly optomistic as to how many you will sell. One thing nice is the wad of cash you will have at the end of the night.

 

I use a Sony Snaplab- it's great, but doesn't do 8x10. It's light, has built-in back-up in that it will read flash cards and has a color touch screen if your computer goes on the blink.

 

Forget inkjet printrs. The coating smudges and looks cheap.

 

I also offer to put all the images online after the event, but rarely get any orders from it. More so people can see all the shots.

 

Best thing is that if you do a good job, companies will call you back every year.

 

I do it to fill the winter when weddings slow down.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

[gerald_donnelly]

I do it occassionally. I use a HITI printer. It takes a couple more people. 1 person to shoot & take money-if you sell on site & another to print photos. It can get kind of confusing passing cards back & forth. I've found the best way to do it is to set stict ground rules as to the time for shooting-say 2 hours. At the end of the time start printing. My printer will print faster when it's hooked up to a laptop. I've ound it's more of a novelty & gives me something to offer that other photogs may not.

[valdez_brown]

<p>All you need is a Hi touch P510si event printer, and the wireless transmitter for your camera to send your images over to the printer wireless, for automatic printing. and you good to go. Image pro sells the printer and transmitter bundle together for $1295. Also, there are all kinds of events out there for every level of printing solution. You do not need assistants. They are nice to have, but I've been doing this for a year now, and most of my events, i'm usually by myself. Now I would say that it will probably be a good idea to get the heads up on how many guest will be in attendance, but I usually try to have someone with me whenever I have an engagement anyway. That way, if it gets too busy, I have some help. But for the most part, I've been successful at achieving this by myself, and I started off operating with a HP Touchsmart photo printer. (inkjet) It bothers me that other photographers wouldn't suggest on site printing, claiming it to be a nightmare, I find it far from true. I find it a joyous moment to be able to provide a photography service at an event and sell the image to them right there on the spot, inside a cardboard photo mount. 4x6, and 5x7 are popular here in the U.S., so a sony snaplab, or hitouch p510si will serve you just fine. Get you some professional UV coating business cards made, and let word of mouth marketing be your only marketing strategy, for it's the best. I would not waist time with setting up a website, been there, done that, the income from it was next to nothing. This event photography business has been the best thing for me. It was a bit easy for me to market because I have resources surrounding me that pretty much made starting this business a common sense move for me. DJ's, event promoters, fortune 500 company I work for, all of this is reality for me on my regular 9-5 job. So this has been a pretty nice piece of secondary income for me, on top of what I already bring in, not bad. </p>