Competition in next town over

DigitalInkArts said:

This guy is killing me! I have been asked to beat his quote for 40 baseball jerseys. I can get them blank for 11.50 each.

They want logo and 4 inch number on the front. Name and number 8 inch on back.

I know he has one font and 10 screens for his numbers he uses all the time. To me , That sucks. But I do understand.

He quoted 15.00 per jersey. I couldnt survive on that, Even if I wanted to be nice to the customer. I do not think he is getting the jerseys any cheaper than I can get them. And besides the Numbers. He still has to create screens for the names and logo.

15.00 bucks.... man. Im thinking 18.00 - 20.00 and I told the customer, I couldnt beat it. Did I just make a mistake? I do not want to sell myself short. But I dont want to keep getting beat.

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Did you actually see the quote or are you just taking the customers word for it? If the customer showed you a legit quote, that's one thing ... but if they're just telling you that the other guy quoted $15 ... I'd respectfully call their bluff. Ask to see the quote. Unfortunately, this is a fairly common strategy used by some customers to see if they can get another printer to beat a "quoted price" that may not even exist. Stick to your guns and respectfully tell them "your price" ... which includes your service, quality, guarantee, etc.

If they tell you that your price is too high ... respectfully tell them "No, it's actually not too high, it's just higher than what you're willing to pay for good quality and service. If, for some reason, the other printer doesn't work out for you, feel free to come back and see me. Have a great day".

If the other guy is willing to work for less than minimum wage, let him. In the mean time, continue to build a reputation for outstanding quality and service so you can charge what your time is really worth. Eventually, you will succeed.

Good luck.

No problems and sorry if my post sounded or came out wrong. But for as the $2 shirt thing id does happen like you are saying and by guys hard up for sells. I use to do photography and it was a vreat money maker. But now that dslr cams are so cheap e erybody and there mom has a cam and call themsel es photographers. The price for photography work has fallen so badly it is getti.g to a point where it is hard to compete with the new comers. After thinki.g back on my photo dahs I now see it is everyones duty includi.g my self to try and stay in a industry standard set price range. For the sake of the craft.

Not like the other crap cert floating around here but I think a bu.ch of us here should form a screen printers guild that ensures fair practices and standards in our shops for the sake of our craft. This is just a ideal but I think if enough of us put our heads together we could work o. This and mame it soethi.g we all would work on and avree to.

The sign shop my "regular job" did business with for many years before I started working there sure started ripping us off. When it was cheaper to buy a cutter, buy supplies, and learn how to design, cut, and properly install vinyl for less than one sign from this company... even including the hours on the clock it took to do it all...

I guess they were annoyed that our orders had gone down in the last few years before we went out of business as a retail store. Still, as a company working in the same business park as us, with a long-standing relationship, I view it as highway robbery, plain and simple. We really should have just gone to another sign shop but at that point I was interested in learning anyway.

(This in response to D3L0C4T3D's comment that he would feel bad if he charged too high. Some people don't.)

Please note that the following comments are not directed at anyone in particular ... just a general observation and my professional opinion.

And ... I apologize to the OP, as this may be getting a little off topic.

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Your "costs" will dictate the "minimum" that you can charge.

The "market" will dictate the "maximum" that you can charge.

Understanding your costs and understanding your market is the key.

If you sell your time and services for "below" your costs, you'll be out of business quickly. If you sell your time and services for just "slightly above" your costs, or just to "beat your competitor's price", you better be doing a ton of volume, on a regular basis, otherwise you'd probably be better off flipping burgers. Charging the "maximum" that you can for your valuable time and professional services ... to make a decent PROFIT ... is not the same as greed.

I don't understand why folks get into this business to end up working for minimum wage or less. Doing it as a hobby is one thing, but doing it as a legit business is a whole nother story. Last time I checked, the objective of any business (small, medium, or large) is to make a PROFIT.

I happen to agree with Hegemone ... when you under-value your services and offer below-market pricing, you destroy the market, and you de-value everyone else's businesses. It's utterly ridiculous.

As a business owner (even one with low overhead), you should strive to provide great quality and great service so that you CAN charge the maximum that the market will bear and not feel bad about it.

I do NOT believing in gauging your customers (not one bit in fact), however, I DO believe that you deserve to make a decent PROFIT for your time, energy, equipment, knowledge, skill, service ... etc, etc.

Good luck to all.

I agree, and I dont low ball the market but do charge what I think is fair, when jobs are slow I do at times charge higher than I normaly would, but when the harvest is good I will plant seeds by waving a screen setup charge on a simple job. A customer fills so good when they save a dollar, so imagine how they fill when I knock off $50? The $50 I could have charged for coating 2 screens and burning them total time 3/ minutes, I chose to take that potential $50 and let the customer keep it as a advertising investment. This customer will be so happy that they will tell and reffer their friends and colleagues. Can all printers wave this fee? Yes, but they choose not to. To me this is a little form of greed or not thinking or understanding creative marketing and advertising.

When I first got started I printed up 100's of shirts and just gave them away. I know you are saying a lot of guys do this, but how I changed it up was I would package the shirts up and just leave them in random places for folks to find. I got tons of networking connects off this. I would even pick up a phone book or find a address online and.just mail random packages.

Like we all know every shop is different and will run different. My last post mentioned me deciding to some what base my prixes along with the industry standard for the sake of the industry, but I dont think I will ever charge or want to charge the max to print a shirt. I am a screen printer because I love doing it, money is great but it is not my prime motivation.

I don't think any one is criticizing strategice marketing, discounts, adjusting to the market, promotion instead of advertising, so on and so forth. There are just times when some one can out bid you. My customers know when I am doing any this and there is no expectation that this is normal.

The problem comes when vendors create environment where Customer expects a price that is below the cost of materials, below a reasonable and sustainable profit. If some one takes my biz over 50 bucks then I am not doing what I need to. I am not building the right relationships.

For the op have you considered out sourcing and marking up the product to account for your brokerage time. Some money for little work is much better then little mine for too much work. Customer get the benefit of working with you and you build a good relationship.

Pricing theory has many variables. Underpricing the competition has long been a favorite due to the propensity for people to be absolutely cheap. The "Wal Mart" economy model has been here for a while, and as the economy is not improving to any great degree, is likely to intensify.

Solutions are the normal responses. Sell quality, find a unique niche, learn to thrive at reduced sales prices, etc. The one thing you can't do is remain static. Figure out the market first, then establish your responses or attacks.

If the competition is thriving at a lower cost, figure out how and why. Find the method to leap frog over them that works in a particular market. Do they take forever to deliver? Can you do it in 3 days from sign off? There's always a monetary value on these type of things.

The first thing in changing the dynamics of the market is figuring it out, along with the players.