Customer wants more prints for the same price a month later without setup fees

2325 Views 20 Replies 14 Participants Last post by sben763, Apr 20, 2012

jkewl99

Discussion Starter · Apr 19, 2012

Hello,

I recently did a job for a boys baseball team, Warm Up Jackets, Sweatshirts and Tshirts. Alll the same design and color.

Customer came back to me a month later asking for 3 more items of each product. So a total of 9 more pieces.

per my quote and invoicing, I only hold my screens for one week after delivery. So customer wants to pay me the same amount as the initial order,

Here is my dilema, I would actually be losing money if I order 9 pieces and re did the design and screens. She does not feel a setup fee is warranted since I did the initial job, she asked me for the artwork that I designed so she can go somewhere else. What do I do?

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

tcrowder

· #2 · Apr 19, 2012

If she paid you for the artwork with the first order, it belongs to her. If she did not, put a price on your time and quote her the fee for the design.

bomber315

· #3 · Apr 19, 2012

yeah what she/ he said. you have to explain to her that the would actually be more time involved in setting up for the job than there would be printing it. i doubt anyone else will print 9 pieces without a setup charge either. this is a good reason to keep your screens as long as you can... i have about 40 screens and ill keep them until i need it for something else. maybe you are higher volume than me and you need them within a week but i can usually hold on to mine for at least a month. heck i dont even tear down the press untill the next job is ready to go on it.

Reactions: 1

royster13

· #4 · Apr 19, 2012

Part of the sales process is "grilling" the client to find out if there is potential for add-ons......It is also necessary to clearly outline your policies regarding screens and artwork.....This should form part of your "Order Summary / Proof" form and invoice......

Reactions: 1

jkewl99

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 19, 2012

tcrowder said:
If she paid you for the artwork with the first order, it belongs to her. If she did not, put a price on your time and quote her the fee for the design.

I did not charge a design or setup fee, when I took the job i figured it was for a youth little league. It might be worth just letting her have the artwork...

Thanks for the response

bomber315

· #6 · Apr 19, 2012

maybe have her check this out... its my facebook page but, if anyone wants to link to it i would be more than happy

hahaha What it takes to print 1 shirt | Facebook

BogginOnaBudget

· #7 · Apr 19, 2012

Charge her for the artwork if she wants to go elsewhere, people dont,understand the setup and what it takes to print ONE shirt!

Sent from my MB525 using T-Shirt Forums

Reactions: 1

jkewl99

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 19, 2012

bomber315 said:
maybe have her check this out... its my facebook page but, if anyone wants to link to it i would be more than happy hahaha What it takes to print 1 shirt | Facebook

WIll definetly have to share... !!! Thank you!

printkeg

· #9 · Apr 19, 2012

Do the job and keep the customer. Is the amount you would lose on this job enough to warrant her never coming back and possibly degrading your brand to the public? Be sure to charge the proper art fees in the future and ask customers if they intend to print more of the same design later.

jkewl99

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 19, 2012

printkeg said:
Do the job and keep the customer. Is the amount you would lose on this job enough to warrant her never coming back and possibly degrading your brand to the public? Be sure to charge the proper art fees in the future and ask customers if they intend to print more of the same design later.

That is where the problem is, when I purchased the initial order of 45 pieces I got a great discount on all apparel, so I was able to offer my customer an attractive price. Now to purchase just 9 pieces, I would basically have to double what I charged her on the initial run.

I am going to just give her the artwork and improve my sales/customer service up front. I appreciate the comments.

Djdomino

· #11 · Apr 19, 2012

Do it for cost. If you say it's for a little league team then that means they are going to need shirts in the future. let her know though that you will be doing this just this one time and explain to her the process of making the shirts and that you will only keep the screen for 1 week after the job after that they have to pay set up fee's again kuz time is money but money comes from customers who are treated well and refer others to you.

ryan barker

· #12 · Apr 19, 2012

so, she thinks the set up costs are just probably bogus fees we tack on to rake the customer over the coals and screw them out of more money. explain to her that where she takes her job to they are probably going to charge the set up fee, too. there's no avoiding that unless she goes to some desperate shop willing to work for barely above cost.

as far as artwork goes, i put myself in the customer's shoes and consider it something i paid for barring some special design or agreement. sure, i'd let her have the art. 'i'll e-mail it to you right away.' i mean, hey, *that's* the artwork ~ it's not your problem she can't open the file.

if she wants the physical copy of the artwork, tell her it's been destroyed if it has been and what you'd charge her for a copy. say, ten bucks per copy, per separation. 'i'll call you when it's ready and you can pick it up at your convenience.' i never claimed to be a high road kind of guy ~ if she came in with a big 'it's all about me' attitude and the whole nine yards, i'd just flat out tell her i deleted the file and there *is* no artwork to give to her. 'but, i'd be happy to re-do it at our normal computer design fee.'

See less See more

royster13

· #13 · Apr 19, 2012

Another reason I love transfers so much......

ryan barker

· #14 · Apr 19, 2012

it depends, i guess. i'm like bomber, i don't clean a screen until i need it (or just get tired of looking at them and notice my nephew just standing around not doing anything), so if i just had to order extra shirts and print them from the screen/s i already had, that would be different. still, though, i'd explain to her that that's not always going to be the case and make her understand that set-up costs are very real expenses. that's why i actually like to show people the process if i can so that they get an understanding. that helps, i think, because people don't know the process and probably see places that offer free set-up but don't bother to read the fine print, kind of like seeing 'shirts as low as $2.19' and think that 2xlg AA should be the same price. they see 'as low as' but it doesn't register with some ppl, lol.

bomber315

· #15 · Apr 19, 2012

yeah we take for granted that people have a graphic design background and have a clue what it takes to do things. the last job i did the customer had no idea how screen printing worked. he thought that some how all of the ink was on 1 screen. the thought that every color had a seperate screen never even crossed his mind. of course he is a truck driver. i dont have the slightest idea how much his truck weighs and what roads is allowed to drive on with it.

aspliz

· #16 · Apr 20, 2012

I advise teams or groups like that to order a couple extras. I explain why and I give an example like, it costs 60.00 to prepare for this job that breaks down to 2.00 per shirt for the 20 you are ordering, if you come in for 2 more after I've torn down, I will have to charge the 60.00 again to setup and it will cost you 30.00 per shirt before the actual shirt cost and they also have to pay the frt of ordering 2 shirts. It's less expensive to get 2 extra now and have me print the logo and I can always pop a name and number on the back for them later. I also suggest they sell them to the parents if they get extra and don't use them. AND If you get a deal on the shirts tell them about cost difference of extras or reorders up front. Another tip...If they bring in shirts for you to print, warn them that if you mess one up, you will not replace. It's the chance they take trying to save money by getting their own shirts.

Reactions: 1

TYGERON

· #17 · Apr 20, 2012

Yep. I always say part of our jobs is to educate the customer.

I'd explain that there was no charge for the art or set-ups and I don't provide free art for other printers to print. Be nice, give her a fair price for the small quantity. Explain that you can't afford to work for free. She'll be back when she gets a quote from elsewhere. If not, good riddance and know better next time by making clear your policies on smaller quantity re-orders.

And don't be held hostage by the threat of "losing" future business.

Reactions: 1

serdnaclsg87

· #18 · Apr 20, 2012

You should create a pricing chart that outlines the cost per print depending on the total number of prints. Also include a separate art fee if they want the artwork as well as a separate price for set up. People will ALWAYS come looking for a "deal" that isn't in your best interest, but if you do a good job and give a good price they will definitely come back

Reactions: 1

Unik Ink

· #19 · Apr 20, 2012

We have discounted design fees for artwork that we create and print, and full license transfer for double what the art fees are so they can take it anywhere to have it printed. Setup fees on every order and reorder. No setup fees and same print cost for an additional 9 pieces is an unreasonable request.

Reactions: 1

allhamps

· #20 · Apr 20, 2012

I agree with Tygeron. I'm not even sure why you are talking to her about set up fees and artwork charges

. I know it takes time to do those things, but it sounds like the REAL issue here is that you can not order 9 pieces at the same price that you did for the full order, thus the reason for the need to charge more. Explain that to her, maybe even agree to do it at cost, and if she can't live with it, then let her go somewhere else, WITHOUT YOUR PREPARED ARTWORK, and have someone give her a quote on 9 pieces.

Reactions: 1

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.