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Getting paid for Proofs on Artwork

1308 Views 14 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Ripcord, 
Z
Just a question, do yall charge for proofs on Artwork? I know artwork may take some time but nobody wants to pay. What's your input in this matter... you thoughts is most appreciated, thank you in advance.
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bpfohler
First we review the artwork and estimate what we will charge for artwork. When the customer asks how much for shirts we bury the cost and divide it into the price of the shirts.
When we have an order in hand (and not until) we sit with the customer and finalize the artwork. We rarely have revisions because we take the time to get it right the first time.
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wrkalot
We charge for contract and build it into the price on retail. Art work is billed separately from proofing. They are 2 different things.
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E
It really depends what the customer is asking you to do. If they want to take hours of your time creating an original piece of art from scratch (or redraw a crazy design they made) then we charge hourly.

90% of the time if the artwork/proof will take no more than an hour then it isn't worth it for me to lose the job over a extra fee.
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atomicaxe
Answer is a solid "depends" ...

In most cases, no. Most people need art services ... because even if they have a design done somewhere else ... 90% chance ... it's wrong. They are already ordering, proofing is required and an hour of design services is built into EVERY job.

If they have need for advanced art services ... I will charge for it, but that is standard.

If they want to see a design before they even think of ordering ... $35 non-refundable deposit is required. I may wave this if it's one of those commitee things ... but I will have terms that if they use my design without payment, I will be invoicing at $50-100 + fees associated with collection. (which requires a signed contract to that effect so I can send it to collections if poo hits the fan)
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Ripcord
I quote them a price based on what they need printed. If they approve the pricing and ask me to proceed I go ahead with the art. (I don't charge for artwork unless they want a custom illustration.)

I've never done artwork and then have the customer not go through with the order. And I look at the art as being one of the steps I need to take to get the job on press (and get paid and move on...)

And once I do the art at no charge it remains my property. If they have a cousin or somebody at some time in the future who thinks he can do the shirts cheaper, he'll need to start by recreating the art 'cause he's not getting it from me.
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J
In my case, If my customer want custom illustration on t shirt then i charge for proofs on Artwork.
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PatWibble
Most artwork I do is little more than creating a proof. Once the initial proof is signed off the order is binding on the customer so I have little to loose by progressing to the next stage. Sometimes that will involve creating, editing or redrawing something that is chargeable, but very rarely. Usually it will just creating film or preparing cutting files ( like Ripcord, they remains my property because they were created as part of my production process).

If all I am doing is taking a customer supplied design or logo, adding some text in a readily available font and superimpossing the end result onto a t-shirt or van template it is very hard to justify charging a proofing charge.

Look on proofing as an insurance policy that confirms the customer is happy with what you are printing.
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Ripcord
I also look at art preparation as a way of adding value to a job. If you put yourself in the place of the average customer, what is it they want? What they want is an order of T-shirts printed with as little effort on their own part as possible. If you deliver that experience, your customer will be pleased and will probably recommend you to others. You'll also get the customer's repeat business with little very chance that he will shop around for a lower price. He already knows that you'll deliver exactly what he wants.

To me that's worth the few minutes of art prep time. Often printers will take longer to explain to a customer why they "can't" use what he supplied than it would take to just do it.
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Ripcord said:
I quote them a price based on what they need printed. If they approve the pricing and ask me to proceed I go ahead with the art. (I don't charge for artwork unless they want a custom illustration.)

I've never done artwork and then have the customer not go through with the order. And I look at the art as being one of the steps I need to take to get the job on press (and get paid and move on...)

And once I do the art at no charge it remains my property. If they have a cousin or somebody at some time in the future who thinks he can do the shirts cheaper, he'll need to start by recreating the art 'cause he's not getting it from me.
Click to expand...

I do the same as you Ripcord.
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PatWibble
If you owned a shoe store would you charge customers for trying on shoes? If you were an insurance brocker would you charge for the 30 mins you spend on the phone generating a quote?

Probably not - it is all part of the sales process, and you hope you get he job. Considering the value of some of the jobs we take on, 15 mins to generate a mock up/proof can be time well spent.

9 times out of 10 the proof will directly translate into a cutting file for vinyl, or fom the basis of the film for screen burning.
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wrkalot
PatWibble said:
If you owned a shoe store would you charge customers for trying on shoes? If you were an insurance brocker would you charge for the 30 mins you spend on the phone generating a quote?

Probably not - it is all part of the sales process, and you hope you get he job. Considering the value of some of the jobs we take on, 15 mins to generate a mock up/proof can be time well spent.

9 times out of 10 the proof will directly translate into a cutting file for vinyl, or fom the basis of the film for screen burning.
Click to expand...
In those examples I would argue that you are paying to try on the shoes and get the insurance quote because it's built into the price. Their gross margins have those expenses factored in.

I'm not suggesting that people should charge for proofs, or not charge for proofs. I am merely suggesting that you should be getting paid for it. Some how, some way, you need to get paid for every thing you do.

There is no such thing as free. There is no such thing as 100% mark up.
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Z
I had one customer, a good customer that asked me to put together a shirt design for cheer. I did cuz i trusted her, being a customer for many years. I sent the customer the PROOF she loved it... I was thinking i got the job... later that day, i got a text from another customer stating she need shirts and she already has the artwork... so she text me my design lol smh
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Ripcord said:
I quote them a price based on what they need printed. If they approve the pricing and ask me to proceed I go ahead with the art. (I don't charge for artwork unless they want a custom illustration.)

I've never done artwork and then have the customer not go through with the order. And I look at the art as being one of the steps I need to take to get the job on press (and get paid and move on...)

And once I do the art at no charge it remains my property. If they have a cousin or somebody at some time in the future who thinks he can do the shirts cheaper, he'll need to start by recreating the art 'cause he's not getting it from me.
Click to expand...
Ripcord said:
I quote them a price based on what they need printed. If they approve the pricing and ask me to proceed I go ahead with the art. (I don't charge for artwork unless they want a custom illustration.)

I've never done artwork and then have the customer not go through with the order. And I look at the art as being one of the steps I need to take to get the job on press (and get paid and move on...)

And once I do the art at no charge it remains my property. If they have a cousin or somebody at some time in the future who thinks he can do the shirts cheaper, he'll need to start by recreating the art 'cause he's not getting it from me.
Click to expand...
I use this method until it backfired on me today. I have spent a MONTH going back and forth on artwork for an elementary school. Done orders for them before, etc. They finally finalized the design, and then asked me to create a custom order form for them. I don't usually do this, but they said "The other shop always did it for us." (They're a new customer this year, have done several jobs for them this year with no problems.) So I complied and was waiting on their final count. Days passed, got close to deadline time, so I emailed. They ignored my emails. Finally today a WEEK after they were supposed to have their shirts, the emailed back and said the PTO stepped in, and "took care of it". As in they ordered the shirts somewhere else, using my order form and my design.

I am LIVID. We're a small shop (just 2 people) so I often have to work on art nights and weekends to keep up. This took my private time to accommodate them, then they just go right back top the other shop with MY artwork. I don't know how to respond to them to let them know this was NOT OKAY without sounding like an asshole. I still want to steal their business back in the future, but still let them know that that was wrong.

Not to mention one of the moms from the school stopped by the shop because she told me the sizes on the order form were wrong. They chose Gildan 2000B. Those shirts fit big in youth sizes. When I showed her the youth medium in that shirt she YELLED AT ME. She argued that that was NOT a youth medium, as if I had switched the tag or something, lol. Looking back, maybe she was on the PTO and responsible for switching the order. Maybe she is friends with the other shop and just didn't like me.
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Ripcord
I would have sent a polite but firm email saying please do not use my designs or order form if another company is printing the shirts. I did that once when somebody's uncle offered to print the shirts for his cost. After I sent the email they offered to pay me $25 for permission to use the design.
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