[KabawL]

Okay, I'm setting up a deal to do a 50 shirt order. All Black shirts. 1 shirt will be a 1 color front and 2 color back (I'll be making 20 of these). The other will be a 2 color front and 2 color back (I'll be making 30 of these).

I figure it'll be 3 screens as I can fit the smaller images on the other screens.

I also figured I would charge $25.00 a screen and $25.00 for artwork per image.

This is what I'll be paying for bulk for blank shirts...

Tultex: M-XL:$1.93 and 2XL-3XL:$3.08

I had come up with a total of $498.00 taxes and shipping included and customer is still hesitant. Am I over pricing my work?

How much should I charge for labor, supplies, etc? Any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[swannn32]

Re: Difficult Customer

No - I think you are too cheap. You are lower than what I'd be - but it also depends on the area you are in. I have heard from out of state people that my prices are too high, but my local clients think I am cheap.

I would charge around $12.00 to $15.00 each for the first 20 with the 1 color front / 2 color back on black. And around $13.00 - $16.00 each for the 30 with the 2 color front and 2 color back.

I also don't charge for art unless it requires Photoshop work or special seperations - but for just clip art and text it's no charge.

So mine would come to about ...

low end total = $630 for both
or
high end total = $780 for both

Either way - I think you are too low.

 

[KabawL]

Re: Difficult Customer

Originally I had the price at around $650'ish and that was cutting him a deal with great quality shirts (Bayside). Then he said it was too expensive, so we went with a cheaper shirt (Tultex). Still trying to cut him a deal, I totaled it at $498.00 and he still isn't happy. Long term, it'll be a return customer I'd like to keep and build with. But... With the prices I'm offering, it's feeling not even worth it, and probably isn't.

 

[m_short]

Re: Difficult Customer

If you're cutting him a deal now to become a return client he's just going to try to work you down on every re-order. Put it this way, if your client owns a business ask him/her how they would feel if you wanted a deal on their services. This is sounding like the beginning of the old "hang a carrot in front of the horse" routine. But that's just my 2 cents.

Also the amount of time wasting to print a "deal" order could be spent to find clients willing to pay full price for your quality & service.

 

[GARCON]

Re: Difficult Customer

Yes. Beware of undervaluing your services. He will price shop you and waste more of your time with haggling and negotiations further decreasing the actual margin you make on all of his jobs. Tell him to go out and get DETAILED and WRITTEN quotes from competitors if he wishes. I do have a price match guarantee with some of my standing customers but I reserve the right to turn down any job and it has to be apples for apples. They give you a competitor quote then expect you to perform additional services not included in the others' pricing (custom art work, multiple drafts, clean-up, rush production, delivery). Set your standards high early and get customers that value that.

Gerald
GARCON Creative Services

 

[foot print]

Re: Difficult Customer

totally agree beware of those potential customers that want to haggle for a lower price. Just yesterday my cousin told me her friends wanted 48 t-shirts 2 color front. i gave her the price and she said per shirt..? i said YEAH..her reply was my friend has a friend and he told her $4.00 per shirt. I was like DAMN unless he is stealing the shirts he is NUTZ..!!

 

[KabawL]

Re: Difficult Customer

Hahah, thanks for your input; you're right and of course you are. I think I'm going w/the "get competitor quotes" route. That seems more convincing. I'm thinking he just doesn't understand the pricing involved such as the fundamentals and options of the endless brands of shirts to fit his needs. I'm really trying to convince him w/all honesty. This job opens up a roll-a-dex of other jobs and exposure. I'd hate to lose it.

 

[foot print]

Re: Difficult Customer

Kabawl...i recently worked at a shop that had a customer come in and talk BIG numbers..promised monthly 3,000 shirt orders every month without fail..But his hook was that he wanted the cheapest price possible and his first order was just going to be a couple hundred just to get them in his sales reps hands. Well he got his wish and got a SUPER cheap price but those monthly 3,000 shirt orders never came..every couple months he would order couple hundred keep promising oh next month is the huge order..well right up to the day i left that shop..nothing..i hope in your case it pans out..

 

[swannn32]

Re: Difficult Customer

You can't be afraid to lose it - because then he has control. It takes guts to stand up for yourself and your work. It may be hard to do when your shop is slow and you think he'll open all these magical doors for you, but only you and your standard of work should open the magical doors not one client with empty promises. I know it sounds weird but if you back down now you've already lost.

Maybe you could dangle a different carrot in front of him that gives him discounts later if he remains loyal and if he gets you more work, or if the other opportunities pan out then you can give him something for it then - after not before.

And actually - I think this sounds more like a typical client and not a difficult one. If you want to hear about difficult I'm sure everyone on this message board could share some good stories!

Good Luck! Let us know how you work it out.
Good Luck!

 

[Mabuzi]

Re: Difficult Customer

Wow that’s cheap. Don’t undercut yourself otherwise you won’t be in business.
Difficult customer complains about the print before the bag is even open, this one is price sensitive. Dont be scared to let them slide as this will set the standard for every order they place. Try rather sell yourself as a professional or a supplier of choice because once you market your product as cheap it is difficult to increase the price.
I once had a customer tell me I was too expensive but still wanted to use our service because of our location as we are inner city based.
Try keep your standards high and market this point. You will also get the “I have 1000s of t-shirt to order” but quote me on 33 please. Quote job by job basis till the volumes increase then you can negotiate.
Don’t undersell yourself!
Most customers are great so remember the good ones and not the bad ones...

 

[macmiller]

Re: Difficult Customer

i'm at $11.77 for the 20=235.4 before tax
$10.22 for the 30=306.6, puts me at $542, before tax.

you're price is reasonable, they just need to either bite the bullet and order, or order 50 of the same design then it gets a lot cheaper.

some people think that if they wait, you'll get hungry enough that the price will come down dramatically, in the mean time they're shopping around, finding that you're still cheaper than everyone.

 

[m_short]

Re: Difficult Customer

You always have to keep in mind that if you're making a deal for this guy that's supposed to open doors for you that he's going to tell all those referrals "hey this guy gave me a sweet deal,call him" and all of them are going to be looking for deals. It's always way to easy to undersell yourself and your service but is 10 times harder to fight to get the sell price back to where it should be.

 

[Pollchaps]

Re: Difficult Customer

Most customers don't have a clue what all goes into making a t-shirt. It sometimes helps to educate them a little and this tends to justify the price. Sometimes they just need to shop around to realize that you are cheaper. Your prices seem fine

 

[jayman2143]

Re: Difficult Customer

If I was quoting this job you would be much cheaper than me.

Before taxes and shipping and whatnot, my total would come to about $660.

Never let your customer dictate your prices. You know how much you need to make in order to make a profit. Once the customer starts controlling your prices, there's no going back.

 

[Louie2010]

Re: Difficult Customer

I am very new to the shirt business, but before retiring a few years ago I previously owned another business for many years .

When I encountered people such as this I would handle it this way. I would tell them that I greatly appreciated the opportunity of building a long term relationship with them and would most definitely offer them the best discounts I could afford to do. I might even throw out a few numbers I was comfortable with at the time. However then I would go on to say that regrettably I could not do that type of pricing until they actually started doing the large numbers they were offering up. I would explain it was out of respect for the loyal customers that have earned that special place to receive those prices. I would ask them how they would feel once they are doing those kind of numbers and earning that large discount if I just gave that same price to any first time customer with a small order?

One more thing you could do if you are very interested in gaining their business, and wanted to be more aggressive is this. Tell them that you will give them a credit for the difference, (of what you would be willing to go to, not nesserraly what they are asking) if the next time they did place that larger order, so even though they would be paying the higher standard price this time, they would in essence really end up paying only the lower price later even for this current purchase with that credit. As long as they do what they are claming they intend to do. Basically if they followed up with their promise they themselves insure they get the lower price.

You have to way all the factors and then make what decision you feel is best. Just always keep in mind more often then not, if you drop to your best price to quickly, often nothing good comes from it.

 

[Louie2010]

In rereading the OP, I think I might have combined advice for two posts. I was sure I read yesterday where the difficult customer was also promising a larger order later. Hope this still helps.