Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (
More info?)
The cost of production is not necessarily a small part of the sale price.
That's true for matted, unframed prints. For example, MediaStreet ink is
0.6% of the direct selling price ($75, no commission) of a 16x20, and Epson
ink is 2.9%. But for note cards (with 4x6 prints: $3.25) the values are
2.1% and 10.6%. That gets significant with Epson ink. And for consignment
sales, that percentage can go to 17.7%. Just for ink! I'd be foolish to
just go on making cards if it turns out I get $3/hour to do so, not even
allowing for the time spent taking the pictures and cost of equipment, etc.
--
- Alan Justice
"Burt" <sfbjgNOSPAM@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:ceSge.1827$3%4.1044@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> Alan - Although it is certainly a good idea to know your costs when
engaged
> in any business, I would guess that an artist doesn't determine the price
of
> an oil painting based on the cost of the raw materials. In the final
> analysis, the value is determined by the artistic merit of the product and
> not the cost of the raw materials. Gold jewelry is a case in point.
> Although the metal itself has intrinsic value, it represents a small part
of
> the sale price. Production printing of pictures from a kiosk or one-hour
> print service probably has a fairly close correlation to material cost,
but
> the pictures you are selling, I presume, are sold primarily for their
> artistic appeal. Thus, if your ink cost were $2.18 or $4.50, it still
> represents a very small portion of the sale price of the product. It
will,
> however, affect your bottom line at the end of the year on an overall
> business basis and is something to control if possible.
>
> "Alan Justice" <spam@spamspamspam.spam> wrote in message
> news:%JLge.5680$r7.3172@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> >I sell my photos, so I need to know what they cost. Here's how I
> > calculated:
> >
> > I printed many different pictures over a period of a few months (a
> > representative sample of the ones that sell) and kept track of how many
of
> > each size. There are 7 ink cartridges. Some were replaced a number of
> > times, some not at all (e.g., light magenta and light cyan were replaced
3
> > times each, but cyan not at all). I added up all the ink used: Number
> > purchased plus estimating the use of the unreplaced cartridges. A
printer
> > utility shows ink remaining (this is very rough, but those colors that
> > were
> > not replaced add very little to the cost of the prints, so an estimate
is
> > acceptable). It was then easy to calculate ink cost per square foot
(or,
> > more practically, cost per 4x6 - $0.34, 11x14 - $2.18, etc.). But that
> > was
> > at 1440 dpi. Now that I'm using 2880, I'd like to know if it costs 4
> > times
> > as much (double the density, if the droplet is the same size, in both
> > directions = 4x).
> >
> > Another professional I know suggested a third party ink, MediaStreet. I
> > then calculated the projected cost with these inks. I had heard that
the
> > Epson cartridges (for the 2200 printer) hold 1/2 ounce of ink. [If
anyone
> > has a more accurate estimate, please let me know.] So it seemed that MS
> > inks cost about 20% as much as Epson. Of course, this is only after an
> > initial outlay of $300, but over many years, that would be be minimal.
In
> > fact, using the above estimates, I have already saved money by switching
> > to
> > MS ink in only 4 months.
> >
> > But now I'm having trouble with the print quality with MS inks:
Scuffing
> > caused by the exit rollers and "pizza wheel" marks by the pre-exit
rollers
> > (the ones just after the print head). I believe this is because MS inks
> > dry
> > slower (or are simply more fragile), so the prints are more vulnerable
to
> > damage when they get to the rollers. I'm having a heck of a time trying
> > to
> > solve the problems. I may have to go back to Epson inks.
> >
> > --
> > - Alan Justice
> >
> > "Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:MrAge.35$8_3.2358@news.uswest.net...
> >> Basically, you are talking about ink density. So the denser the ink
> > output
> >> to the paper, the more ink will be used. Assuming printing the same
size
> >> photo on the same paper and using the same driver settings like
> >> Sharpness,
> >> Photo Enhanced and so on.
> >>
> >> Just out of curiosity, why are you interested in what it is costing you
> >> to
> >> print a photo? Have you ever installed a fresh set of cartridges and
> >> then
> >> chosen a photo and printed as many copies as the cartridges would
allow?
> >> This would be the only way to determine ink usage, and therefore ink
cost
> >> per page.
> >>
> >> "Alan Justice" <spam@spamspamspam.spam> wrote in message
> >> news:wmtge.1154$OU1.293@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> >> > I calculated the cost of ink for my photo prints by keeping track of
> >> > ink
> >> use
> >> > (number of cartridges, size of prints) over a number of weeks. But
> >> > that
> >> was
> >> > using 1440 dpi (Epson 2200). Now I have decided to go with 2880 dpi.
> >> Does
> >> > it use twice as much ink?
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > - Alan Justice
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>