Setup for minimum profit per order?
Shane422
Registered Users Posts: 460 Major grins
I don't have a Pro account yet, but I am considering all the different ways to handle actually making a bit of money. I'm not great but I get requests to shoot 3 - 4 families a month and its growing. Now I would like to make $50 - 80 from each for my trouble. I figure that maiking money will either make it worth my time, or drive them toward someone better than me.
I don't really want to deal with setting up an official business with all of the tax complications. So I believe selling through smugmug may be the best option. But I want to make sure that I make at least $50 per gallery.
So my question is: Is it possible to setup a gallery so that customers have to purchase a specific item, or make a minimal order amount. I was thinking I could setup a Digital Download for $60 ($50 +~15%), then once they purchase that download, they can have as much as they want at the lowest price. Or have set up a print package, that would net me my $50, as a minimum order.
My customers are mostly friends, so I'd like to make sure that they get a lot of nice prints for about half the cost of a trip to the local mall Portrait studio. In the past they have been repaying the favor with various gift cards. But the days of working 4-5 hours for a $30 gift card are nearing and end.
I don't really want to deal with setting up an official business with all of the tax complications. So I believe selling through smugmug may be the best option. But I want to make sure that I make at least $50 per gallery.
So my question is: Is it possible to setup a gallery so that customers have to purchase a specific item, or make a minimal order amount. I was thinking I could setup a Digital Download for $60 ($50 +~15%), then once they purchase that download, they can have as much as they want at the lowest price. Or have set up a print package, that would net me my $50, as a minimum order.
My customers are mostly friends, so I'd like to make sure that they get a lot of nice prints for about half the cost of a trip to the local mall Portrait studio. In the past they have been repaying the favor with various gift cards. But the days of working 4-5 hours for a $30 gift card are nearing and end.
0
Comments
Andrew
What state are you in (your location doesn't show up next to your name, please make sure you fill out all the boxes in your profile under my gear and more in order for it to populate)?
I could be wrong about this as I am not a tax expert but as far as I understand it in my state, I can charge a sitting fee without charging sales tax as I am not selling an item, the sitting fee is for a service. Some services are charged but from what I have seen and looked up, in michigan photography services aren't.
I could be wrong about this as it is not something I have tried to do, but from everything I have read and heard over the years, and from the search's I just did on dgrin, smugmug, and the smugmug wiki, there is no way to set a minimum order. There also is no package pricing available as of yet.
The real problem there is also your are working on the speculation that they will order. Lots of people say they will do something and don't. You really need to check into the business and tax laws in your own state to see about sitting fee's.
It really does boil down to are you doing this just for the fun of it, or to make some money. If you intend to make money, it's a business no matter how you try to work it so that it's not.
www.zxstudios.com
http://creativedragonstudios.smugmug.com
-come up with a simple contract
-invoice the people paying you
-receive payment via cash/check
-pay tax on it
-at the end of the year deduct as much crap in the name of your business possible.
Ya know...50 bucks here or there is not a big deal... but 200 bucks a month is getting into the $2,500/yr range. Maybe not enough for uncle sam to realize you have a side job, but paying tax on it is probably the right thing to do. If you have all of the contracts saved, adding up the total will be simple. It will be even easier if you use something like quickbooks and manage it all year.
Before you say "FORGET IT!" - What you may find is that you can EASILY come up with more than $2,500 worth of stuff to deduct and actually lower your taxible income on your 9-5 job. Heck... $2,500 is like a lens, travel expenses, food expenses, studio (sq footage in your house/apartment), utilities, depreciation of your computer and camera. I actually deducted enough stuff from the business to make an additional $500 on my tax return.
As far as "not ready to go there" with the business. On your tax return there is a section regarding home businesses. If you use taxcut its simple to work out. They get the name of the home/personal business, the ask about your income (smugmug sends out tax forms at the end of the year making this part SIMPLE), then they ask about deductions. This is where you can get a little creative and figure our what exactly you can deduct (see the above list). You may want to look up getting a "DBA" (doing business as) from the state. For somthing like 50 bucks you can get an official document stating that you are doing business as X entity. IDk exactly what it gets you but I did it for shits and giggles.
Last but not least... someone once told me "If your taxes are easy to do you are not working hard enough"
It appears that I'll just have to pony up to a tax professional, or just go with a standard markup on prints.
bummer... I guess another plus for SM! Internet sales, baby!!