Does anyone do on-site printing?
ClubFlys
Registered Users Posts: 95 Big grins
I am an nightlife and event photographer and am trying to move into providing and selling prints on location at some of the events I photograph.
Does anyone else here do "on location" prints and sales? If so, I would like some recommendations for equipment and any advice you can provide.
I figure I would post here before going out and purchasing equipment that might not work out for me. You know... picking your brains before wasting money I don't have on "trial and errors".
Any response is greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
-sal
Does anyone else here do "on location" prints and sales? If so, I would like some recommendations for equipment and any advice you can provide.
I figure I would post here before going out and purchasing equipment that might not work out for me. You know... picking your brains before wasting money I don't have on "trial and errors".
Any response is greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
-sal
0
Comments
I'm sure there are lots of suggestions that work well under some situations, and for bunk in others.
I always shot in very dusty invironments. Prefered using Olympus Dye-Sub printers, but are very suseptable to dust/dirt getting into printer/print.
Last year, just started buying cheap Epson injet printers. Archive ink (full load) and printer was $79.00 --- Ink refill packs cost $99.00. It was a no-brainer to save money by just purchasing a new printer each time ink was needed. This also supplied "spare" printers in the event a printer was damaged some way.
You also need someone to run the "table". Download pics from memory cards, show pics to people, print ordered pics, take money, etc..., so a laptop or desktop is also needed. Then you have to have a table and chair, extension cords with floor covers to keep people from tripping on them so they won't sue you. Money box. Are you going to take credit cards? If so, you need all that setup.
Everyone's different, but you might want to weigh all of this cost and hassle against the added "compulsive" sales. How many more pics will you have to sell to pay for your table assistant & all the new gear? (And all the extra hassle)
Not sure if my guess is accurate, but based on your screen name, if clubs/drinking & people are involved, that's really gonna' be a nightmare with onsite sales, and with possible/probable accident litigation issues.
Not sure if this info is what you were after, but it's something to think about.
For the events which I plan to be doing on-site printing... they are not the typical nightlife events. Our website is a Nightlife & Event Photography site. The events which I plan to be doing on-site printing are for MMA fights and Comedy Shows which fans are able to stand in line to be photographed with their fav celeb or star. It will be organized and professional and hope to return a lot of $$$$ in return from the print sales.
Thank you very much.
Someone had recommended purchasing and using an Epson R2400 for this task but I think I like your idea of just purchasing small "disposable" printers per event. Having them as back-ups seems a hell of a lot better than purchasing two of the R2400s at such a high price.
*edited to add the word printer
www.achambersphoto.com
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
As you might imagine, sometimes both.
It's ALWAYS a pain to some degree. The sales from emotionally charged participants can be very good at times, and you will definitely sell more pics when printing on-site at an event than only offering online sales.
But, like any business, there will be the other side of the coin.
Sometimes you will shoot an event, have your on-site setup, and you will only sell 2 pics. (Hey, it happens!) Now you've gone through all that trouble & expense (assistant, etc) for nothing but a loss.
It's all a gamble. Spec shooting that is...
If you haven't offered on-site printing at your shoots before, try it. You've got to have some history to be able to gauge if the "usually" higher sales of on-site printing offsets the expense and hassle as opposed to online sales.
Let's say that you sell 30 prints on-site, but after you deduct your expenses (assistant, paper/ink, printer, laptop, table, etc... Oh, and sometimes you'll be classified as a vendor with a table setup, and that's usually a fee), you wind-up with X dollars profit. Chances are, you could sell only 15 prints online and pocket the same bottom line money. These figures are fictitious, but you get the idea.
If you don't have an assistant to run the table, don't even bother.
Hope that helps...
The sales table ideally needs to be positioned on route to the bar, or failing that the toilets and each one (5x7) sells for £10. Including VAT and costs there is enough profit from impulsive sales to cover all the printing (fairly cheap per print) and still make a good profit.
However repeat dinners for the same organization do reduce the sales over time.
Other people I know use little kiosks like the ones you see in high street photo stores or supermarkets so people can browse, select, print and pay.
However in Canada and North America I looked at running a similar model but the price points just don't seem to fit so nicely. $10 would not give a massive margin and $15 is an awkward amount and one that feels a bit too high for the market.
Onsite is all about workflow, and it needs to be very quick! At least with the web you have a little more time!
Good Luck
Steven
1. Take several shots to be sure of a good one (no blinks, not smiling, etc). Last shot ask "who wants to buy a picture, raise your hand."
2. Goes out to his van where his laptop is set up, edits and adds caption (school, year, etc.)
3. Counts the hands in the last picture (adds ~10%) and prints. He has four printers attached to his laptop.
4. Goes back in and hands out pictures and collects the money. The per sheet cost of the paper is $0.21, the $79 printer will make over one hundred 8x10 prints (less than $0.79 per print). He sells the picture for $10.
During the fall reunion season he can make several thousand dollars a weekend.
www.achambersphoto.com
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."