Pricing question wholesale

I've been working with an Art consultant who has been keeping my work in mind for clients that she re-sells to. She consults mostly for hospitals, medical centers, doc offices, etc. She buys straight prints and does her own matting/framing according to the particular client's needs.

Anyway, she's looking at a couple images and is looking for 4ft prints. No problemo, 4x5, drum scan, piece of cake.

I price 24x30" at $375 which is the largest size I list. Every thing else is "quoted." At 38"x48" I tossed it around and came up with a price of $600 OR 2/$1,000. Print only.

Then she came back with: "I'm assuming this is your wholesale cost to me....."

OK, obviously I'm not a volume producer of prints and usually have a party when I do sell a print.... wholesale? I know she would buy frames, mats and supplies wholesale if she is a re-seller, but what about the print? Doesn't wholesale just mean no tax?

Thoughts, advice appreciated.

Lon

Lon, I would think the person is looking for your best price to her, and would not expect to see the same charge to a person on the street, so to speak. Not sure what you maybe paying for the prints yourself, but in this case you would no doubt factor in the drum scans too. As such, whatever markup you place on the prints as a normal price, 1.5, 1.75, 2.0, 2.25, 2.5, etc. you might drop a quarter or half % point to her, if she thinks it will garner a bit of volume overall. If however it is a one print sale, I'd go full pop on the price. As always, another very subjective process in the photo world.

Thanks for the thoughts Paul. I'm still sorting this out. After some other feedback, I'm inclined to treat this art consultant almost like if it was a gallery situation. The person, agent or company would be basically representing, marketing and re-selling my work. And for that I'm thinking they would expect a discount of some value. It's not like they're buying a print from me to hang in their living room. So in the end, I need to price my retail so as to accommodate gallery commissions and discounts to ensure I can still profit from a sale (including drum scans, print prices, film, time, effort, the whole nine yards...)

Additionally, I want to encourage and promote a relationship with someone who is actively marketing my work. I guess there is a price for everything. but one thing is for sure, I would give my work away on the cheap.

thanks!
Lon

Basically the difference between wholesale and retail is the "profit margin" for the reseller. In this example I'd expect her to at least double your price to derive a price to charge her clients. That would be considered a "50% markup" in retail terms, since the wholesale cost is 50% of the retail. Calling a doubling 50% may sound like sideways thinking, but that's a standard in retail.

Lon, in keeping with Hank's input the markup process I mentioned works the same, just a bit different approach in thinking.
If your total cost is a certain amount and you use the low markup I started with at 1.5, it basically is the cost plus a 50% markup as a total wholesale price. The customer or vendor in this case will then apply their markup, now at retail pricing. Again, if they apply another 50% markup, then it sells for double your original cost, or a 2.0 total markup.

"Calling a doubling 50% may sound like sideways thinking, but that's a standard in retail."

The fuzzy math is giving me a headache... Sideways? I'd say upside down and backwards. Wait, I'm used to that!

Paul - you get an "A" in math today. Very good.

Thanks guys!

Lon

When I first worked retail and encountered the math (waaaaay back in the 1960's), it was explained to me that the thinking made it easier at inventory time. You could note the retail price on a product, multiply it by the 50% and derive the wholesale.

I don't know how old you are, but I was in graduate school before I saw the first-ever handheld calculator. And the computer we used couldn't match the power of the laptop I'm typing on right now, but it occupied one whole floor of the science building and required several large boxes of keypunch cards to successfully run my research data---- after a week-long wait for processing! The sideways/backwards math made a lot of sense in that environment!

When I price prints I take into account what a gallery would take as their share of the sale price. That usually runs 30 to 50% depending on the market, so for all practical purposes "wholesale" is the portion of the price I receive. That is on consignment sales. If you are selling outright to a reseller you might want to go on the high side of that (50%) since you aren't printing on speculation. If the print doesn't sell to their customer, they are the one stuck with finding another buyer. I'd make those terms clear up front. If they want return privileges, then go on the 30% side or maybe even 25% since you are laying out money to print it and might get it returned without another customer willing to buy it.

If this is a potential continuing relationship you might want to discuss giving the art consultant a catalog, either small prints in a portfolio or a CD/DVD with the images you have to offer through them, something they can show to their customers. They should get a cut of the retail price if they are doing the marketing.

Of course when you sell directly you always ask the full retail price both because you are doing your own marketing and because you don't want to undercut any galleries or other resellers you work with.

Generally art consultants/designers expect a discount below what their customers could come directly to you and buy the print. Good consultants expect a discount so they can either make a little money on artwork or so they can pass on the savings to their clients which in return makes them look good for being able to get below cost art. Consultants can move a lot of art, especially if they are in a firm, so it is wise to keep them happy. The happier they are with their discounts and the ease of working with you, the more they will come to you. I use a tier pricing, where the more dollars they spend the deeper the discount they get (but they always start with a min discount). Usually they will push enough art work to get past the first tier, they pass along the first tier discount and keep the rest of the discount for themselves....everyone wins.