[.sleep]

me and a schoolie got in an argument yesterday over the ethics of charging clients more for printing then you are being charged to make more money. what brought it up was that one of his clients had their own printer they wanted to use, so he used more stock photos in the design (which he also charges more money for. something like $4 for him, charges the client $15), to "make back his money." am i out of line for thinking that is unethical? i don't do much print work for clients, mostly web, but when i have i didn't up the printing cost, since thats not my industry.

i can't tell if he's greedy or i'm naive. thoughts?

[pdlr]

dealing with printers is time i could spend designing. shopping for the best qoute for the specific product, getting print samples, sending files, looking at proofs, and delivering printed materials. i charge by the hour, and this is definitely always included.

[Maerk]

It's a fair question but the answer is unfortunately that you're naive

The markup is because your time is what is being paid for by the client, if you're managing the print, you're taking time out of your day to deal with the printers, sort out mockups, tests and proofs, arrange quotes, supply information and proofs to the client, and then arrange transport of the finished product to the client.

If the client decides to do all that themselves, great and fair enough if they don't mind spending their time doing something that isn't really in their field of expertise, although it can end in a substandard quality of work because sometimes they don't know what to ask for and go for the cheapest shoddiest stocks of papers, don't think to ask for proofs etc.

So the markup is basically paying for your time and expertise but in a different area, and the peace of mind that someone who knows what they're doing is taking care of it.

edit - this isn't to say a client cannot do these things, some clients know the ins and outs of print incredibly well and have no problem taking on the task.

[.sleep]

haha. i guess i'm naive then.

i get the whole dealing with printers with proofs and all. i think i was weirded out that he had to "make up lost money" so added in other unnecessary charges. seems kinda shady to me.

[Maerk]

Well it's a slightly weird phrase to use on his part, but in general there's nothing wrong with adding cost to print to cover your management and time. In a sense it is "making up lost money" as its covering time that could be spent doing design work which could be charged for.

If he's just tacking on extra costs to see if he can get away with it, or or some shadier reason then well mayhaps he is being greedy, you were there we weren't we can't really second guess how he said something or implied his motivations.

[.sleep]

fair enough. thanks man.

[dcypher.co.uk]

Time is money - so a mark up is fair play in my eyes.

[badaboom]

as well as the time and the expertise issue, I always think of print mark up as:

- a way of covering any cock-ups that you are liable for as print costs can hurt.

- cash flow, will you get paid from customer before you have to pay the printer?

- best of all, if the client rings you up and wants a straight reprint of last version, call the printer, make the order and wait for the easiest money you can earn come in.

the 1st point is why I cant sleep easily, the 3rd is when I sleep like a baby.

[yourfreelance]

In Argentina is cheaper