Just curious. I have a friend at a local graphic design shop and I'm basically the only photog he works with (mainly he's doing decal stuff for sticking on walls or cars etc). He's got a great printer and I'm happy with his work and unlikely to change, but his prices just went up. Currently I'm paying $8/sq foot or about $21 for a 16x24.
What prices are other people paying and where are you getting them? I figure he's pretty in line, but I really don't have much idea.
you have to weigh the pros and cons to justify any price differential.
* what is the volume that you would print in a year? if the differential was $5 but you only printed 10 a year, $50 might not make any difference. on the other hand, if you printed 100, that's a huge chunk.
* you are happy with your guy, but is he happy with you? i had a similar arrangement with a local guy for canvas printing that was great...as long as i could give him volume. when i had 25 pieces, his prices were incredible, less than half of Canvas on Demand (or any other canvas shop)! one or two pieces, though, and his pricing was no better, and sometimes worse.
* do you have the same options as you'd get from a lab? if you're just looking for straight prints, you're probably ok. but what if you need/want different papers? can you be easily accomodated?
* do you get the same service as you'd get from a lab? if your guy can consistently deliver the goods at the same quality with acceptable turnaround with a reasonable price, that's awesome. i love being able to support a local little guy, especially when i can develop a good working relationship with them. on the other hand, if what they do for me isn't their normal course of business, i am taking the risk that my jobs are not going to be given the same priority. worse, i'm taking the risk that they won't be able to produce my jobs with the same level of quality as someone that does my type of jobs as their primary type of work.
these are just some of the things you need to consider when choosing a service provider. it's not about price as much as it's the ability to deliver what you want when you want it the way you want...for a reasonable price.
